Third Time's A Charm!

Here are a couple of pics of my Chiller. As mention earlier in the thread, it is a TradeWinds 1 hp inline chiller. In order to accomodate my plumbing and venting system, I had the chiller customized to have the inlet and outlet on the back(which is where the fan sucking air out of the room sits). I haven't actually turned the chiller on yet, since I still need to hook it up to my 220V expansion socket on my aquacontroller.

With the cover on:
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With the cover off:
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Brad
 
Here is a crappy top down shot of my current tank. The Zoas at the top have the most amazing coloration of any coral I have ever seen. They are a frag of a wild colony that I purchased from Atlantis for my maintainence account. They have grown very fast and seem to really like high light. I am gonna call them Light Bright Zoas.

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Brad
 
I still have a bunch of rock left over from my original order. It is mostly the tonga shelf pieces. I ended up only using a fraction of the number of shelf pieces I originally intended. I plan to sell the majority of what I have remaining.

Here is how much is left over.
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Here are some close up pics of the rocks.
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If anyone is interested in the rock, feel free to contact me.


Brad
 
So brad, that chiller sucks air out of the tank room and vents it outside each time it runs? Are you also venting air from over your tank or your tank room outside?

Sorry if this has already been clarified, I've not really been following the thread.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11216123#post11216123 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwood
So brad, that chiller sucks air out of the tank room and vents it outside each time it runs? Are you also venting air from over your tank or your tank room outside?

Sorry if this has already been clarified, I've not really been following the thread.

Yep, the fan behind the chiller will blow air outside. Additionally, there is a bathroom fan for the room that will vent air outside, and an inline fan hooked up to the halide reflectors that will blow outside.


Brad
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11217960#post11217960 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Atticus
Better watch out... Al Gore will be nocking on your door soon as another source of global warming... :D

HA!:lol: Believe it or not, one of the reasons I decided to build this tank now is because I think it is likely that in the not too distant future, the use of electricty, water, and perhaps even marine life, will be regulated to the point of eliminating the possiblity for the average Jo to have a tank this size.


Brad
 
Since my tank has been cycling for 2 weeks now, I figure its time to finally make a plumbing update.


Here is the back of the display. The water drains from 2 overflows(each with 2 drain holes) and then the 4 drains combine (one from each overflow) into 2 lines that head toward the skimmer and sump. One line will be the primary, and it will feed the skimmer. The other line will be the back up and it will dump directly into the sump if the primary line can't handle the water flow for whatever reason (blockage etc.).
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The lines then head to the furnace room where they cross over to the side of the room with the sump.
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They exit the furnace room and go behind the sink. One line will feed that skimmer that will sit where the blue stand is, and the other line will dump directly to the sump as shown in the next pic.
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Here is the left side of the sump where the skimmer will drain, the back up line will drain, the 300 conical tank drains, and the chiller drains.
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After entering the left side of the sump the water is drained out the right side. The line above the stand is from the 300 conical tank and the line comming from the chiller is partially hidden behind the sump.
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Once the water is drained out of the sump it hits the return pump that runs the whole system. It is split to feed the display, the chiller, and the 300 gallon in order to bypass the chiller if needed. Additionally the 300 has a drain line that will let me open up a valave and get water directly to the drain. I will use it when doing water changes.
IMG_9109Large.jpg




Around 65-70% of the water goes through the chiller. From there half of it is split to go to the 300 and the other half returns directly to the sump. I originally intended to run all the water through the 300, but when testing this plan, the 300's water level ran too high, and caused too much water to drain to the sump when the return pump was shut down. By slowing the flow through the 300 I eliminated this problem. This also gets more chiller water to the display, which should keep the display's temp more constant.
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The water from the return that doesn't go to the chiller goes back to the display. It is controlled by a gate valve that allows a lot of precision when dialing in the flow. Since the tank will feed the skimmer, this will make it easy to hit the skimmer with the optimum flow.
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Brad
 
All in all, the plumbing turned out pretty nice. A big thanks to JJ, and Phil for helping me think through this and make it happen. There are right around 200 feet of plumbing for the system. It took a lot longer to do than I expected, and I encountered a few problems.



The first problem was leaking threaded connections. I literally re plumbed the 300 conical tank 7 times before it finally worked leak free. Draining that thing over and over again got very old. In the end I decided not to use teflon tape, because no matter how much or how little I used, there were always leaks. Instead, I went with a teflon paste. The paste worked well, and worked leak free almost every time. The only problem with it is that it lubricates the connection which allows you to over-tighten. I ended up cracking the female connection on my chiller by over-tightening with the paste. I recommend being very careful if you use the paste. Don't go more than hand tight.


The second problem was using flexible pipe. That stuff isn't bad to deal with when you are using an inch or inch and a half diameter, but the 2 inch stuff is a nightmare. It has a mind of its own. It is very difficult to measure (because it won't stay straight), and it is hard to get clean lines because of its natural bend. Given the number of odd angles I had to deal with, I would probably use it instead of hard pipe again. However, I wouldn't be looking forward to it.


The third problem was cutting all the pipe. I started by using JJ's metal saw. It cut with no problem, but the smell was really unbearable (burning plastic) and the little shavings it got everywhere were a pain. I didn't realize how bad it was until I turned on the first plumbing run (with tap water) and saw thousands of black pvc shavings everywhere. Once that happened I went out and purchased a heavy duty pair of PVC cutters. They do the job well with no shavings, and I will only use them in the future.


The fourth problem was hanging all the pipe. Because of the weight of the valves and pipes, I needed to secure the pipe to the walls in about 50 places. I used some pipe wall hangers (about $3 each). The bad part was the fact that 2 of the walls are concrete and securing the hangers in the concrete was a real PITA.


The fifth and last problem (the one I am still trying to deal with) is that the line from the display to the sump gurgles and surges a lot. The left overlow drains harder than the right overflow, and the right overflow raises and then flushes in regular intervals. I have tried gating down the right overflow, but it just increases the size of the surges. Beyond the noise issue, I am worried that trying to feed the skimmer with something that regularly pushes a bunch of air through it will be a big problem. At this point I am looking for suggestions of how to solve this issue.



Brad
 
Brad, let me know the next time you are anchoring into concrete.I have a hammer drill,hilti gun and any fastener length known to man.. Your are more than welcome you use it. Wayne
 
My tank has now been running for a little more than 3 weeks. Besides plumbing issue #5 that I noted in my prior post, the only problem I am having is with my PH. It has been running consistently between 8.5 and 8.6. I assume that it is high because of the concrete I used to build my rock structure. My question is, does anyone know how long I should expect it to remain this high? Normally tanks in my basement want to run very low PH, around 7.7 - 7.8. I assume that eventually this tank will be the same way.


I am pretty much ready to toss a few fish in the tank, but I am concerned about the PH. Does anyone run PH above 8.5? Any problems with it?



Brad
 
Along the same lines as my previos post, has anyone used pieces of homemade concrete in their sump as a way of keeping their PH high? Since I have always struggled with low PH (even with high alk) it might be something to try out, assuming that the effect is somewhat long lasting. I doubt any fix could be cheaper.



Brad
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11298955#post11298955 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dascharisma
Along the same lines as my previos post, has anyone used pieces of homemade concrete in their sump as a way of keeping their PH high? Since I have always struggled with low PH (even with high alk) it might be something to try out, assuming that the effect is somewhat long lasting. I doubt any fix could be cheaper.



Brad


I wouldnt use concrete to raise pH. I have two big 45 pound rock structures that I made out of concrete. It took around 2 months of curing in a seperate container with water changes every other day, for the pH to get down to the mid 8's. I think it started out over 11pH. Well the residue that the curing left behind, even after 100% water changes every other day, was unbelievable. It was a thick crust of calcium type material that coated everything.

So Im sure uncured concrete rocks would defintaly raise your pH, but I wouldnt want the residue the curing process puts out in my tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11303138#post11303138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ball
I wouldnt use concrete to raise pH. I have two big 45 pound rock structures that I made out of concrete. It took around 2 months of curing in a seperate container with water changes every other day, for the pH to get down to the mid 8's. I think it started out over 11pH. Well the residue that the curing left behind, even after 100% water changes every other day, was unbelievable. It was a thick crust of calcium type material that coated everything.

So Im sure uncured concrete rocks would defintaly raise your pH, but I wouldnt want the residue the curing process puts out in my tank.

Interesting. I have some crusty calcium like film in my tank, but I wasn't sure if it was from the concrete or my other rocks. Now I know.

By the way, how low did you wait for your pH to reach before you added livestock?


Brad
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11307744#post11307744 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dascharisma
Interesting. I have some crusty calcium like film in my tank, but I wasn't sure if it was from the concrete or my other rocks. Now I know.

By the way, how low did you wait for your pH to reach before you added livestock?


Brad

Yup, I would say your film is probably from the concrete.

I waited for the pH to drop to the mid 8's in the curing tub before I even put them in the tank. Then it was ok to put them into the tank.
 
Hi Brad

Great build!!

You said you bought some heavy duty PVC cutters?
How large of a diameter can they cut? I have a pair that can do up to about 1" but cant do 1.5". If yours can do bigger than that can you send me some info or post a pic of them?

thanks
eins
 
I can't find anything in the 2 minutes I spent googling, but I've seen PVC cutters that will do 2" ID PVC. They look very similar to the ones that cut smaller PVC, they're just bigger!

I know Brad has 2" plumbing everywhere so he must have found one that did at least that large...
 
Acme tools downtown has or can get one that does up to I think 2.5 inch PVC...it looks almost like a set of big bolt cutters with a funky blade...
 
My cutters are massive, and they handle 2 inch pipe with ease. Ryan Nielson is currently borrowing them, but I will be sure to get a picture of them when he returns them. I have owned a few of the smaller cutters, and they are a pain to use. The ones I found are really nice to work with. They have long handles which give you a lot of leverage and don't hurt your hands (I know I am a wimp).


Brad
 
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