Ultimate 20G Setup Journal - Pic Intense

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8500254#post8500254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cmondo
I have been watching this thread for a while, and I am glad to see water in the tank finally.

Some suggestions on quieting the durso is adjusting the depth which the drain pipe is at. I find that if the pipe goes well beneath the sump water level the noise is much louder. Try having it empty right above the water line. Also I found that when I put a filter sock on the drain the noise level went down too.

Good luck with the tank and let me know how that Oceanic salt works out for you I know a lot of people have had problems with it especially with the calcium levels.

Chris
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Thanks for the advice Chris! I'll did shorten the length of the drain pipe and I also enlarged the air hole just slightly. These two things combined have helped. I'm still shooting for "whisper quiet", so I think I'll also take your advice on the filter sock. I'll have to pick a few up tomorrow.

I've heard both good and bad about the Oceanic salt. I'll keep you posted.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8500584#post8500584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CoralFiend
Also, I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this, I might have missed it, but the SCWD is most likely causing some of your low flow problems. Although I currently have a SCWD on my nano, I will be removing it soon. This is the second one that has gone bad in six months. If you want to have something reliable and with less restriction on your water flow, take a look at the OceansMotions SuperSquirt Compact. Ok, it costs $225 but since I have two of the OM products, I can tell you they are worth every penny - even on that small system.

SuperSquirt Compact-$225
OM Squirt 2-Way - $165

I'll be tagging along on this one...
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I've debated going with an OM unit. I probably would have if I didn't have two brand new SCWD's sitting in a box. They sent me two replacements when my first one sprung a leak. The flow isn't all that bad now that I've upgraded to the Mag 9. Buy hey, maybe I can ask Santa for one for an OM unit for Christmas :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8501437#post8501437 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dogstar74
I would really discourage this! I had a skimmate collection cup overflow all night one night, I estimated 5 gallons. Just because my skimmer wasn't fine tuned. If you're in-sump skimmer overflows, then it's just dumping the skimmate back into the sump. Kinda like ashes to ashes. But if you're skimmer decides to go crazy at 3 in the morning and overflows the collection cup, then it's a disaster. I'll never have a collection cup outside my sump again.
Click to expand...

Wowzers...don't want that happening. I don't know that I'll have room for a separate cup in this setup. I wanted the option available to me, but now that I have everything going I just don't see how I could get it all to fit.

So do the skimmers operate that inconsistantly? Like I said, first time running a skimmer so it's all new to me.

BTW, do you guys and gals run your skimmers full time, or do you cycle them on timers?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8502168#post8502168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by banditfl
The UVL Super Actinic is more of a Purple color and really makes the green and orange/red colors pop. Also the output is not as visible as would the ATI Blue +. And does not affect the overall color as much, but really brings out the fluorescants in the corals. And looks really cool all by itself.
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Great info Bandit. Thanks. Have any pics?
 
beautiful tank you gave me alot of ideas to use when i set up my 29 especily in the stand and external overflow i was figuring out how to do both of those the exact way you did for so long
 
Thanks for the compliment purebullet. Hopefully you can build on what I've done and come up with something even better.

Gurgle Update! I monkey'ed around with variations on airline tubing tricks to quiet the gurgle. Turns out the best results came from simply letting about a foot of airline hang free from the Duros. No valves or anything. One important thing to note. If I pushed the tubing too far into the durso the the toilet flushing effect would kick in. The key was having the airline just barely inserterd into the Durso.

Here's a couple pics. The water is cloudy from me purposefully stirring it up.

GurgleFix1.jpg


GurgleFix2.jpg
 
I don't have a Durso setup myself, but for what it's worth, I have read that you should let them run noisy for a couple of weeks with the normal salt water before you try to "tune" them. The reason being that after a couple of weeks a layer of "slime" builds up on the insides of the PVC pipe that slightly changes its flow characteristics and the "tuning" will change. Most people found that if they drilled the right size hole in the top of the Durso to quiet it with fresh water, or even new salt water, it would change after several weeks and they had to go back to another cap with a smaller hole.

Again, I'm no expert, just been studying and reading up in anticipation of building my own ultimate tank.
 
Thanks Cap'n!

Bcoons, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I've already had to make two adjustements since last night. I think I'll relax a bit and tackle it in a month or two.

This afternoon I worked a bit on the plumbing and also began working on a way to mount my PFO Mini Pendant. First I dis-assembled the hood and stand so that I could easily get to the drain pipes. This was the first time I was able see the benefit of my design. Pretty cool!!!

My camera makes the stand look orange for some reason.

setup
PlumbingMaint1.jpg


setup
PlumbingMaint2.jpg


setup
PlumbingMaint3.jpg
 
Once I finished up with the plumbing I started working on the pendant. The pendant ships with two little eye bolts that can be used to hang the pendant. Since mine is going to be fixed to the hood I had to come up with something different.

PfoMount1.jpg


PfoMount2.jpg


PfoMount3.jpg


PfoMount4.jpg


PfoMount5.jpg


PfoMount6.jpg


PfoMount7.jpg


I still have to paint the wood and come up with a way to get the big ole connector and cord out through the hood. I'm thinking of just routing a slot. We'll see.

See anything that might cause trouble? Let me know your thoughts.
 
I gotta say this is one nice, clean, well-engineered system. The kind os stuff I love. Keep up the good work and I am tagging along and stealing ideas! :)
 
Thanks B'. Hopefully you can improve on what I've done. Be sure to keep me in the loop. Shoot me a PM with a link once you start your thread :)
 
Even with some paint on those wood slats they might swell just a little in that humid atmosphere. I think I would leave just a little bit of tolerance (aka "slop" :) ) in between those slats of wood before tightening them down so they don't buckle.

Having said that, you have a nice mounting setup. It allows the light fixture to be snug up against the top of the canopy, easily removable for maintenance, and no visible screws through the top. Nice.
 
nice job mounting that pendant :)
What bulb did you say you were puting in it?...if you said already?

Thanks...this system is great and exciting to follow! :)
 
It's a 14k Phoenix 150 Watt. I'm powering it with an Ice Cap ballast (if it ever gets here). I took a chance on the bulb color because I've never seen a 14k up close and personal. However, I've heard a lot of good things about this bulb.

The tank is really starting to clear up. I'm mixing up the sand every evening to keep the dust suspended so that the skimmer can do it's thing.
 
I would try to mount the lights without using wood directly attached to the top of the fixture. If they developed the fixture with clearance in mind, then it may get too hot to put a combustable material that close to the metal fixture housing. Could you somehow hang the pendant from the cabinet with only a single link of chain or something to allow the passage of air between the light fixture and the wood? I know I would sleep better at work knowing it was not in direct contact with the wood. Just my .02
 
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