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12/14/2014, 05:26 PM | #726 |
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I was curious about the mechanics of the vacuum too....
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12/14/2014, 07:14 PM | #727 |
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The vacuum looks to be gravity-fed. You put the out-end lower than the in-end. When you submerge the in-end, gravity forces water up the in-end. This is why it is so easy to get caught out by back-flow through your pumps during initial plumbing layout planning.
Dave.M
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My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada. |
12/14/2014, 08:57 PM | #728 |
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I think the question is more how do you *prime* the vacuum (since the submerged end still has to go up into the light rack before it comes down again) rather than how a siphon works. Unless the valve at the top keeps it always primed?
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12/14/2014, 09:02 PM | #729 |
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He said it was always primed. There is always water in the hose.
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Thanks, Chris Current Tank Info: 2015 Reef Savvy Dream Tank Winner |
12/15/2014, 07:09 AM | #730 | |
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Quote:
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. |
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12/18/2014, 02:07 PM | #731 | ||||||||||||
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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.
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Paul Current Tank Info: 1700gal 164"x48"x56" starphire and FRP tank |
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12/18/2014, 07:11 PM | #732 |
Jade
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Peoria, AZ
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I'm no cat person, but that cat is awesome!
And this build is remarkable as well.
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Current Tanks- 465 Gallon in wall FOWLR 450 Gallon in wall Mixed Reef Hobby experience-since 2001 |
12/19/2014, 11:35 AM | #733 | |
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Quote:
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Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs |
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12/19/2014, 03:01 PM | #734 |
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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.
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Slowly and surely like the tortoise.... |
12/19/2014, 06:12 PM | #735 | |
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12/19/2014, 09:26 PM | #736 |
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The best part of this whole adventure is that you built an addition on to your house for the fish tank! I've just gone thru all 30 pages and just crazy cool.
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12/21/2014, 09:23 AM | #737 | |
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Quote:
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Doug To see my 450g Display Tank / 600g System build thread click on my username and select "Visit milonedp's homepage!" Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Reef |
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12/25/2014, 05:53 PM | #738 |
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I would imagine the small amount of possible stale water locked in the vacuum tube would be a fart in a tornado with his total volume, but if flushed during regular maintenance intervals, probably wouldn't ever get too ripe anyway.
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12/25/2014, 06:04 PM | #739 |
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01/11/2015, 11:05 PM | #740 |
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Location: South of WashDC in Maryland
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How does Coco like all this?
Glad to see things are still moving forward.
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Stock:LPS/SPS|1 hippo|4 OC Clown|4 Pepp shrimp|2 Brittle Star|3000+ Copepods|10+ MiniBrittle|8+ Bristle Worm|2 Anemone|100+ mini-feather|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR|4" LS|5x MP40W|75g fuge|5x RadionPRO|RO DB250 skimmer|Apex |
01/12/2015, 09:09 PM | #741 |
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this tank/system looks so massive and huge I love it.
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01/12/2015, 09:28 PM | #742 |
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Wow. So impressed with how clean everything is assembled
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-500 gallon mixed reef |
01/18/2015, 02:55 PM | #743 |
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Location: Texas
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Any updates? This is an awesome build!
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01/18/2015, 10:10 PM | #744 |
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This is an amazing build. I look forward to seeing the rest as you move forward. I wish I could play at this scale. I am starting on my first saltwater tank. My family wrapped a 125 gallon reef ready tank under the tree. I am pretty sure it was to provide an obsession to distract me so they can sneak a dog into the house.
I love looking at these huge builds because it is fun to see if I can take the concepts that you have at scale reduce them to my tank. Thank you for allowing us to live vicariously through your tank build. Mark Last edited by mahenderinde; 01/18/2015 at 10:13 PM. Reason: Spelling |
01/18/2015, 10:36 PM | #745 | |
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Quote:
BTW Welcome to ReefCentral!
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Stock:LPS/SPS|1 hippo|4 OC Clown|4 Pepp shrimp|2 Brittle Star|3000+ Copepods|10+ MiniBrittle|8+ Bristle Worm|2 Anemone|100+ mini-feather|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR|4" LS|5x MP40W|75g fuge|5x RadionPRO|RO DB250 skimmer|Apex |
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01/20/2015, 04:11 PM | #746 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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Loving that scape. I see many tanks these days with lovely looking rock formations but the owner hasn't considered just how much a reef will grow out. I think you've got it spot on , you'll really see the benefit of the sensible amount of rock in a few years time. Reckon you deffo need a yellow acro for big birds head
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01/26/2015, 04:10 PM | #747 |
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Busy holiday period with distractions other than the system followed by 3 weeks of work travel. Only 2 project weekends since the last update, and these, unfortunately, netted out to negative progress on the system overall due to a succession of issues. Display has been filled for 6 weeks now, but due to instability in the QT systems and fish room, I'm still at least a month or two away from being able to add livestock.
Since the last update:
Display Tank Filled Display tank filled on December 10th. Have used Oceanic salt for most of the last 10 years, but Oceanic quit making it sometime in the last 2 years. Decided to give Kent Marine Reef Salt a try. Considered going back to Instant Ocean, which never gave me any problems in my first 12 years in the hobby, but decided against because of the gray sludge it leaves in the mixing container. Again, never saw any problems from the gray sludge, just got tired of having to clean the 7' tall mixing reservoir every 24 months or so. No residue issues thus far, though I was a little taken aback by the big tank taking 4 weeks to clear after adding the salt. Also don't love that the Kent salt has over 500 calcium. Currently have a number of unresolved issues: Apex probe module not working on coral QT After running okay for 2+ months, the Apex probe module on the coral QT started crashing the Apex web interface. With the probe module connected, all web interface dashboards stop rendering. Even with all probes disconnected from the probe module, same issue. Tried replacing the probe module: no change. Tried re-wiring to shorten the USB wiring run to the probe module, attaching it directly to a power bar instead of to another module: again, no change. Next up: try Neptune tech support. Noise problems with HyrdoWizard ECM63 and Tunze Streams The 5 Tunzes running simultaneously create a low hum that can be heard up to 5 feet from the tank. Mildly annoying that they can be heard at all, but not a showstopper. The Hydro Wizard, on the other hand, makes a higher pitched buzzing sound that cuts right through all the sound deadening and can be heard 30 feet away at the 2nd row sofa in the media area. It sounds like an electric shaver was left running inside a cabinet. While still quieter than any other tank I've heard, the noise really jumps out against the dead silence of the room. My first thought was that it was the acrylic pump brackets vibrating along their 3' length and in turn exciting the FRP wall of the overflow. Started working on rubber bumpers for the bracket, then thought to try some tests first. Test #1: pinch the sides of the bracket with my hand to prevent/absorb any vibrations. No difference, and I immediately noted that there was no perceptible vibration in the bracket. Test #2: hold the bracket about an inch away from the wall. This also made no difference! Baffling. The noise outside the tank didn't recede until I held the pump and bracket almost a full foot away from the overflow wall. So it would seem that rubber bumpers will not do anything to help my situation. Not sure what to try next. May just punt and program the powerbeads to not run during prime movie viewing hours. Movement in Drain Plumbing Earlier in this thread there were questions about additional support for the FlexPVC drain lines above the sump. At the time, I noted that I wasn't concerned because there was no visible or sensible vibration in the lines at up to 140 gpm during the initial freshwater flow and leak tests. At that time, I was using a full-siphon 1.5" as part of the drain configuration because the parts for the 2.5" durso pipes had not yet arrived. The 1.5 siphon was taking the vast majority of the flow, which was okay except for the fact that it routed to the side of the sump, bypassing all the filter socks. I decided to switch to the three 2.5" durso pipes for all expected flow and reserve the two 1.5" drains for emergency overflow. Unfortunately, the turbulence of the durso drains has resulted in the flex pvc lines jumping around violently under flow. I have to dial all the way back to 40 gpm to get remotely acceptable line movement, and even this is not something I'm comfortable with long term. Next up, rework the plumbing to use a 1.5" full siphon for normal flow, this time routed to the filter sock bay, which in turn means that the 2.5" durso needs to be rerouted. Remaining Yellow Tangs died About one week after the last update, the remaining yellow tangs all stopped eating vigorously on day 1, ate nothing at all on day 2, started swimming near the top of the tank on day 3, and all died overnight that night. Ammonia was nonexistent; pH, salinity, and temp were all in range. Oxygen should have been fine between running a large airstone and having one of the largest Jebao poweheads agitating the surface. My best guess nitrites. I don't have a test kit for nitrites, but can't see what else would take out all of the fish in 2 tanks so quickly. I feel horrible about destroying so many beautiful, healthy fish, and consider this a lesson for rushing into populating the QTs. I now have one fish in each QT and will stay at this until everything is stable for at least 2 months. When I do add to QT, it will be no more than 3 or 4 fish at a time and allow at least a week for the bacterial filter to catch up. Coral QT developed severe cloudiness 2 weeks ago, the coral QT turned murky. Not sure if this is bacterial, algal, or both. The cloudiness mostly looks off white, but sometimes light green. a 40% water change had no effect. The corals have not reacted negatively as of yet, but I won't be moving any from QT until this is sorted out. Hoping this will clear up on its own as I really do not want to add a UV to the system (ran my 205 reef for 15 years without a UV). Started the tank on automatic 3gal/day water changes this week; will see how things go over the next few weeks. Abyzz Closed Loop not working with controller The Abyzz 420 that runs the closed loop is currently on static output as I have been unable to get the Abyzz programmable multi controller working with it. Connected everything, and the controller displays that it sees the pump connected, but cannot figure out how to get the pump to run. Leaving this as-is for now while I work on the higher priority items. Float Switch for Skimmer Collection Cup Installed float switch on lid of MRC skimmer. Skimmer Leak, Washdown pump failure Skimmer arrived from MRC with 2 slow leaks, one around the black rectangular manifold box, one where the wash down recirc pump connected. Slow leak turned into medium fast (10 gallons overnight) when something in the non-operational wash down pump swelled and cracked. MRC sent a new, different wash down pump and 2-part epoxy for repairing the leak. Installing new wash down pump will be complicated, so I deferred to later and just put in a ball valve; will get to pump install later. Apex Probes Installed in Sump Outer walls of the sump are too thick for the magnets on the probe mounting bracket. Used internal support wall to mount. Auto Water Changes Operational Upper bucket is the reservoir for old DT water that will be used as NSW for the QT tanks. Replaced RO/DI canister The temporary patch I had installed blew out spectacularly one night. I had been in the habit of turning off the filter feed line at the wall after running it, but forgot about this last Sunday. Came down to water gushing out of 6" vertical splits in the canister, looked like a power washer nozzle set to "Fan". Learned exactly where the out-of-level patches are in the garage, with 1/2" standing water, and a small stream running down the driveway out into the street. The new canister doesn't match the old ones, and uses a different lid, requiring all canisters to be removed so that the lids could be removed from the bracket. Got to do this 3 times due to leaks. New lid doesn't exactly match other lids: if bolted tightly to the mounting bracket it puts stress on the connecting pipe between the lids, resulting in a leak. Waste Reservoir with Cutoff Float Switch for Coral QT Installed just in time! One week later, skimmer went nuts overnight and filled the reservoir. [img][/img]
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Paul Current Tank Info: 1700gal 164"x48"x56" starphire and FRP tank |
01/26/2015, 04:20 PM | #748 |
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Great update Paul!
Sure you'll get all the little kinks worked out. Rome wasn't built in a day
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Peter TankStop - Fish and Coral 470G Display - Build Thread Current Tank Info: Retired - 470 Gallon Mixed Reef (120x29x31") |
01/26/2015, 07:14 PM | #749 |
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Such a relaxing hobby - real stress reliever.
Dave.M
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My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada. |
01/26/2015, 09:59 PM | #750 |
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Your updates are so good.
Fix the little things as they run up to be big things.
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Stock:LPS/SPS|1 hippo|4 OC Clown|4 Pepp shrimp|2 Brittle Star|3000+ Copepods|10+ MiniBrittle|8+ Bristle Worm|2 Anemone|100+ mini-feather|4 boys 14,21,22,22 Current Tank Info: Tank:300g Mixed Reef 300+lb LR|4" LS|5x MP40W|75g fuge|5x RadionPRO|RO DB250 skimmer|Apex |
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