My SPS propagation setup, in progress

[AcroSteve]

I integrated mine into a new refuge and sump. The refuge will be in the area under the frag raceway. I am not sure all the fluid dynamics will work out like I planned, but everyone has to start somewhere. Long length of the back is 43" total. Length of raceways is 31"



Here is the view from the end. For you guys with sharp eyes, the hose clamp is just temporary untill I get my water level in the refuge adjusted.

Close Up of the overflow area. Water flows out of the raceway into the skimmer area and the refuge below. This is the part I hope works out.

U-Turn area.

And a shot of something I need a good name for. Maybe somebody can come up with something.
This is where all my water comes together before it enters the raceway. The two smaller ones are my primary return through the chiller and chiller bypass The valves are for adjusting the amount of water bypassing the chiller barrell. The larger one is my secondary tank overflow. This one normally flows only a trickle, unless there is a problem with the primary.

And a little closer.

 

[shaw]

"The Complicator!"

 

[AcroSteve]

I do tend to over-do things.

 

[minfinger]

Do you have an air vent on the area where your water flows down from the tanks?

 

[melev]

That is quite a unit you've built yourself. "The complicator" is too funny. Looks like you could drive over it and not even nick the thing. :lol:

I was wondering why your raceway has an overflow drain at one end? Due to the inner walls of the raceway being lower than the outer walls of your sump, if the drain were to fail the water would overflow into the fuge area easily enough. I would think that standpipe might #1)make a little noise and #2) rob the raceway of some of the potential motion.

Other than that, I like it. I look forward to hearing how it works out for you, and if you see any need to change things.

 

[Zephrant]

Looks great to me! Nice job on the acrylic work- I especially like the radius on the corners. Many people miss that step.

Zeph

 

[AcroSteve]

Do you have an air vent on the area where your water flows down from the tanks?

I do have stockmans on my overflows at the tank, but my primary return is kept full by adjusting the valves, so no air comes down it. That is the reason for the secondary overflow. This makes for an extremely quiet tank. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186671&highlight=nice+and+quiet

I was wondering why your raceway has an overflow drain at one end?

Thanks for the compliment. You don't do too bad yourself.

Mainly, I wanted a hole in the bottom of that section so I could drain out any water in the event of maintanance. I just put the standpipe on it to add a little bit of flow to the back corner of the refuge. Will not be very much at all. Might even go back to a pvc pipe plug.

Looks great to me! Nice job on the acrylic work- I especially like the radius on the corners. Many people miss that step.

Zeph

Thanks to you too. I do not like sharp edges either.

 

[JB NY]

That looks great! I can see the next big thing could be putting a raceway into the sump config.

The "complicator" looks cool as well. Great job on the whole thing!

 

[pyro383]

JB, talking about flow and direction, have you given thought to the squid or the soon to come larger squid? have a outlet on each end?

 

[JB NY]

Here are some shots today. I only have one of the channels filled with frags.

Here are the frags in one of the channels with the circulation cut off for the picture.

Here is with the pump on to show you the flow I now have.

Another shot looking down on all the frags.

 

[Arch01]

Why do I feel like a kid in a candy store?? Looks nice, JB.

Alex

 

[saltyseaman]

Looks Great :thumbsup: !!!!!!

Plastic Washers, now that's smart!! I've been glueing them to rocks larger than the eggcrate holes, and then glueing that rock to to plug. Looks like I'm headed down to Ace tomorrow!!

 

[minfinger]

Looks good!! I'm impressed...What size are those washers? I missed that.

 

[justgettinstarted]

very cool setup! i like! i like!

 

[Lunchbucket]

SWEET!!!! looks awesome!!!

Lunchbucket

 

[ReeferMac]

Hehe, love that 'end-on' view.

- Mac

 

[Krusk]

very nice !!! thumbs up

 

[melev]

It looks like you may have removed the extra baffles that you had inserted to increase the flow?

Is that a red washer on a white washer?

Thanks for the update!

 

[Lunchbucket]

red coral frag plugs w/ a white washer around them??

Lunchbucket

 

[JB NY]

I'm using coral plugs. I have red and white. Haven't used the white yet though. As was pointed out earlier in the thread the plug just barely fit in the heavy duty eggcrate, but fall through on the other eggcrate. So I bought these nylon washers, they fit snug on the coral plug and elevate the plug just a little. With the plug elevated I shouldn't have to worry about the coral encrusting on the washer or the eggcrate.

I bought the washers from McMaster, PN# 90295A173 Nylon 6/6 Flat Washer 3/8" Screw Size, .406" ID, 1" OD, .062" Thick

Marc, I ditched the extra baffles. I ended up putting a powerhead at the end of each channel with a mini spraybar attached to it at the top. The spraybar keeps the current turbulent and swirling around the frags. So far it looks to be a winner. With the powerhead there is probably close to 1,100GPH going through the 5" channel. I'll see how it goes in the long run, but I think this should work out great. At first I was going to use a Maxi-jet 1200, but they use close to 30 watts a piece. I would ultimately use 5 of them so I switched to a Hagen 402 powerhead that only consumes 12 watts and puts out almost the same flow. Difference was 150 watts 24/7, versus 60 watts 24/7.