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Unread 12/14/2014, 05:26 PM   #726
delmo
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I was curious about the mechanics of the vacuum too....


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Unread 12/14/2014, 07:14 PM   #727
dave.m
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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.

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Unread 12/14/2014, 08:57 PM   #728
jsilver
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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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Unread 12/14/2014, 09:02 PM   #729
Chrisrush
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He said it was always primed. There is always water in the hose.


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Unread 12/15/2014, 07:09 AM   #730
Ted_C
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Quote:
He said it was always primed. There is always water in the hose.
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.


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Unread 12/18/2014, 02:07 PM   #731
pmrogers
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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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradewinds View Post
Have you noticed any infighting between the yellow tangs yet? I have always heard it is risky to put numerous tangs of the same species together.

The humor weaved throughout your posts makes for an enjoyable read, thank you.
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dallasg View Post
fantastic...
when it comes to fish selection for coral tanks and even my Dt's i like having certain fish around for that piece of mind.
sixline and canary wrasses, and yellow tail damsels and convict tangs, along with turbo and nassurius snails and serpent starfish.

i think that school of YT will be awesome, a reefer here has 15 YT and 15 purples and it is mind-blowing...

look forward to seeing this wet

cheers
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.


Quote:
Originally Posted by metamorphis View Post
Have you considered the use of a rotary drum filter? They not without their downsides (big, expensive), but they are the ultimate in automated mechanical filtration IMO.
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by reefslugs View Post
I would love to take a tour of your house. It's beautiful. Do you have a fish list?
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by delmo View Post
Wow!, found this the other day and Binge read the whole thing! What a nice thought out build! I think so many of us are thinking: "If I had the means, this is exactly what I would do!"
Did you ever live in Fort Lauderdale? You remind me of someone I met about 9 years ago at 7 Isles off Las Olas.
I am going to steal every scale-able idea I can afford!
I'm currently working on an auto water change setup, but I'm selling my Liter Meter III on eBay to finance another pump instead.
Thanks so much for sharing, now hurry up and take it slow already!
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!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dom418 View Post
I'm speechless and can't even imagine the cost of this build. How many hours per week are you estimating you will spend on maintaince etc.
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.


Quote:
Originally Posted by overexposed View Post
Wonderful progress! I wanted to let you know - you have started me down a wonderful rabbit hole. I began reading through Peters 1350 gal display thread, which lead to me starting on Chingchai's thread, and those threads are now totally consuming all of my free time! I'm about 2/3rds through Chingchai's thread and then I need to resume Peter's thread...
Fun-- very glad I could help you discover Peter's and Chingchai's threads!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dave.m View Post
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sh8g8delik View Post
Oh I'm gonna have to steal your vacuum idea. Pretty nifty! Awesome build
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyboynj View Post
It took me 3 sitting but I just finished the entire thread. Thanks for sharing this wonderful build. It's obvious that you have high attention to detail. This is going to be quite the tank once it's loaded with corals and fish. Please continue your detailed and informative posts.
Thank you, tommyboynj!

Quote:
Originally Posted by CuzzA View Post
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.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted_C View Post
Hi Paul - a while back - you mentioned this. How are you pulling a vacuum to siphon out the tank?
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.


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Unread 12/18/2014, 07:11 PM   #732
kirkaz
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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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Unread 12/19/2014, 11:35 AM   #733
Dmorty217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pmrogers View Post
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.

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


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Unread 12/19/2014, 03:01 PM   #734
sltloser
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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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Unread 12/19/2014, 06:12 PM   #735
CuzzA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sltloser View Post
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.


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Unread 12/19/2014, 09:26 PM   #736
slumpysix
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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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Unread 12/21/2014, 09:23 AM   #737
milonedp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pmrogers View Post
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.
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?


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Unread 12/25/2014, 05:53 PM   #738
delmo
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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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Unread 12/25/2014, 06:04 PM   #739
usingthejohn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by delmo View Post
a fart in a tornado
Hahahahahahaha


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Unread 01/11/2015, 11:05 PM   #740
worm5406
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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
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Unread 01/12/2015, 09:09 PM   #741
Philly_Reefer
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this tank/system looks so massive and huge I love it.


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Unread 01/12/2015, 09:28 PM   #742
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Wow. So impressed with how clean everything is assembled


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Unread 01/18/2015, 02:55 PM   #743
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Any updates? This is an awesome build!


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Unread 01/18/2015, 10:10 PM   #744
mahenderinde
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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
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Unread 01/18/2015, 10:36 PM   #745
worm5406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mahenderinde View Post
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
DOG?? Did you say dog? What tank? LOL

BTW Welcome to ReefCentral!


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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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Unread 01/20/2015, 04:11 PM   #746
Dustyuk
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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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Unread 01/26/2015, 04:10 PM   #747
pmrogers
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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:
  • Finished filling the display tank
  • Added Apex probe module and probes for display system (was previously monitoring only 2 of the QT systems)
  • Finished plumbing and wiring of closed loop Abyzz pump
  • Plumbed auto water change reservoir-- massive leak
  • Re-plumbed water change reservoir, configured auto changes for coral QT and fish QT3
  • RO/DI patch failed spectacularly
  • Replaced failed canister on RO/DI -- 3 times
  • Lost remaining 11 yellow tangs
  • Restarted fish QTs with single fish in each
  • Installed waste reservoir with cutoff switch for coral QT skimmer
  • Replaced and rewired Apex modules on the Coral QT in attempt to resolve probe issues
  • Discovered plumbing error that prevents RO/DI reservoir water level from ever reaching top float switch


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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Current Tank Info: 1700gal 164"x48"x56" starphire and FRP tank
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Unread 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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TankStop - Fish and Coral

470G Display - Build Thread

Current Tank Info: Retired - 470 Gallon Mixed Reef (120x29x31")
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Unread 01/26/2015, 07:14 PM   #749
dave.m
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Such a relaxing hobby - real stress reliever.

Dave.M


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Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
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Unread 01/26/2015, 09:59 PM   #750
worm5406
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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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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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