OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[jnarowe]

My skimmer will be gravity fed so no pump to die other than a recirc pump if I use one. It would be continuous flow from a 1-1/2 drain.

I could add another sump-to-sump connection I guess but wouldn't moving a feed line be easier?

Hartford loop is a good idea, which brings up another: My refugium gravity feeds into the display and I would like to build one of those overflow deals that are like a "u-turn" and keep the air from following the water into the display. Anyone have a link to that?

I thought the continual overflowing might be that the water was slowly warming up to room temp. and therefore slightly expanding.

 

[cseeton]

I was just about to mention the cool water warming up and expanding. If there is no flow, then after a very short period of time the trickle will stop, but since you are filling with RO water which is likely very cool, it is just expanding....

 

[jnarowe]

actually not filling with RO yet. It is tap water coming in at about 45F. Our water is very cold during the Winter!

 

[melev]

Perhaps if your bulkheads were lower between the two vats, the first sump would be less full, and the second sump would have more water.

To stop the water draining into the sump within a few minutes, let alone 24 hours!, you should have anti siphon holes drilled in all returns. You may have some slight seepage coming from the overflows since Durso Standpipes are not glued. These can let the water in the overflows slowly seep out until those compartments are empty.

 

[jnarowe]

Bulkheads are low between sumps on purpose, to rid the system of bubbles. They are installed as low as possible to create a giant baffle, which is my primary reason for the double sump system. It is working great and I am diverting some water into the outbound sump and can keep the water levels even now. No problem!

I am not referring to water draining into the sump, but just the seepage coming from the actual overflow combs. I am not using dursos at all in the overflow. Just straight BHs with screens. The sound is minimal and I am very happy with the result. I was just very curious as to why the tank continued to seep through the combs for so long. Since the tank has such a large surface area, it may just be a temp:surface area thing. We'll see tonight since it should be completely finished warming up.

Had the center lamp on today and man I am stoked about how it looks. The dish in the center provides complete coverage of the tank. It looks SWEET!!!

Finshed my water change system so now I need to work on the RO/DI and exhaust fans. Getting close!

 

[Hop]

Sounds like progress! Maybe we will go north for vacation this year and see jnarowe's aquatic display

 

[melev]

I forgot you have adjustable combs. I bet you drain 2" easily via the tiny gaps, and that adds up due to the size of the surface area as you surmised.

 

[cseeton]

The warming trickle is aobut 3 gallons of expansion with the water warming up . 1000 gallons of water at 45F is about 1003 gallons at 75F, so you are slowly gaining 3 gallons of water during the course of the day....

 

[jnarowe]

Thanks for the input guys.

Anytime HOP. We have plenty of room.

Marc, the combs have very fine teeth and the amount of water spilling over them is not more than about 1/4" deep if even that. 6 feet of comb and some of the water is diverted away. I am not totally sure what my pump is pushing with the 5+ feet of head, but the overflow apears to be ideal. I don't want to move huge amounts of water through the sump. Just enough to maintain water quality.

cseeton: that is a good explanation. I had a feeling that was the case but I don't have any real knowledge in that area.

 

[jnarowe]

Good news! I am making water! Things are moving along and I ordered the salt to come in on Tuesday. Yipee!

 

[melev]

We want hourly updates. :lol:

 

[TheCoralNabber]

get back to us in two weeks when the tank is full of water. Take pics of the lighting without water, and with water in the tank. I'd like to see just how well your dish lights the tank w/ and w/out water.

Dan

 

[jnarowe]

I will definitely take pics with and without water. I am really excited about how it looks so far and now I need to finish up with directing flow inside the tank and maybe some rock supporting structures before I fill with SW.

Marc...hourly update? Should I use a micrometer?

 

[jnarowe]

pics!

pics!

dish lamp no water

dish lamp no water viewing side

final lamps

water change

RO/DI

pegboard

 

[TheCoralNabber]

It is looking really good! Can't wait to see it once you get water, sand and LR in it. How many watts do you have on the tank again? If I remember correctly 1200Ws right? Are your reflectors LAIII's or the diamond reflectors?

 

[jnarowe]

Thanks. 3 x 1000W MH 20K (3000W). The two end reflectors are Sunlight Diamond I believe, not the IIIs AFAIKT. They are older ones I nabbed off propertyroom.com for $40. Since I have never seen them side-by-side, I am really not sure, but the label says "Diamond" on it. The dish is a sunlight deal too with the "diamond plating" above the lamp. We'll see how it goes but I think it will be excellent lighting.

 

[TheCoralNabber]

I remember you mentioning obtaining the reflectors off of there. What brand of bulbs are you running? What type of ballasts as well? They look just like the diamond relfectors we have running on a few tank at the LFS I work part time at. I wonder how they compare to LAIII's...

Thanks

 

[jnarowe]

The lamps are Ushio Colorlite 20K. I am running the center one on a switchable MH/HPS Sunlight ballast and the two sides are Blue Wave V's. These are standard M47 ballasts and the Ushio lamp is designed specifically to run on these ballasts.

I would guess that since the LAIIIs are the "hot ticket" they must somehow be better. I have no way of knowing first hand but I am sure there are many on RC that do know the difference. When I bought them I thought I was getting LA reflectors for a "steal", but it turned out that I was confused by the "Diamond" label. I think with the amount of light the lamps put off, I should still get great results, and I can always switch out the reflectors later if needed.

 

[jnarowe]

I am running RO/DI into the tank now and put 160 lbs. of sand in the refugium. The water is running very slow primarily because of the inbound water temp. so I have jacked up the heat in the warm water bath to try and get the tap water warmer and flowing faster. At the rate it is going right now, it would be a very long time to fill the tank.

The internal pipework to direct return flow is done. I put a 7 foot spray bar along the back, a return 6' up facing diagonally toward the center in each front corner, and a return near the center of the tank that has a cap with downward facing slots to stir the center of the tank. All 4 feed off the manifold and are 1" lines.

 

[TheCoralNabber]

Any pics on the spray bar? I had one set up on my tank a while ago, but had problems with it getting clogged with all sorts of stuff and the flow going down to nothing on the tank. Pulled it out and have two straight returns on the tank now. Do you know anyone with a RO/DI unit in your area that you can borrow to speed up the process a little bit?