the 1700g stingray reef

That sounds a bit strange to me. You will need the capacity to cool 24/7 but will not be making water 24/7. Plus you are paying for the tap water. A ground loop is more economically efficient don't you think?

I understand the desire to heat the tap water for RO/DI efficiency, but there again having that done consistently, not just when the tank needs to be cooled, is important. Since I keep my SW holding bin at tank temp., I just run 200 ft of supply line through it and then to the RO/DI. Then any time the RO/DI is functioning, it is getting warm water.
 
I think he ment he is recirulating just regular tap water. I am under the impresion that with these temp regulation devises they recirulate the sale water. Not use fresh water constantly.
 
Energy, I have also thought about doing something similar. But I would just use the tap to my RO/DI and use it for extra cooling when I run my RO/DI rather than relying on it for the sole means of cooling. What will you be using for a heat exchanger? Titanium? And how long of tubing will you use for the exchanger? I have thought about just using RO tubing but I don't think it has very good heat exchanging abilities. Titanium would be too much $$ for my purposes. I am having a hard time understanding how you will get "on-demand" cooling with this setup unless you will be dumping water down the drain when it is not being used for RO. One way to decrease wasted water would be to hook up the exchanger to the water line that feeds the house. That way you can use the water from the heat exchanger for everything in the house. In fact, I would guess it would lower your water heater costs.

I agree with jnarowe that a ground loop would be the best idea if you will be using the heat exchanger as the sole means of cooling. But knowing you, spazz, and Bill... you guys probably have something new and groundbreaking up your sleeves.:D Please share more when you can.
 
Nothing new. A solenoid will be connected to a temperature controller. When the trigger temp is reached the city tap water will turn on and run through the titanium heat exchanger until the desired temperature is reached. This water will be connected to my small ro/di unit which will go into a 400 gallon freshwater storage tank to make water changes. This will probably take anywhere from 10-25 days to fill up depending on the heat demand. Then I do a 400 gallon water change - emptying the system and getting ready for the next cycle. It's all theoretical at this point although I do have most of the parts here or on order. The other phase to the cooling cycle will be the household airconditioning which still pipes into the room and high powered fans for convection cooling to assist as well. Bill says that the same set-up more than handled his small 1500 gallon or so tank.
 
I use 3 blowers on my system with no other cooling. It works really well but I have a special situation in that my tank is on the bottom floor in the middle with 1 wall half-way sub-terranian. The make-up air is drawn from under my deck.

The issue I see with your proposed rig is that your tank will be depending on multiple variables to achieve cooling and top-off. If your tank doesn't need to be cooled for a long period you may not have enough water for changes. Bill and Scott are certainly more experienced than I so I would have to assume you have a good plan. I have a well and did consider the type of cooling you are considering, but concluded that it would not be as efficient as the way I have it now.

I did, of course, leave my system modular enough that I could add a ground loop if needed. My ground temp. is 55F Summer and 45F Winter, so a closed loop through a heat exchanger would work really well. There have been more than one TOTM with a ground loop and I think it is a very smart way to do it.

I also route my brine from the RO/DI into holding tanks to water my vegetable garden. It is essentially fertilizer being high in nitrate & phosphate. :)
 
Energy, forgive me as sometimes I forget about the sheer size of your system. Having a 400 gallon tank just for water changes puts things back into perspective.:D It sounds like a pretty good plan. The exchanger may need to run almost constantly during the summer as the ground temps will be warmer. The only recommendation I can think of (and I'm sure you guys have already thought of it) is to put a bypass on the exchanger line so that you can make water without running water through the exchanger when cooling is not needed. I suspect that in the winter, when the ground temps are really cold around here, you will need to use that bypass a lot. Can't wait to hear how it works out for you.
 
I went to visit Energy today. He is getting ready to make a few large changes to his system. He is going to be installing a new sump which will hold upwards of 350-400 gallons. A new skimmer that will be a Dart Needle-Wheel design. It will be made out of a 24" round acrylic tube, and stand close to 6' tall. His whole fish room will be re-aranged for this change. The two fuges, he has setup at the back of the wall will go, and that is where the new Skimmer will sit. His old sump will rest on top of the new one and be the new refugium. Just about all of the plumbing is going to have to be redone for this change. Big Ulgy will likely go into retirment.

tankroom.jpg


In the last month Energy has taken out all but two of the T5 lamps. He is pretty much running only MH's on the tank now. He is better able to disperse the light where he wants now without having to work around the T5's. Also the T5's were a headache because everytime a bulb went or loosened up he had to trouble shoot which bulb it was. Now that may not sound like alot of work but when you have as many he had on top of the tank it was a nightmare. He is going to be installing a titanium heat exchanger which should eliminate any temperature flucuations that he was having in the summer time. In the next 6 months this setup will be entirely differant for the better. Energy picked up a new 400 gallon water storage tank for RO/DI water.

roditank.jpg


Well onto the eye candy!!!

tankfront2.jpg


tankfront.jpg


tankend.jpg


StarFish.jpg


ryzotropus.jpg


Rhomboidwrasse.jpg


LTAskunkclown2.jpg
 
Well I just spend 6 hours and 15 minutes reading every post from page 1, and admiring every picture and video that was posted... What a way to spend a sunday, and after all that the only thing I can say is amazing tank! :rollface:
 
Energy, the tanks is looking great. Really like that efflo!

Carman, thanks for the update and pics!
 
I've been running a reverse flow recirculating rowaphos reactor that spazz built for me. Since I've consistantly had coral burn every time new media was added I have begun to run the effluent from the reactor through the wetneck of "Big Ugly". I've noticed that even after weeks of the reactor running I still pull red skimmate. The entire collection cup and neck are bright red. This happens even after the rowaphos reactor has had weeks to settle in. This is telling me that the rowaphos is constantly leaching fine red particulate matter into the aquarium. Since running it through the wet neck which is now my "red neck" skimmer cup the corals haven't showed any signs of burning.
 
I was just discussing this issue with another local reefer and I am planning on running all effluent through a sock. I have had trouble with some LPS and I believe it may be associated with the Rowa/carbon fines getting into my system. Thanks so much for posting about this issue as I may have never figured it out on my own! :D
 
That was one hell of (dude there was mud flying everywhere!)a burn out!!!! Anyhow, I will keep an eye on my sock for abnormal color. As usual I leave your pad more educated than when I went.
 
my wife is the one with the "pads" dude...but thanks for the great burn out...I am sure my neighbors loved it. Good thing they are all afraid of me! :D
 
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