Ross' Massive Build

I got to see this setup last night in person! I saw the tail end of the first water fill test. It was a neat surprise, since i was going there for a different reason then recognized the build from following this thread. Very impressive! I really enjoyed meeting you guys, seeing the lab and what you guys do, and I appreciate all the knowledge you guys had to share. Thanks so much for showing me around and spending time with me.
 
_shorty_ said:
I got to see this setup last night in person! I saw the tail end of the first water fill test. It was a neat surprise, since i was going there for a different reason then recognized the build from following this thread. Very impressive! I really enjoyed meeting you guys, seeing the lab and what you guys do, and I appreciate all the knowledge you guys had to share. Thanks so much for showing me around and spending time with me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for coming by, We really enjoy sharing! And you'll have to let us know how it goes on the breeding adventure. ;)





And yes.. First water test was a success! No major issues..

Just before water test..


Still haven't quite decided on how the water should actually enter the tank.. Should we cap a pipe and drill it with holes, or just have it come right out.. and at the top or the bottom?

hmmm
 
For your guys purposes, I'm assuming it wouldn't matter all that much. Drilled PVC would probably be a little more work, but it's obviously working in your guys' other tanks. How much flow do you expect to put through each tank? Does keeping parameters/environment variables as close to each other (from tank to tank) for your study matter? I doubt it'd make any difference, just throwing that out there..

Also, what were you planning for as far as filtration? If you want more info or any help on potential design for the algae scrubber, let me know. You said you thought it'd be more work, but in my opinion, would allow you guys less water changes on the system for purposes of nutrient reduction. Depending on design, they are really not much work to maintain in my experience.
 
Ya it does work in the other system but I think there are positives and negatives to the way we set that up.. First, there is really low flow (still high turnover) which is a good thing IMO... It seems to work well for breeding when the fish are in a really calm environment.

On the downside, there is often a film that collects on the top of the tank due to the low flow rate (pipe design).

I think that what we might want to do is just have an elbow come out near the surface... Using 1'' returns for each tank the flow is still low and we may not have to drill... The turnover is high, I havn't measured the actual GPH (- head pressure) but plan to do so to get a real number on the turnover rate. I expect we will get around 4000gph after the skimmer is installed which would be a 6x turnover, plenty enough for each tank. Flow rate will depend on how we set up the actual return pipe.


And yes, we would like to keep each tank as similar as possible.. while still mimicking a natural environment as best we can. We would eventually like to add anemones.

for filtration we are right now going to keep it simple.. Just 300lbs of live rock and a 4ft skimmer rated for over 1000 gallons.. If things don't look the way we like then we will make adjustments (i.e. scrubber, sand beds, etc..)..
 
On my system which is like yours with multi 20 gal tanks I have a threaded 1" bulk head & a nylon barb elbow & some tanks do not drain as good as others. I replaced 1 bulk head to a 1" slip & glued a 1" sced 1140 which is thin wall instead of 40 & the flow increased so fast that the water looks like a reef tank. When I measured the inside diameter of the nylon fitting & the 1140 pvc it was about 3/16 to 1/4 larger.
 
Cool.. We are using the thin walled PVC on the returns right now.. Our bulk heads are 1.5'' which might be kinda overkill but makes for a little more linear surface overflow..

What about the sumps.. Right now we are debating whether or not to baffle them to prevent rocks from going into the pump.. Or what exactly our options are

What did you do in your sump?
 
deangelr said:
I need to support the tanks on all sides and so was thinking of using plywood (after painting).. thoughts?
Click to expand...

My first thought is that the shelving you are using might deflect more than you think. I see that you have already filled it, hopefully it is not deflecting more than a 1/2". What to look for: The load beam "rolling" toward the center of the shelving. You may be able to remedy this with 2" x 4"'s screwed into the load beam.

I know this is PITA, but pallet racking will offer a gauge of steel and a load beam that, IMO, would be sufficient for these types of static load capacities. This stuff is most likely Chinese steel and you can't trust the manufacturing process. There was a large import of Chinese steel pallet rack in the early 2000's here in the Bay Area and was quickly shunned after some serious catastrophes (and all of the litigation that followed).

If you have any questions, PM me. I'm in the material handling industry and I've seen a few LFS using this type of shelving and I don't believe that the stated capacities are accurate.

-Mark
 
Mark SF said:
My first thought is that the shelving you are using might deflect more than you think. I see that you have already filled it, hopefully it is not deflecting more than a 1/2". What to look for: The load beam "rolling" toward the center of the shelving. You may be able to remedy this with 2" x 4"'s screwed into the load beam.

I know this is PITA, but pallet racking will offer a gauge of steel and a load beam that, IMO, would be sufficient for these types of static load capacities. This stuff is most likely Chinese steel and you can't trust the manufacturing process. There was a large import of Chinese steel pallet rack in the early 2000's here in the Bay Area and was quickly shunned after some serious catastrophes (and all of the litigation that followed).

If you have any questions, PM me. I'm in the material handling industry and I've seen a few LFS using this type of shelving and I don't believe that the stated capacities are accurate.

-Mark
Click to expand...


Well ****.. I mean its already up.. Filled.. Plumbed.. It would be weeks worth or work to redo the shelving..

The rated capacities are at 2,000g per shelf and 6,000lbs per unit.. Currently we are sitting at 800lbs per shelf and only 1,600 lbs per unit..

The shelves are definitely not perfect, there are slight differences in the water level on some of the shelves that we are just going to let sit. But this was a cost move.. The shelves were only $150 and with so many people using them for fish applications I made the decision that they should be sufficient, especially at how far below the capacities we are at..

I guess at this point well find out..
 
deangelr said:
Well ****.. I mean its already up.. Filled.. Plumbed.. It would be weeks worth or work to redo the shelving..

The rated capacities are at 2,000g per shelf and 6,000lbs per unit.. Currently we are sitting at 800lbs per shelf and only 1,600 lbs per unit..

The shelves are definitely not perfect, there are slight differences in the water level on some of the shelves that we are just going to let sit. But this was a cost move.. The shelves were only $150 and with so many people using them for fish applications I made the decision that they should be sufficient, especially at how far below the capacities we are at..

I guess at this point well find out..
Click to expand...

I understand the cost move, I deal with this in sales on a daily basis :uzi:. Like I said, if you see any of the beams rolling then you are going to want to remedy the situation by reinforcing with 2" x 4"s or something like this to keep it from occurring. Thanks for calculating the weight, 800# is definitely a decent load, but at least it is evenly distributed.

I would caution all people working on or near this shelving to never use the lower levels to support their weight. Just keep an eye on it and you should be fine.

Also, if you have any extra supports lying around, I would add these to the system. They don't need to support any weight, but they will help strengthen the uprights if there were any force applied to the structure.


-Mark
 
deangelr said:
Cool.. We are using the thin walled PVC on the returns right now.. Our bulk heads are 1.5'' which might be kinda overkill but makes for a little more linear surface overflow..

What about the sumps.. Right now we are debating whether or not to baffle them to prevent rocks from going into the pump.. Or what exactly our options are

What did you do in your sump?
Click to expand...

The sump was custom built by Titan Aquatics here in Phoenix. I have baffles in it but it is not installed yet. I am plumbing the returns & waiting on some pvc fittings to come in.
 
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it seems like there is no way to remove a tank. What happens if one needs to be replaced?
 
woodnaquanut said:
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it seems like there is no way to remove a tank. What happens if one needs to be replaced?
Click to expand...

Not exactly easy"¦ But we the bulk heads are threaded.. So we have thread to slip adapters that can unscrew from the tanks.. But we would have to cut the PVC attached to the adapter before we could remove the tank.
 
Next week! Protein skimmer shipped today and our baffles should be done tomorrow.. We'll let the silicone dry over the weekend and start it up.
 
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