:lmao:Sorry, but most high end skimmers have a float switch installed which adds value. And really what's the lid cost to replace $50-$100? It'a drop in the bucket... Errr... I mean 1,700 gallon tank in the grand scheme of things.
Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164†x 48†x 56†SPS peninsula build
- Thread starter pmrogers
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:lmao:Sorry, but most high end skimmers have a float switch installed which adds value. And really what's the lid cost to replace $50-$100? It'a drop in the bucket... Errr... I mean 1,700 gallon tank in the grand scheme of things.
sowildpaul
New member
I haven't seen one so can you post a picture of one skimmer with a float switch installed as you mentioned? (The skimmer pmrogers has is a high end skimmer but no float switch)
I'd rather have dirty water in a 5 or 7 gallons bucket instead of in my skimmer cup while I am away.
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I don't want to muck up this thread, but I'll answer your question and let's leave it at that.
If I had to guess, his skimmer was custom built and perhaps he hadn't decided wether or not he wanted the float switch. Not a big deal as it's an easy addition. And what's the difference if skimmate is sitting in a bucket or in the cup? Either way, once both are full they must be emptied. Personally, hooking my skimmer cup up to my sewer was one of the best things I did. No more hauling, spilling, splashing skimmate on the way to the sink. Turn a valve and bye bye skimmate.
Here's one example, most people would agree ATB is one of the best skimmers on the market.
http://www.atb-usa.com/category-s/1817.htm
Ted_C
Active member
He said On the QT - it's always Primed. More curious about the Main Display.
I'm planning on doing something similar on my 156 gallon quarantine and 8 ft main display tanks - but I'll be using a Tee with a venturi in the middle of it on a sump recirculating / water change pump (it recirculates sump water for UV and Chiller or I can close off some valves and send water from the sump to the drain).
It should work exactly like an Aqueon water changer - but instead of running and wasting clean water through a faucet - I can use the recirculating sump water to siphon out detritus. The fittings are quite expensive though - around $60 for a 1" Venturi Tee.
Hi all, sorry to have disappeared after my last update without answering questions. Was in a crunch trying to get the post out, then pulled into an assortment of other things. Will try to catch up now.
Thank you, Tradewinds. I did not see much infighting between the tangs. One of the slightly larger ones in each tank was clearly the boss, but aggression seemed to be limited to posturing. Unfortunately, all of the tangs died overnight shortly after my last post, more on that in my next update.
Thank you for the suggestion, metamorphis. Can't say I'd heard of drum filters prior to your post. Not sure I would have the space, but something that would let me get out of maintaining 9 filter socks would be most welcome. I'll do a bit more research.
Thank you, reefslugs! Nothing more specific on the fish list than what I put in the opening post: assorted tangs, large schools of chromis and anthias.
Thank you, dom418. Once the system is stable, I'm hoping to keep maintenance down to about 15 minutes per day and 2 or 3 hours per weekend. But of course it will be 2 or 3 years before it is fully stable. For this first year I'm anticipating 30+ minutes per day, and 6+ hours per weekend, with probably 1 or 2 12-hour weekends a month.
Fun-- very glad I could help you discover Peter's and Chingchai's threads!
Hi Dave.M. The skimmer comes with a sprayer-based neck wash down system. It's not working, unfortunately, so I can't tell yet if the spray nozzle will hit only the inner neck or also hit the cup. I suspect and hope it is only the inner throat since it is using recirculated tank water, but won't be shocked if it sprays everything as I have seen large commercial systems be rather cavalier about a bit of water loss.
Thanks! I'm happy with how much easier it has made upkeep on the QTs, and the hard-plumbed display tank version should be even better.
Thank you, tommyboynj!
Thanks for sharing your thinking, CuzzA. I had neck and cup wash downs on the RK2 that preceded this skimmer and found that they greatly reduced maintenance. The cup wash down wasn't critically important, more of a cosmetic thing, but the neck wash down was invaluable.
Hi Ted_C, I will initiate the vacuum one time by using a spare utility pump to actively pump water from the display into the vacuum hose and piping. When done vacuuming, I will use one of the cutoff valves to shut off the vacuum a few seconds after pulling the vacuum wand from the tank. The few seconds delay is to allow time for the water to clear from the flexible hose that is curled up in the canopy, but not so much time that it clears the pipes between display tank and fishroom. From that point on, all I need to do to reinitiate the vacuum is submerge the vacuum wand and open the cutoff valve for the canopy bay that I'm working in. The weight of the water in the pipes between display and fish room should be ample for pulling water back into the flexible hose portion and restarting the siphon.
Thank you, Tradewinds
. I did not see much infighting between the tangs. One of the slightly larger ones in each tank was clearly the boss, but aggression seemed to be limited to posturing. Unfortunately, all of the tangs died overnight shortly after my last post, more on that in my next update.Thanks, dallasg. I hope I will be able to keep a school, though it is definitely a risk. I have heard that what often happens is that one dominant fish will kill off the others one by one. I saw behavior along these lines the last time I kept a large school of green chromis, though after a steady decline from 30 to 15, the school stayed stable for most of a year before the picking off started up again.
Thank you for the suggestion, metamorphis. Can't say I'd heard of drum filters prior to your post. Not sure I would have the space, but something that would let me get out of maintaining 9 filter socks would be most welcome. I'll do a bit more research.
Thank you, reefslugs! Nothing more specific on the fish list than what I put in the opening post: assorted tangs, large schools of chromis and anthias.
Thanks, delmo! No, haven't lived in Florida-- Texas my whole life other than a 3 year stint in Chicago. Thanks for the kind words. An auto water change system is well worth the hassle to set up!
Thank you, dom418. Once the system is stable, I'm hoping to keep maintenance down to about 15 minutes per day and 2 or 3 hours per weekend. But of course it will be 2 or 3 years before it is fully stable. For this first year I'm anticipating 30+ minutes per day, and 6+ hours per weekend, with probably 1 or 2 12-hour weekends a month.
Fun-- very glad I could help you discover Peter's and Chingchai's threads!
For your skimmer, will you have a built-in head cleaner? What about an automated spray to clean the cup out?
More pictures of Coco, please.
Dave.M
Hi Dave.M. The skimmer comes with a sprayer-based neck wash down system. It's not working, unfortunately, so I can't tell yet if the spray nozzle will hit only the inner neck or also hit the cup. I suspect and hope it is only the inner throat since it is using recirculated tank water, but won't be shocked if it sprays everything as I have seen large commercial systems be rather cavalier about a bit of water loss.
Thanks! I'm happy with how much easier it has made upkeep on the QTs, and the hard-plumbed display tank version should be even better.
Thank you, tommyboynj!
Looking great!!! Loving the aquascape and everything about this build.
This is exactly how I run my skimmer. I don't think I would ever trust running it wide open to the sewer. It's just too risky. Just something dying could cause the skimmer to go nuts. I'd skip that idea even if it runs flawless for 12 months. Keep Murphy away!!!
However, a solenoid opening when the float switch is activated and an Apex notification as a reminder to check that everything is ok seems fairly safe. I may do this on my current build. Perhaps an ip camera on the skimmer would be a good idea too.
I also added an auto neck cleaner and a microjet sprinkler wash down to my new skimmer. My thoughts are it may reduce skimmate production slightly, however it should be made up by always having a clean neck. So maybe it's a wash in terms of production, yet a gain in terms of maintenance.
Keep the updates coming it's been great to watch the progress on your (everyone's dream) tank.
Thanks for sharing your thinking, CuzzA. I had neck and cup wash downs on the RK2 that preceded this skimmer and found that they greatly reduced maintenance. The cup wash down wasn't critically important, more of a cosmetic thing, but the neck wash down was invaluable.
Hi Ted_C, I will initiate the vacuum one time by using a spare utility pump to actively pump water from the display into the vacuum hose and piping. When done vacuuming, I will use one of the cutoff valves to shut off the vacuum a few seconds after pulling the vacuum wand from the tank. The few seconds delay is to allow time for the water to clear from the flexible hose that is curled up in the canopy, but not so much time that it clears the pipes between display tank and fishroom. From that point on, all I need to do to reinitiate the vacuum is submerge the vacuum wand and open the cutoff valve for the canopy bay that I'm working in. The weight of the water in the pipes between display and fish room should be ample for pulling water back into the flexible hose portion and restarting the siphon.
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Tough few weeks for the system. Was able to get in about 40 hours of project time since the last update, but unfortunately most of that time was spent recovering from setbacks. As we last left things a little over 3 weeks ago, I thought I was within 2 or 3 days of starting to fill the display. Then, as I started giving the canopy and tank a last hard look while considering that I would never again be able to just walk around in the dry tank to access everything, came up with a number of details to finish off properly before going wet. Then a series of problems came up.
Leading with the positive:
- Filled sump and skimmer with 600 gallons of salt water.
- Finished skimmer plumbing: 1/2" line to pull air from outside, 1 1/2" line from waste cup to drain.
- Brought big skimmer on line.
- Completed standpipes for overflow.
- Built covers for display tank overflow.
- Began setup of 4th fish quarantine tank.
- Started filling display.
On the not-so-positive front:
- Redid clamps on output of Abyzz 420 feeding the skimmer -- severe leakage around the banjo clamps. While the banjo clamps are wonderfully built, they are not as adaptable due to the permanent curve built into them. I couldn't find a banjo size that exactly fit over the not-quite 1.5" outputs of the Abyzz's. The 181mm clamps were close but not quite curved enough and the 150s were too small. Cheapo generic band clamps from Lowes may not look nearly as nifty but they actually work.
- Apex stopped displaying any dashboards, no way to see probe values or set outlet states. Tried rebooting multiple times, clearing web browser caches, resetting each of the 12 modules. No luck. Disconnected all modules, confirmed that main Apex unit would display a dashboard. Added back half of the modules, still worked. Turned out to be the pH and Temperature module on the coral QT. When connected, web interface on main unit can't render. I won't blame Neptune for this one since that module got a heavy spray of water during a coral QT water change last month.
- Reworked Tunze Stream driver board (yes, again, adapter mounts failed)
- Flooded and ruined both Orphek Nilus driver/controller boxes. Don't ask.
- Installed new LED light strip over softies tank.
- Patched RO/DI cartridge housing, again.
- Lost 11 of the 20 yellow tangs in QT.
- Coral QT bleaching event: total loss of 1 frag, severe bleaching on 2 others. Started with the Ecoxotics dialed back to 50%. After 2 weeks, the red and pink corals started turning brown. Bumped intensity to 70% and upped light runtime by 90 minutes. Corals started lightening up within the week, looking great. Then overnight, I came back to major tissue recession on the hollywood stunner, and 30% plus bleaching on two other frags. Cut lights back but bleaching progressed. In the end, I think the light shock was a red herring. Finally tried testing nitrates and it came back at 160!!? Not that it's an excuse, but I was still in the testing mindset from my previous systems that had been stable for 8 to 13 years and had much larger water volumes. I got in the habit of doing complete testing only infrequently since not much changed and never quickly. On the smaller coral QT, I've been testing Alk, Ca, Salinity every other day, monitoring pH and temperature and ammonia. Didn't think I needed to test Nitrates with only a single damsel, feeding only about a dozen micro pellets a day. Just flat out embarrassing. It seems that my previous systems were stable for too long so now I'm doomed to repeat newbie mistakes. <sigh>
On to the pictures. . .
Overflow Standpipes completed
Three 2 1/2" durso overflows, plus two 1.5" emergency overflows. Started with 3/8" intake hole on the first durso, then got worried that this wouldn't supply sufficient air intake to prevent slurping. Bumped up to 1/2" for the last two dursos.
Covers for overflow area
Salt creep above the overflow of my previous 750 was a mess within a few years. Decided to make close fitting covers for this overflow and to also create a shield between the main tank and overflow.
Overflow cover in 2 parts. A bit uneven in this pic due to the temporary RO/DI line being used to fill the display. Covers will lie flush once the blue RO/DI line is removed.
Also added vertical shield to help keep splash and salt creep from the main tank away from the Tunze drivers. Shield should also serve to reflect some of the light from the pendants back into the tank, reducing shadowing on the side of the ostrich. Used PVC corner mold to create a channel for holding the partition. Partition is narrower than the opening by just a hair more than the width of one corner mold to allow for easy insertion and removal. Stray lines in the photo are for the temporary water line, heaters, and recirc pump being used during the fill. Partition will rest flush against the overflow once the temporary lines are removed.
Drain line for skimmer cup
Added valve to skimmer cup so that I can know how much the skimmer is overflowing. Skimmer comes with a 1.5" drain intended to be routed straight to sewer. I'm not comfortable doing this as I worry about the skimmer going nuts, taking out a massive amount of water, then the auto top-off throwing salinity out of whack. Until I am _very_ comfortable with the stability of the skimmer, perhaps 12 months, I will leave the drain line valve closed and let the skimmer cup fill up. This way I'll know exactly how much the skimmer is pulling out, and if it ever goes bonkers while I am away. An important element of this setup that I still need to install is a cutoff float switch in the skimmer cup.
Flow test with skimmer recirculating to sump
This is with the skimmer feed pump set to about 50 gallons per minute. Flow will _really_ be turbulent in here once the display tank is adding another 120gpm. I hope the 6 XL filter socks are enough to handle the flow
Close up of lid for sock chamber. After running for 3 weeks, a significant amount of salt creep worked its way up around the lid. I find this impressive given how tightly the lid fits. Looks like salt creep removal will be a weekly task once I have full flow.
QT Water Change System
You may recall from an earlier post the permanent siphon vacuum system built into the canopy. When planning the QT systems, I didn't think I'd need vacuuming since I was automating water changes. I should have realized that I'd want to be able to slurp out detritus even in the QT tanks. And of course, there's always the odd emergency large water change, such as when one lets the water parameters get horribly out of sorts due to lazy testing habits. This is what I rigged up to make vacuuming more convenient for QT.
Vacuum hose with 2 ball valves. Water stays in the hose body permanently. When ready to siphon, pop the floor drain cover and drop the gray pipe in. Lesson learned from earlier years of vacuuming: make the intake smaller than the smallest constriction down stream. Otherwise rubble or snails can get lodged where the tubing meets hose barbs necessitating disassembly.
Ready to Vacuum. Floor drain in lower left of image. Open valve on the drain end, then take other end over to QT tank and open that valve to restart the siphon.
Filling the Display
Finally underway. 1000gpd unit should fill the tank in a little under 2 days. Here's hoping my latest patch holds. To my surprse and annoyance, one of the seemingly bulletproof cannister housings cracked vertically and started spraying a fine mist into the garage. At 2' tall and about 10 pounds each, I thought I was set for life. These are made of polyethylene or some similar material that no adhesive will stick to, so my first Weldon 40 patch failed after a week. More annoying still, the exact cartridge housing is no longer made, and the new housings use a different lid, so to truly fix I have to remove the entire 3-cartridge bracket from the wall, disassemble to replace the cap of the failed housing. Before getting into that I think I will try welding a patch over the crack in the housing.
Fill under way. Coco the savannah inspecting my work.
Love your Bengal cat checking out the progress on the tank. I'm sure it will be in heaven when there are fish in the tank
Quick suggestion on your fear of skimmer overflow. You could add the conductivity module/probe to your apex unit. If the conductivity drops below value X it can send you a text message and shut off your skimmer so that it doesn't continue to pull water out of the tank. You could also have it shut off your ATO system so that you don't have to worry about a float valve failing.
And ph.
Didn't you say that the DT vacuum was going to run through the sump? If so aren't you worried about bacteria or hydrogen sulfide building up in the pipes while it's not running?
usingthejohn
New member
Hahahahahahaha
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