rEd86's 700g office tank.

[melev]

Not that it matters now, but in the past when a big tank has to be moved, I prefer to have it sitting on buckets of salt so it doesn't have to be lifted from the ground up. Is that where the tank was for the repair process?

Did moving the stand and tank across the flooring scratch it up?

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14671943#post14671943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by serenity
wow this should be fun to watch, so far so good. is there going to be a sump room?

Yes, the sump room is on the other side of the wall where the tank is butted up to. (it's a 6'x10' closet) That was there from the previous 265g tank. I'll reorganize it a little and probably upgrade the skimmer, but I overbuilt it the first time so it should work well. (300g tub/sump, etc.)

--Ed

 

[melev]

Do you plan to put black overflow covers over the glass ones? And maybe even a black lid on them to avoid nuisance algae within each one?

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14671976#post14671976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Not that it matters now, but in the past when a big tank has to be moved, I prefer to have it sitting on buckets of salt so it doesn't have to be lifted from the ground up. Is that where the tank was for the repair process?

Did moving the stand and tank across the flooring scratch it up?

I should have built something to put the tank on so it was a little higher up. The catch was I wasn't sure how it was going to be repaired so I opted to leave it on a smaller platform. The reality is I could have built the stand a month ago and sat the tank on that from day one. The repairs could have been done while it was on the stand.

The concrete floors were a little scuffed but it's nothing a little floor wax can't correct.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14672019#post14672019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Do you plan to put black overflow covers over the glass ones? And maybe even a black lid on them to avoid nuisance algae within each one?

Yes, I still need to build a black acrylic overflow cover. Since they were replacing the tank with an exact duplicate, they kept those!

--Ed

 

[mylove4life]

crap that looks as big as my first apartment lol

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14669295#post14669295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bax
Great progress!

It's awesome that you have so many helpers!

Thanks. Yes, I couldn't have done it without them. It was a lot more fun having a team there to help with the work than it was when I built the stand by myself.

--Ed

 

[anbosu]

What were they keeping in a 700 gallon fresh water tank?

 

[BigKodiak]

Wow...That is one heck of a big project. Looks great!

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14674895#post14674895 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by anbosu
What were they keeping in a 700 gallon fresh water tank?

I am not sure. I'll check and see if I can find out.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

OK, I completed all the plumbing but the tank really needs cleaning and it was getting late so the pictures I took really sucked. I'll clean the tank tomorrow and see if I can't get some photos posted.

After it's cleaned, I'll put about 6" of water in it and let that sit for a day to confirm that I have a good seal.

I am trying to find some bulk sand at a reasonable price that I can get in a week. I've rinsed the old sand and will use that but I need another 500lbs in order to get a deep enough bed to cover the PVC closed loop.

I'll probably go ahead and put the rock, corals and fish back in the tank this Friday if all goes as planned. I need to build a temporary rack for the lights since I won't get a hood completed until after I get back from a couple of trips in mid April.

So things are progressing - sorry I wasn't able to get any good pictures. I will make sure to get something up tomorrow.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

OK, so here are a couple of updates on everything.

First, here are two shots of the Ocean's Motions setup. There are not a lot of threads and if you over tighten it, the cylinder inside can’t turn. I made a spacer to prevent it from getting too tight. I took a short coupler and cut it in half â€"œ one for each side:

You can see here what it looks like with the spacer in place:

Here's a shot of the dursos:

and the manifold for the sump:

which will feed everything in the sump and I can remove the smaller pumps. I capped one end so that I can cut it off and have room to add another valve if I expand beyond the four valves I currently have on it.

More to come.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

And here I am cleaning the inside of the tank. (should have done that BEFORE hooking up the closed loop - lesson learned) I used acetone, which was interesting. I put it in a spray bottle and didn't realize how quickly it evaporates. I ended up spraying a small area and quickly wiping it down as I worked my way down each pane of glass.

So now the tank is sparkling clean and I can FINALLY do my water test.

I put about 6 inches in it and will be leaving it in for 24hrs to confirm everything is looking good.

I got so high from being in the closed area while cleaning with acetone I forgot to unload all the other pictures I took from my camera to my computer. I'll make sure to post them tomorrow.

The plan is to empty the tap water from tank tomorrow and start filling it. I hope to get the sand back in and a couple of hundred gallons of water tomorrow, with the remainder in on Saturday.

Later!

--Ed

 

[melev]

Looks great!

 

[Wheel of Time]

Ive never seen a closed loop like that before. pretty neat. curious to see the flow / water movement once the sand is back in. How did you come up with that idea for the returns?
nice job

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14699593#post14699593 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Looks great!

Thanks. It is exciting being so close. It also sucks because I will be out of town 20 out 25 days starting on Monday so I can't appreciate it or be around if something happens. Next week I will be gone Monday-Friday and will have a buddy from the fish club checking in regularly. I am back in town for a brief while and then off to Florida for 12 days. I am definitely going to have to be checking stuff out on my web cam regularly.

--Ed

 

[rEd86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14699695#post14699695 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wheel of Time
Ive never seen a closed loop like that before. pretty neat. curious to see the flow / water movement once the sand is back in. How did you come up with that idea for the returns?
nice job

Thanks. I'll post more pictures of everything and explain it in detail tomorrow. To answer your question - I wanted to make sure the returns weren't too strong and sucking in stuff and turning it into a puree. I have also heard that Oceans Motions can get loud if the cylinder gets scratched with too much sand getting forced through. So I opted to have two drains feeding into a 1.5" pipe with the larger screen on each. Ideally that will reduce the suction and allow things to get away. I also mounted them a little higher so they were off the sand bed. Ideally the rocks and corals will cover them so you won't even notice them. That's also why I made sure everything was black or gray so it blended in against the rock. (unlike the white PVC)

--Ed

 

[Editour2]

This is really cool!!!! Looking forward to the contiuation of the build.
Frank

 

[rEd86]

OK. Water check passed so we're on to filling the tank back up.

Here are more photos of the system.

First, the overflow plumbing:

Two overflows on the outside and the return coming back up the middle.

Here's the flex PVC going into the pump room on the other side of the wall:

And now the closed loop:

You can see the intake in the middle with the two returns, one on each side. It rotates between the two with the Oceans Motion in place.

The return pump - a Reeflo Hammer pump:

The way the closed loop works in the two large screens suck in water which is transported down the center pipe and water is pumped back, alternating between each outside line:

On each end I have an Oceans Motion Revolution that rotation 18deg each time the water cycles. I also have some loc-line hoses so I can adjust where I am sending water. Hopefully this will give me some good flow and randomize things a bit.

Other Side:

Now I need to get back to work and move the sand from the old tank to the new tank. I spent about an hour cleaning out the old sand until the water flowing through it was fairly clear.

Later!

--Ed

 

[melev]

Of all the plumbing, the one that concerns me the most is the elbow going into the OM device. That is a drain sweep. I'd really prefer to see a real fitting that has a 1" socket on each end. The one you have is 1/2", and that isn't a lot of material for it to grip, considering it is the closed loop with a ton of flow.

Everything else looks great, but that one should really be replaced. Savko has it, and maybe a local plumbing supply does as well.