Building My 375gal Glass Reef - Page 2

GlassReef · 03/19/2009, 10:41 PM

BTW, it's 12:35AM and I have a filter sock that's gurgling - calling me to be changed. Now, I've changed a filter sock or two in my day - even when no one else was using them in Europe - but I find myself growing tired of them! Not good! This is a brand new setup and I'm already tired of changing filter socks.

I think I should make it a goal to come up with "a better filter sock". You know, one you only have to change once a month.

Yeah, that's it - a Sock of the Month.

Good night ....

Ed Reef · 03/19/2009, 10:43 PM

Remember to patent it lol

mflamb · 03/20/2009, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
BTW, it's 12:35AM and I have a filter sock that's gurgling - calling me to be changed. Now, I've changed a filter sock or two in my day - even when no one else was using them in Europe - but I find myself growing tired of them! Not good! This is a brand new setup and I'm already tired of changing filter socks. I think I should make it a goal to come up with "a better filter sock". You know, one you only have to change once a month. Yeah, that's it - a Sock of the Month.

Good night ....

When I first started using filter socks, I felt the same way, but now I'm changing them every day, just a habit, and it's so repetitious that I don't even think about it.

EnglishRebel · 03/20/2009, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
Sock of the Month.

Good night ....

Good morning.....
Just join Sock of the Month Club and they'll send you a new pair every month. I like the Argyles the best but the Gold Toes are good too.

SkoReef · 03/21/2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
BTW, it's 12:35AM and I have a filter sock that's gurgling - calling me to be changed. Now, I've changed a filter sock or two in my day - even when no one else was using them in Europe - but I find myself growing tired of them! Not good! This is a brand new setup and I'm already tired of changing filter socks. I think I should make it a goal to come up with "a better filter sock". You know, one you only have to change once a month. Yeah, that's it - a Sock of the Month.

Good night ....

The following thread in the DIY section might be worth reading:
DIY Filter Screen - Sock replacement
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1584759
I just came across that thread this evening, and I don't have enough experience with filter socks to know whether or not the idea would work. What do you think?

BTW, this is the first time that I've posted to your thread, although I've been lurking and reading since the first few posts. As an engineer, it's satisfying to see someone meticulously implement a reef tank and fish room design as well as you - and be so generous to consistently document and take pictures of each step along the way! I don't yet have a reef tank, although I've been in the planning stages for the past year. I'm planning for a 10'x8' remote enclosed fish room in my garage that will be 25 feet away from a 150-210 gallon tank in my office with plumbing through the crawlspace. Your thread is one of the few that I consistently follow, and it has already supplied so many useful ideas for my future fish room that I've lost count!

EnglishRebel · 03/22/2009, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SkoReef
BTW, this is the first time that I've posted to your thread, although I've been lurking and reading since the first few posts. As an engineer, it's satisfying to see someone meticulously implement a reef tank and fish room design as well as you - and be so generous to consistently document and take pictures of each step along the way! I don't yet have a reef tank, although I've been in the planning stages for the past year. I'm planning for a 10'x8' remote enclosed fish room in my garage that will be 25 feet away from a 150-210 gallon tank in my office with plumbing through the crawlspace. Your thread is one of the few that I consistently follow, and it has already supplied so many useful ideas for my future fish room that I've lost count!

SkoReef To Reef Central

I too have a remote equipment room (in my basement) and I think it's the way to go if you have room. Planning is key in this hobby especially when you are starting out. I too lurked here and planned for about three or four years before I started. You can learn a lot here on RC (what to do and what to avoid).

Tom's thread is a great inspiration (he should be made an honorary engineer like us).

Good luck.

erics3000 · 03/22/2009, 10:38 PM

I am so glad I set mine up in my garage. I was going to go under my tank at first but wanted more room. If I had 1/10th of the water spills I have had in my garage in my office my floor and drywall would have been ruined within the first months. hahahha

Filter sock plans..You might have the time to build something like this. I thought about it for a while but probaly will never have the time to do it. It is a simple solution like the cloth towel roll in some older bath rooms. I thought about a rotating roll with filter floss and have a motor at 1 end on a timer. Every few hours or whatever time period a motor would wind up 1 side from a spool on the other side. So it would self change the dirty media. Depending on your timer adn the size of a rool this might last a few days to week and never have filter material cloged or just making a nitrate factory. So no worries for week with clean filter every day. The best part When the roll was done it would just stay wound up on the other side not nuder water so no biggie if you can't get to the roll to change.

Elliott · 03/22/2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
BTW, it's 12:35AM and I have a filter sock that's gurgling - calling me to be changed. Now, I've changed a filter sock or two in my day - even when no one else was using them in Europe - but I find myself growing tired of them! Not good! This is a brand new setup and I'm already tired of changing filter socks. I think I should make it a goal to come up with "a better filter sock". You know, one you only have to change once a month. Yeah, that's it - a Sock of the Month.

Good night ....

here's one that cleans itself, pictured in the middle:

http://www.seavisions.com/products.htm

erics3000 · 03/22/2009, 11:11 PM

OMG ...That was exactly what I was thinking about ..Damm I guess I don't nee to worry about the patent anymore.......hahahahhaha

DVNO · 03/23/2009, 12:56 AM

u need at least 30" and solid wood to keep the noise down, imo

GlassReef · 03/23/2009, 06:53 AM

Well, it's obvious what we gotta do... invent the worlds first self cleaning automated filter sock, preferably with computer controlled ozone injection and phytoplankton grow out chamber. Who's up for it?

EnglishRebel · 03/23/2009, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
Well, it's obvious what we gotta do... invent the worlds first self cleaning automated filter sock, preferably with computer controlled ozone injection and phytoplankton grow out chamber. Who's up for it?

Tom
If anyone can do it, it's you.

BTW were you an engineer in a previous incarnation?

jnarowe · 03/23/2009, 02:06 PM

I got tired of it too and just went to a floss shelf. Only needs changing about once per week, and I can use washable floss if I want.

GlassReef · 03/23/2009, 02:34 PM

Alan - Earned a BSME 43 years ago. Never worked a single day as an engineer - unfortunately for me.

Jonathan - how's that working out for you? Mind giving a detail or two?

jnarowe · 03/23/2009, 02:48 PM

Hey Tom,

Here is an early shot of a prototype (still in use

):

Essentially all overflow water goes through this or the skimmer, which also dumps into a floss try in the out-bound sump. This container has a perforated PVC shelf and a 3" drain into the sump below. It is NOT quiet. It works extremely well though and in a future unit I would make the perforated PVC concave to allow for even longer periods of use. Currently I just have the material come up the sides, but giving it a deeper "V" shape would be benefitial IMO.

GlassReef · 03/23/2009, 02:51 PM

Definitely gives me something to think about. Thanks!

jnarowe · 03/23/2009, 02:54 PM

I would never use socks, but then again, I have the room to do otherwise. Many reef-keepers do not, and many do not have the bio-load I have. Socks would just not cut it, and they were literally freaking me out.

EnglishRebel · 03/23/2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
Alan - Earned a BSME 43 years ago. Never worked a single day as an engineer - unfortunately for me.

Tom
I just knew it -- a closet engineer. We just outed you.

GlassReef · 03/23/2009, 03:17 PM

The be honest, I often regretted not better using what I learned. Life just took me in a different direction ...

dc · 03/23/2009, 06:36 PM

Test

zachtos · 03/23/2009, 07:44 PM

Nylon filter socks available at filterbags.com work great. Mine last atleast 3x as long as a felt sock, and wash out in the sink instead of the washer. why not just buy a large one (8" radius) and then you wont have to change it only but once month or so probably.

SkoReef · 03/23/2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
Well, it's obvious what we gotta do... invent the worlds first self cleaning automated filter sock, preferably with computer controlled ozone injection and phytoplankton grow out chamber. Who's up for it?

Quote:

Originally posted by EnglishRebel
Tom
If anyone can do it, it's you. BTW were you an engineer in a previous incarnation?

Quote:

Originally posted by GlassReef
Alan - Earned a BSME 43 years ago. Never worked a single day as an engineer - unfortunately for me.

Quote:

Originally posted by EnglishRebel
Tom
I just knew it -- a closet engineer. We just outed you.

Tom, here's your chance to put that BSME training to work.

I'll take care of the computer controlled/programming part of the product. I've got device driver & low level OS programming experience.
On second thought, Tom, I see what you list as your occupation, and I too would rather be enjoying retirement 43 years after graduating from college than trying to design and patent a new product.

Alan, thanks for the big welcome sign. It's the 2nd one I've received since I started posting on RC. Glad to know that some people take a few years to plan their reef systems. I guess it's a good thing to do in a hobby where mistakes can start getting very expensive. Besides, after moving into a new house one year ago today, I'm still working on the decorating to-do list that my wife and I agreed should be tackled first.

eran · 03/27/2009, 05:38 PM

what size acrylic do you use for your sump??? It looks nice!

MarkusII · 03/31/2009, 02:23 PM

Hello Tom,

congratulation - nice work....
good documentation

regards from Europe (Austria) - and glad you use an Austrian product to cool the light rack heat

Markus

GlassReef · 04/01/2009, 06:18 AM

Well, I've spent a disappointing week.

On the 23rd my computer wouldn't boot. Was a strange situation. It would boot until just after the Windows (bless little Billy's soul) Welcome Screen - then it would go black and nothing would be displayed but the mouse cursor. Of course I did the obligatory start in safe mode - no help. Then a safe mode start with command prompt - the boot was stopping at MUP.SYS! For those that know a little about these boxes from hell, when your startup stops at MUP.SYS, you're in trouble.

Especially if you have a mix of PATA and SATA drives and you have hardware RAID configured.

I went through the normal gyrations trying to get the box to boot - unplugged all the USB devices, one at a time. Unplugged all but the boot drive. switched out the video (PCI Express) card. Of course, all to no avail.

I did the chkdisk thing - on ALL drives (I have five of them) - nothing. I then checked each drive by attaching them to my laptop via USB. As I have a mix of PATA and SATA drives I had to order a converter USB cable from Amazon (with next day delivery, of course) to allow me to hook up both kinds of drives. They all tested OK so it had to be a hardware problem - at least you'd think so. Now, at this point, I should have used my head and checked with friends to see if anyone had a PC I could use to see if it would boot up using my drive. Clever as I am, instead, I started tearing the PC apart - hoping, I suppose, to find a loose connection. Now, I have a somewhat hopped up box

- it has a lot of parts. It took me a couple of days to go through this process.

Every hobby I have is PC based in some way, so my PC is very important to me - and there is a lot of data concerned. Now, I am very strict about backing up, etc. I was mirroring drives (RAID), did daily partial backups, and made monthly boot drive images using a very expensive piece of software. So I bit the bullet and decided to restore the drive image from last month. BTW - Window ASR (I think it stands for Automated System Recovery) doesn't work worth a crap - and now I find out, neither does my expensive backup program (I won't mention a name for fear of a libel suit).

I COULD NOT GET IT TO WORK!!!

So, after days of trying everything I could think of, I finally admitted to myself that I would have to do a full reinstall - It took three days. All in all, this fiasco lasted a full week! My PC is back up and running .....

I was on RC during the repair time using my laptop, but only sporadically - I had better things to do.

Sorry about this long OT rant - I just had to get it out of my system.

03/19/2009, 10:41 PM	#26
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	BTW, it's 12:35AM and I have a filter sock that's gurgling - calling me to be changed. Now, I've changed a filter sock or two in my day - even when no one else was using them in Europe - but I find myself growing tired of them! Not good! This is a brand new setup and I'm already tired of changing filter socks. I think I should make it a goal to come up with "a better filter sock". You know, one you only have to change once a month. Yeah, that's it - a Sock of the Month. Good night .... __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary.

03/19/2009, 10:43 PM	#27
Ed Reef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Currently Based in China Posts: 4,060	Remember to patent it lol __________________ Ed ~ Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can only be explored by those willing to take the risks. ~ Current Tank Info: Ed Reef’s Shallow Crest Inspired ART

03/22/2009, 10:38 PM	#32
erics3000 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Palm Bay FL Posts: 2,957	I am so glad I set mine up in my garage. I was going to go under my tank at first but wanted more room. If I had 1/10th of the water spills I have had in my garage in my office my floor and drywall would have been ruined within the first months. hahahha Filter sock plans..You might have the time to build something like this. I thought about it for a while but probaly will never have the time to do it. It is a simple solution like the cloth towel roll in some older bath rooms. I thought about a rotating roll with filter floss and have a motor at 1 end on a timer. Every few hours or whatever time period a motor would wind up 1 side from a spool on the other side. So it would self change the dirty media. Depending on your timer adn the size of a rool this might last a few days to week and never have filter material cloged or just making a nitrate factory. So no worries for week with clean filter every day. The best part When the roll was done it would just stay wound up on the other side not nuder water so no biggie if you can't get to the roll to change. __________________ Eric (Red House for my 300 display 600 system) Current Tank Info: 600 gallon system with 300 display

03/22/2009, 11:11 PM	#34
erics3000 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Palm Bay FL Posts: 2,957	OMG ...That was exactly what I was thinking about ..Damm I guess I don't nee to worry about the patent anymore.......hahahahhaha __________________ Eric (Red House for my 300 display 600 system) Current Tank Info: 600 gallon system with 300 display

03/23/2009, 12:56 AM	#35
DVNO Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 55	u need at least 30" and solid wood to keep the noise down, imo __________________ D V N O Four capital letters Printed in gold 'Cause details make the girls sweat even more while they're shaking their belt No need to ask my name to figure out how cool I am Current Tank Info: 240 gallon

03/23/2009, 06:53 AM	#36
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	Well, it's obvious what we gotta do... invent the worlds first self cleaning automated filter sock, preferably with computer controlled ozone injection and phytoplankton grow out chamber. Who's up for it? __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary.

03/23/2009, 02:06 PM	#38
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	I got tired of it too and just went to a floss shelf. Only needs changing about once per week, and I can use washable floss if I want. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

03/23/2009, 02:34 PM	#39
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	Alan - Earned a BSME 43 years ago. Never worked a single day as an engineer - unfortunately for me. Jonathan - how's that working out for you? Mind giving a detail or two? __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary.

03/23/2009, 02:48 PM	#40
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	Hey Tom, Here is an early shot of a prototype (still in use ): Essentially all overflow water goes through this or the skimmer, which also dumps into a floss try in the out-bound sump. This container has a perforated PVC shelf and a 3" drain into the sump below. It is NOT quiet. It works extremely well though and in a future unit I would make the perforated PVC concave to allow for even longer periods of use. Currently I just have the material come up the sides, but giving it a deeper "V" shape would be benefitial IMO. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

03/23/2009, 02:51 PM	#41
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	Definitely gives me something to think about. Thanks! __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary.

03/23/2009, 02:54 PM	#42
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	I would never use socks, but then again, I have the room to do otherwise. Many reef-keepers do not, and many do not have the bio-load I have. Socks would just not cut it, and they were literally freaking me out. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

03/23/2009, 03:17 PM	#44
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	The be honest, I often regretted not better using what I learned. Life just took me in a different direction ... __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary.

03/23/2009, 06:36 PM	#45
dc Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Wyoming Posts: 44,684	Test __________________ Debi ~60 Cube~ Why? Because I said so of course. -Sent via Tapatalk Smoke Signals-

03/23/2009, 07:44 PM	#46
zachtos Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,161	Nylon filter socks available at filterbags.com work great. Mine last atleast 3x as long as a felt sock, and wash out in the sink instead of the washer. why not just buy a large one (8" radius) and then you wont have to change it only but once month or so probably. __________________ 300G SPS reef build in progress Current Tank Info: 300G reef under construction

03/27/2009, 05:38 PM	#48
eran Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: mid west Posts: 397	what size acrylic do you use for your sump??? It looks nice! __________________ 265gal starfire, 90 gal. sump, 70gal. frag tank, 40gal. QT tank, Vertex Alpha 300 Cone Skimmer, calcium and kalk reactors, 5- tunze 6105's, 7069 controller, Apex, 3-400watt radiums w/galaxy ballasts in lumenbright larges, 2 super actinic VHO's Current Tank Info: 265gal starfire, 90 gal. sump, 70gal. frag tank, 40gal. QT tank, Alpha 300 Cone Skimmer, Geo 618 calcium and kalk reactors, 5- tunze 6105's, 7069 controller, Apex, 3-400watt radiums w/galaxy ballasts in lumenbright larges, 2 super actinic VHO's

03/31/2009, 02:23 PM	#49
MarkusII Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: near Innsbruck/Tyrol/Austria Posts: 611	Hello Tom, congratulation - nice work.... good documentation regards from Europe (Austria) - and glad you use an Austrian product to cool the light rack heat Markus __________________ Greetings from the heart of the alps No there are no kangaroos (in the wild) in AUSTRIA Current Tank Info: 200x80x60 cm - 253G, 60x30x30cm - 14G, and in care of 660G

04/01/2009, 06:18 AM	#50
GlassReef Got Reef Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Weeki Wachee, Florida Posts: 2,501	Well, I've spent a disappointing week. On the 23rd my computer wouldn't boot. Was a strange situation. It would boot until just after the Windows (bless little Billy's soul) Welcome Screen - then it would go black and nothing would be displayed but the mouse cursor. Of course I did the obligatory start in safe mode - no help. Then a safe mode start with command prompt - the boot was stopping at MUP.SYS! For those that know a little about these boxes from hell, when your startup stops at MUP.SYS, you're in trouble. Especially if you have a mix of PATA and SATA drives and you have hardware RAID configured. I went through the normal gyrations trying to get the box to boot - unplugged all the USB devices, one at a time. Unplugged all but the boot drive. switched out the video (PCI Express) card. Of course, all to no avail. I did the chkdisk thing - on ALL drives (I have five of them) - nothing. I then checked each drive by attaching them to my laptop via USB. As I have a mix of PATA and SATA drives I had to order a converter USB cable from Amazon (with next day delivery, of course) to allow me to hook up both kinds of drives. They all tested OK so it had to be a hardware problem - at least you'd think so. Now, at this point, I should have used my head and checked with friends to see if anyone had a PC I could use to see if it would boot up using my drive. Clever as I am, instead, I started tearing the PC apart - hoping, I suppose, to find a loose connection. Now, I have a somewhat hopped up box - it has a lot of parts. It took me a couple of days to go through this process. Every hobby I have is PC based in some way, so my PC is very important to me - and there is a lot of data concerned. Now, I am very strict about backing up, etc. I was mirroring drives (RAID), did daily partial backups, and made monthly boot drive images using a very expensive piece of software. So I bit the bullet and decided to restore the drive image from last month. BTW - Window ASR (I think it stands for Automated System Recovery) doesn't work worth a crap - and now I find out, neither does my expensive backup program (I won't mention a name for fear of a libel suit). I COULD NOT GET IT TO WORK!!! So, after days of trying everything I could think of, I finally admitted to myself that I would have to do a full reinstall - It took three days. All in all, this fiasco lasted a full week! My PC is back up and running ..... I was on RC during the repair time using my laptop, but only sporadically - I had better things to do. Sorry about this long OT rant - I just had to get it out of my system. __________________ Tom No matter how much you try to push the envelope, it remains stationary. Last edited by GlassReef; 04/01/2009 at 06:24 AM.