OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef
- Thread starter jnarowe
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TheCoralNabber
New member
that is what I am thinking as well, alot easier to figure out with a pic, like they say a picture says a 1000 words. Is there any way to mount the umbrella thing higher so that the sides of the lumenarcs can slide under the sides of the umbrella reflector.
My poker night is tomorrow, hope that cards fall in your favor, and you can win some money to stock that baby
My poker night is tomorrow, hope that cards fall in your favor, and you can win some money to stock that baby
jnarowe
New member
yes, I could mount the dish higher to allow the lumenarcs to pass under. It would be limited because what you can't see in the photo is that the dish is under the vent space which is about 2 feet deep over the front of the tank.
The problem with doing it that way is that is limits my ability to fully adjust either lamp. I am assuming that the dish will have lower intensity and maybe need to be closer to the reef than the other reflectors. I just won't know until operation time. As the reef grows though, I might have to make radical adjustments and that can get complicated over a live tank.
I guess I can go with it mounted higher and see how it goes.
The problem with doing it that way is that is limits my ability to fully adjust either lamp. I am assuming that the dish will have lower intensity and maybe need to be closer to the reef than the other reflectors. I just won't know until operation time. As the reef grows though, I might have to make radical adjustments and that can get complicated over a live tank.
I guess I can go with it mounted higher and see how it goes.
TheCoralNabber
New member
SWEETNESS! Let get some salt in this bad boy! How many GPD is your RO/DI unit?
TheCoralNabber
New member
Wow, it is going to take you like 10 days to get that thing filled, probably longer if they aren't working full speed. Might as well get started on it sooner then later. Let us know how the tap water filling goes. How are you going to set up your top off sytem? You might have already talked about it, if so sorry, I've read about but has slipped my mind.
Dan
Dan
jnarowe
New member
With the sumps and pipe etc. I am figuring on about 14 days to fill with RO/DI. I don't have the best pressure and my water is cold. I'll be running 100' of supply line through a heated water bath to warm it up.
Tank is half full and no leaks from BH's or the "patches" I did on all the extra holes. The next area of concern is the oevrflow I built. I can't wait to see if that holds water!
Top off will be simple float valve set-up fed by a 90g holding tank initially and then I will go to kalkwasser.
Tank is half full and no leaks from BH's or the "patches" I did on all the extra holes. The next area of concern is the oevrflow I built. I can't wait to see if that holds water!
Top off will be simple float valve set-up fed by a 90g holding tank initially and then I will go to kalkwasser.
jnarowe
New member
Don't tease...I am new at this DIY stuff! Not bad for a guy who couldn't read a few months ago!
Anyway, just got done with a FW test and I am quite pleased. The overflow, which was my first time working with plastic has only one very minor drip. Good news.
Pump worked well and my double sump design eliminates the bubbles so that worked out well also.
The problems I am having are the sump BHs are leaking. I tightened some and the leaks stopped or slowed quite a bit, but they are all still dripping at least a little.
The other problem is that when I fire up the pump, the inbound sump is essentiallly at the full spot but the outbound side draws down to very close to the pump BH. This created some instances of surface vortex that did suck some air into the display.
I'll try to get Dale to come over and help trouble shoot. All in all, I am quite happy that it went as well as it did.
Anyway, just got done with a FW test and I am quite pleased. The overflow, which was my first time working with plastic has only one very minor drip. Good news.
Pump worked well and my double sump design eliminates the bubbles so that worked out well also.
The problems I am having are the sump BHs are leaking. I tightened some and the leaks stopped or slowed quite a bit, but they are all still dripping at least a little.
The other problem is that when I fire up the pump, the inbound sump is essentiallly at the full spot but the outbound side draws down to very close to the pump BH. This created some instances of surface vortex that did suck some air into the display.
I'll try to get Dale to come over and help trouble shoot. All in all, I am quite happy that it went as well as it did.
melev
Well-known member
Your secondary sump will draw down as the tank fills up. You can't avoid it. Once you've got the system shut down, add more water to both sumps until you don't dare add another ounce.
Now restart the pumps and see how that works out. If it runs perfectly, mark the inside of the secondary sump where the water is right now. That will be your high mark line, meaning you can never top off higher than that point, ever. Or the sumps <u>will</u> overflow.
The intake to the return pump may vortex if the water level is too low, but if you have room to insert an elbow pointed straight down, that may help. Be sure there is at least 1.5" of clearance between the elbow and the base of the sump.
Bulkheads can be a pain. Overtightened, they leak. Loose, they leak. You have to get it just right.
Now restart the pumps and see how that works out. If it runs perfectly, mark the inside of the secondary sump where the water is right now. That will be your high mark line, meaning you can never top off higher than that point, ever. Or the sumps <u>will</u> overflow.
The intake to the return pump may vortex if the water level is too low, but if you have room to insert an elbow pointed straight down, that may help. Be sure there is at least 1.5" of clearance between the elbow and the base of the sump.
Bulkheads can be a pain. Overtightened, they leak. Loose, they leak. You have to get it just right.
tinygiants
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6702916#post6702916 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
I'll try to get Dale to come over and help trouble shoot. All in all, I am quite happy that it went as well as it did.
If I do not work, maybe I can drop by on Saturday.
tinygiants
New member
I believe the 2 sumps are plumbed together. The reason that it draws down is due to the pump pushing more water out of sump 2 than can flow through the bulkhead at standing headpressure. If the plumbing tying the 2 sumps together was larger, then there would be less differential in water heights.
When the pumps are off, the water is even. When on, a pressure difference is crreated. That pressure will never be much, since we are only talking about 18" of head pressure max difference. Since we have no pressure to help speed up equalization, we need to use size. Size can be by giant bulkheads and plumbing, or by multiple bulkheads.
Melev, It is true that the sump level will go down in the sump when the pumps are running. Your method for setting water levels is the only way I would go.
Dale
melev
Well-known member
Dale, your point about the bulkheads could very well be true, but what I think is happening is the first sump is running out of water just trying to refill the top 1" or so of surface water in the tank before it ever gets to the point of draining new water down to sump #2 and then to sump #1.
jnarowe
New member
Hey guys! I had it running again today and it is working well but makes me nervous when the water level in the first sump is an inch below the top and the water level in the 2nd sump is just above the outbound BH. I had figured that two 1-1/2" connections between the sumps would be more than adequate since I am drawing with one 1-1/2" and the overflow is using two 2" return lines. These return lines are in no way at capacity of course.
I had originally intended to put the skimmer in the inbound sump, but I am reconsidering that. If I put it in the outbound sump, that would divert more water to that sump and even out the water levels. Does that make sense? I could also move one of the overflow ines into the 2nd sump. The issue there is that unless there is cavitation at the outbound BH, my water is completely air bubble free, which was a major concern and why I built a 2-sump system.
More worrying is that the skimmer will hold a lot of water and in a power outage or pump failure, it would overflow the sumps. That is my next big issue and why I am waiting to build the skimmer until I have that figured out.
Another very strange thing maybe you guys can explain: after I shut the system down so no water was being pumped, the display continued to trickle slightly into the overflow for over 24 hours. Why is that? I would assume that once the flow stops, the water should stay in the tank. Any ideas??
I had originally intended to put the skimmer in the inbound sump, but I am reconsidering that. If I put it in the outbound sump, that would divert more water to that sump and even out the water levels. Does that make sense? I could also move one of the overflow ines into the 2nd sump. The issue there is that unless there is cavitation at the outbound BH, my water is completely air bubble free, which was a major concern and why I built a 2-sump system.
More worrying is that the skimmer will hold a lot of water and in a power outage or pump failure, it would overflow the sumps. That is my next big issue and why I am waiting to build the skimmer until I have that figured out.
Another very strange thing maybe you guys can explain: after I shut the system down so no water was being pumped, the display continued to trickle slightly into the overflow for over 24 hours. Why is that? I would assume that once the flow stops, the water should stay in the tank. Any ideas??
Travis
10 and over club
These are all "band-aid" solutions and aren't fixing the problem. You are still in the setup stages so I say do it right the first time. Sure you could have your skimmer's flow directed into the second sump. But what happens if your skimmer pump dies while you are gone and the second sump slowly goes dry...
It is hard to make out exactly what is happening and a picture would help us a lot. But it sounds to me like you need to make your bulkheads that connect the 2 sumps together bigger or else add another one. FWIW, with I just got a new sump for my setup a few months ago but was running a dual sump before that. I used 3 1.5" bulkheads to connect them. The return pump was pushing around 1500gph and the water level in the 2 sumps was the same.
Just build a hartford loop on the output of the skimmer so it only drains down to the top of the loop.
Hard to explain but I would consider that normal. As more water drains from the tank, the area that can still drain through the teeth becomes thinner and thinner and drains slower and slower. Although, I would think that it would have stopped by the 24 hour mark. But you did mention that you have a coast to coast overflow so that huge surface area may being playing a part.
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