Restarting an old 280 build
- Thread starter Northside Reef
- Start date
Northside Reef
Premium Member
to limit evaporation
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Well I have a dart (about 2,500 GPH), running that OM 8 way, with a pair of MP40 Vortechs sitting on the sidelines so as far as movement of water I am OK but I meant the actual exchange of tank water vs filtered water seemed real low (and disappointing). I would have to get some time and volume measurements to know for absolute but it did not pass the eyeball test for sure. What's a little more plumbing
yeah about 1100ish without sand and rock. Don't forget the 92 gallon seahorse tank
Northside Reef
Premium Member
About to get on plane so won't be doing much the next two weeks but gotta pay the bills
Northside Reef
Premium Member
So sitting in a hotel room in Brazil I got nothing to do so I was looking at this thread and thought I would share something somewhat interesting.
I started a build thread on this forum some 7 years ago, it was for this tank. I stopped that build and took some time off from the hobby so when I started the new build I started a new thread.
But here is a link of the bypass system I built back in 2005.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4877394&postcount=81
and here is that same valve system on my tank in 2012
Now there is a funny story about that. I was working on the tank and was thinking I needed a bypass valve for the upper and lower level. and I started thinking about how I Would design it. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I remembered I already built the dang thing 7 years ago... It was just a matter of remembering where I put it. I obviously found it.. Perseverance at its best lol
I started a build thread on this forum some 7 years ago, it was for this tank. I stopped that build and took some time off from the hobby so when I started the new build I started a new thread.
But here is a link of the bypass system I built back in 2005.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4877394&postcount=81
and here is that same valve system on my tank in 2012
Now there is a funny story about that. I was working on the tank and was thinking I needed a bypass valve for the upper and lower level. and I started thinking about how I Would design it. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I remembered I already built the dang thing 7 years ago... It was just a matter of remembering where I put it. I obviously found it.
. Perseverance at its best lol
Northside Reef
Premium Member
So I put in some the the additional flow. Here are two of the valves I installed:
.
I redid the drains on the refugiums to help with stopping flow when the pumps stop. Originally I had the bulkheads just open but water would need to completely drain to the bottom of the bulkhead fitting. Now it just needs to drain below the slots on these fittings.
That should help with the flow back if the pump stops.
The other two are done as well.
They all came out different because I had to fit things in where I could.
.
I redid the drains on the refugiums to help with stopping flow when the pumps stop. Originally I had the bulkheads just open but water would need to completely drain to the bottom of the bulkhead fitting. Now it just needs to drain below the slots on these fittings.
That should help with the flow back if the pump stops.
The other two are done as well.
They all came out different because I had to fit things in where I could.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
The flow looks pretty even so this should help with the flow back from leaving those bulkheads open.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
After I added the new return line I still had an issue with the return flow not getting back down to the tank as fast as I was pumping it up. The main problem is the run from the 325 gallon reservoir to the frag tank/return sump. Too much horizontal slope not enough vertical drop to pull the water out of the reservoir fast enough.
these lines do not have enough drop on them to pull much water out of the tank:
those two 1.5" lines had very little flow going through them. Most of it went through that one chiller line because the chiller pump created enough suction to help pull water out of the reservoir. Which meant all of the extra flow I tried to add ended up on the floor.
I caught in time but it was still a mess. Choking the feed pump back really does not help because then I end up where I was. Not much coming down to the display tanks.
I think you can see from this picture that the chiller line also does not have much vertical drop.
But I actually pull more water through that line because of how I have the chiller pump installed.
these lines do not have enough drop on them to pull much water out of the tank:
those two 1.5" lines had very little flow going through them. Most of it went through that one chiller line because the chiller pump created enough suction to help pull water out of the reservoir. Which meant all of the extra flow I tried to add ended up on the floor.
I caught in time but it was still a mess. Choking the feed pump back really does not help because then I end up where I was. Not much coming down to the display tanks.
I think you can see from this picture that the chiller line also does not have much vertical drop.
But I actually pull more water through that line because of how I have the chiller pump installed.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
To prove my theory I added some pumps to the return lines from the reservoir to the frag tank/return sump
Those are 3/4" pipes going a couple of inches up the 1.5" incoming pipe. That was enough to really help pull water down those pipes. I was actually able to turn one of the pumps off and the flow was still able to keep up with the water being pumped up. So I think I will be fine, I will have a little redundancy built in by going with the two.
Here is the flow down
Compare that to this trickle I was at before:
Greatly improved flow. I am going to make a few tweaks to improve it a little more but I am pretty satisfied with tonight's results and it is time to drain all of that water and move on to the next phase. FINALLY!!!
Earlier today I actually worked on the Seahorse tank.
Here is the before
Here is the after
Stand still needs paint but By gosh the back (and side) of the tank is painted
Those are 3/4" pipes going a couple of inches up the 1.5" incoming pipe. That was enough to really help pull water down those pipes. I was actually able to turn one of the pumps off and the flow was still able to keep up with the water being pumped up. So I think I will be fine, I will have a little redundancy built in by going with the two.
Here is the flow down
Compare that to this trickle I was at before:
Greatly improved flow. I am going to make a few tweaks to improve it a little more but I am pretty satisfied with tonight's results and it is time to drain all of that water and move on to the next phase. FINALLY!!!
Earlier today I actually worked on the Seahorse tank.
Here is the before
Here is the after
Stand still needs paint but By gosh the back (and side) of the tank is painted
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
You are showing great progress and the picture journal helps out alot trying to figure how you are solving the flow issues you previously had.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Thanks,
Learned a lot on this build, doubt I will have many follow in my footsteps but I have been able to share a few of the things I've learned along the way with a couple of the local reefers to help on their projects.
Learned a lot on this build, doubt I will have many follow in my footsteps but I have been able to share a few of the things I've learned along the way with a couple of the local reefers to help on their projects.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Not much new news but I do have the seahorse tank in its home.
Was able to do some test aquascaping for the 280 with the flat rock for the walls.
Came out like this, I'm kind of meh on it. but I learned a couple of things:
I think maybe once there are some corals attached to it I will like it a lot more.
Couple more shots:
Was able to do some test aquascaping for the 280 with the flat rock for the walls.
Came out like this, I'm kind of meh on it. but I learned a couple of things:
I think maybe once there are some corals attached to it I will like it a lot more.
Couple more shots:
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Also put in the vent for the 280, I decided to go with corrugated plastic above the tank because I may have to get to that area where the plumbing comes down from the shed and I did not want sheetrock dust to be a problem. So I went from this:
to this:
There will be a humidistat in there to operate the vent fan. I plumbed the vent over to the dryer vent so I can send the humidity outside in the summer. I am giving serious consideration to putting in a bypass to keep that humid air for winter. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
to this:
There will be a humidistat in there to operate the vent fan. I plumbed the vent over to the dryer vent so I can send the humidity outside in the summer. I am giving serious consideration to putting in a bypass to keep that humid air for winter. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Working on attaching the flat rock to the walls of the 280 now but it is very slow. I am using aquarium safe silicone as my adhesive and it is very slow to dry and you can only do a couple of sections at a time as I piece the whole thing together.
It will probably take me a few days to do that job.
It will probably take me a few days to do that job.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Update:
I put the rock up on the back wall of the tank. Took forever, I just now took out the "holding" rocks (rock leaned up against the rock wall to hold it in place while the silicone drys) off the last piece so I could see how it came out.
I am happier with these results. I will still have to piece in some rubble into the wall to give a more 3D appearance. The flash on the tank makes it hard to get a good shot of it. here is the best I can do.
a shot form inside the tank shows the rubble I embedded a little better. That left side wall will have a black background on it so it will match the back of the tank.
The will all look better once the actual rock is in place in the center of the tank and there is some substrate on the tank floor (I think).
I put the rock up on the back wall of the tank. Took forever, I just now took out the "holding" rocks (rock leaned up against the rock wall to hold it in place while the silicone drys) off the last piece so I could see how it came out.
I am happier with these results. I will still have to piece in some rubble into the wall to give a more 3D appearance. The flash on the tank makes it hard to get a good shot of it. here is the best I can do.
a shot form inside the tank shows the rubble I embedded a little better. That left side wall will have a black background on it so it will match the back of the tank.
The will all look better once the actual rock is in place in the center of the tank and there is some substrate on the tank floor (I think).
Northside Reef
Premium Member
So today was major destruction day in the filter shed. I decided I wanted to raise the 325 gallon reservoir up 16" and not rely on the pumps I added to pull water out of the reservoir. I tried to talk myself out of it, but in the end I know I will be happier with not needing to depend on a pump to do what I know gravity will always do.
I am working on the WC system and I had to make the decision to do this before it went into the shed and I started making water. I hope it is all back together by this weekend.
meanwhile. My camera died, kind of sucked. It was just a point and shot, but still I really did not want to get another one right now. I picked up another P&S to get me by.
Figured a couple things out with setting the F-stop so I could keep the flash off and still get decent pictures. I think the aquascaping shows a little better here.
You can actually see the sea serpent sculpture in this shot, something I tried in vain with the other camera to capture. I decided to not even mention it in the other shots because it was impossible to see.
Something else I did not mention about the rock work. Only the rock rubble I put in is on (and in) the sand the rest of the structure all sits above the sand
Anyhow I am happy that the new camera at least let me take some pictures I liked. I have a lot of work ahead of me this weekend.
I am working on the WC system and I had to make the decision to do this before it went into the shed and I started making water. I hope it is all back together by this weekend.
meanwhile. My camera died, kind of sucked. It was just a point and shot, but still I really did not want to get another one right now. I picked up another P&S to get me by.
Figured a couple things out with setting the F-stop so I could keep the flash off and still get decent pictures. I think the aquascaping shows a little better here.
You can actually see the sea serpent sculpture in this shot, something I tried in vain with the other camera to capture. I decided to not even mention it in the other shots because it was impossible to see.
Something else I did not mention about the rock work. Only the rock rubble I put in is on (and in) the sand the rest of the structure all sits above the sand
Anyhow I am happy that the new camera at least let me take some pictures I liked. I have a lot of work ahead of me this weekend.
Northside Reef
Premium Member
Thanks guys, sorry I have not been keeping a close eye on this thread, and I have missed a couple of updates.
