tbittner April 10, 2008 Share April 10, 2008 The Lowes by Dulles Town center has them in all sizes. They are in the next isle by the vinyl tubing though and not with the PVC connectors and unions. They are near the copper fitting section for some reason. In the CPVC fitting section. I was in there this afternoon and they had them all. Both of the Lowes that I go to always has them but like I said, they aren't with the regular PVC fittings for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 10, 2008 Author Share April 10, 2008 Would you recommend the Single Union Ball Valves? Here is a 2 inch single union ball valve for $9.00 http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 April 10, 2008 Share April 10, 2008 Hey Carl, I personally do not like the singles as much. They are a bit flimsy in construction and the ball valve won't actually hold water once you unscrew the union. The union is what holds the ball valve in place. I did use a few of those in my plumbing design, but they're on the pump and there are true union ball valves EVERYWHERE else in the system, so they're more for convenience of removing the pumps instead of functional for stopping water. The true union ones, though, are great. The only problem is that I have had a couple where the handle snaps off and I can't control the ball valve. They are very easily replaced, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 10, 2008 Author Share April 10, 2008 OK...points well taken...I'll try the Lowe's in Dale City...hopefully they have the double unions in stock. Has anyone used flexible PVC? I'm not even sure I've seen it before...Would it be good to use going from the OM back to the tank? 1 inch diameter. Or should I use the regular "stiff" pvc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal April 10, 2008 Share April 10, 2008 Forget driving around. Order here and have them the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 10, 2008 Share April 10, 2008 Yeah, you can easily order them online and get them within a day or two but I really like going to Lowes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal April 11, 2008 Share April 11, 2008 So do what I do--order online and still go to Lowes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader April 11, 2008 Share April 11, 2008 I agree with you...Two weekends, three Home Depots, and one lowes...and I can't find the unionized ball valves. I suppose I could order on line. Lowe's on-line has 2 inch ones for only $23. And 1" ones for $11. Try McMaster, they have everything under the sun and shipping is quick. I use them for supplies at work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 11, 2008 Share April 11, 2008 So do what I do--order online and still go to Lowes! I do that too! My wife just looks at the boxes that seem to arrive daily and just shakes her head. She doesn't even ask anymore.... Did you find unionized ball valves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 11, 2008 Author Share April 11, 2008 (edited) The Lowe's in Woodbridge has everything I needed!! I got the double union ball valves!!! I'm still out of luck with the flexible PVC...I've been waiting a couple of weeks for BRK to get some in...still on back order. In the meantime, I decided to hook up my GSA Shorty to the old tank...just for grins. I have the Shorty inline directly AFTER my skimmer. As you might expect...the Shorty has taken more gunk out of the tank in one day than my long standing skimmer of 5 years takes out in 10 days. Any my current skimmer has all but shut down production of the green stuff. Can't wait to get it hooked up and running on the 75! I called around today...someone suggested I go to a Pool supply store for some plumbing and piping supplies...so I may try that tomorrow. Edited April 11, 2008 by Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader April 12, 2008 Share April 12, 2008 I like how you drilled your tank and when the plumbing is done, could you take a photo of it. I am designing a 75 gal. tank and I'm looking for ideas on how to plumb it. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 12, 2008 Author Share April 12, 2008 Vader...will do. I finally found some flex pvc this morning...and will start plumbing the CL tonight. And I'll continue to post lots of pictures. -Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 16, 2008 Author Share April 16, 2008 (edited) Last night I worked on the sump...glueing glass dividers for the over/under/over and the fuge. Using the Silicon I stuff...from what I hear...not toxic to the fish. The cups and books worked out pretty well holding the glass while the silicon dried. A question...as I've never had a sump before...and never had to deal with fighting for room under the tank...I have a question about which way to put the sump. Should I put it with the skimmer hidden behind the left side, or the Mag5 return hidden behind the right side? Should I assume I'll be doing more maintenance on the skimmer vs the Mag 5, and therefore should put the Skimmer dead middle, and "hide" the Mag5 behind the right panel? Edited April 16, 2008 by Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader April 16, 2008 Share April 16, 2008 Last night I worked on the sump...glueing glass dividers for the over/under/over and the fuge. Using the Silicon I stuff...from what I hear...not toxic to the fish. The cups and books worked out pretty well holding the glass while the silicon dried. A question...as I've never had a sump before...and never had to deal with fighting for room under the tank...I have a question about which way to put the sump. Should I put it with the skimmer hidden behind the left side, or the Mag5 return hidden behind the right side? Should I assume I'll be doing more maintenance on the skimmer vs the Mag 5, and therefore should put the Skimmer dead middle, and "hide" the Mag5 behind the right panel? I would cut an opening on the side, and build a door to cover the opening so you could access the skimmer I'm going to have the same issue with my stand, so I'm making a door. Like the book/cup idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 16, 2008 Share April 16, 2008 Vader has a great idea. And if you don't want to do that, I would make the skimmer easily accessible. The pump will rarely be touched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 16, 2008 Author Share April 16, 2008 I do think it's a great idea to open up the side door...although I'm not sure if I'm ambitious enough to make a door. What I think I'm going to try...is assemble all the plumbing and electrical for a week long leak test in the basement...and then try working on the skimmer and see how bad it is. I figure I'll need to be able to install and remove the skimmer at least once per year??? You know...I hear people talking about cleaning their skimmer every month, emptying the cup 2x week. I figured everyone was anal...what I'm realizing now is my bakpak skimmer cup only needs to be emptied 2x month, because it takes a good 3 weeks for any skimmate to accumulate. With my GSA Shorty running for the past week on my "old" tank...I'm emptying 1/4 inch of skimmate every day! So I can see why I'll need to get to my skimmer at least a couple of times/week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 16, 2008 Author Share April 16, 2008 Another thing I've learned after using the Shorty this week ... Without the "oil slick" in my tank...the tank is much brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 17, 2008 Author Share April 17, 2008 (edited) Things I've learned this week: 1 - With a good skimmer, my everpresent "oil slick" is gone, and the tank is brighter. 2 - After drying and baking my live rock on my driveway in the sun last August for 10 days, and after emptying my entire tank of sand and water...aiptasia and a brittle star fish both showed up this week 8 months later...seemingly both impossible to kill. 3 - It takes me 5x longer than anyone I know to design and build a tank. Edited April 17, 2008 by Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 17, 2008 Share April 17, 2008 I take my skimmer out of the system, put it in a tub of 50/50 vinager/ro di water, and let it run for 24 hours and then wipe it clean. I do this every other month. It runs like a new skimmer after that. I should do it every month. One thing that I've learned is, building a reef tank isn't a race. He who goes the fastest, usually crashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader April 17, 2008 Share April 17, 2008 Things I've learned this week: 1 - With a good skimmer, my everpresent "oil slick" is gone, and the tank is brighter. 2 - After drying and baking my live rock on my driveway in the sun last August for 10 days, and after emptying my entire tank of sand and water...aiptasia and a brittle star fish both showed up this week 8 months later...seemingly both impossible to kill. 3 - It takes me 5x longer than anyone I know to design and build a tank. I might top that....I'm doing a lot of reading and watching what other people are doing, and starting in August, start assembling the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 21, 2008 Author Share April 21, 2008 OK...I didn't get everything I wanted done this weekend...but I did get ahead with the following: I put the blue RACEAPEEL sticker on the back of the tank. I drilled yet another hole in the back of the tank for an additional CL return that I just decided to do on the spur of the moment. I upgraded a few of the fittings to Sched 80 from 40...although I wasn't able to find everything in 80. I plumbed/dry fitted the CL. I ran into SteveOutlaw at BRK!! I'm looking forward to adding some water this week to see how much the Dart/CL puts out, and adjust accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 21, 2008 Share April 21, 2008 Hang on to something when you plug that Dart in. It's going to create a LOT of movement in your tank. Sounds like you got a TON done over the weekend. Congrats!!! Why did you decide to got with Sch 80 instead of the 40? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 21, 2008 Author Share April 21, 2008 (edited) Hang on to something when you plug that Dart in. It's going to create a LOT of movement in your tank. Sounds like you got a TON done over the weekend. Congrats!!! Why did you decide to got with Sch 80 instead of the 40? I'm using flex pvc for most of the plumbing outside and behind the display tank...to me it seemed like the 1 inch MPT/slip fittings I screwed into the OM were way too flimsy. So, I upgraded those to 80. I also upgraded the pipe between the Dart and the OM. Everything else is flex pvc and 40. And the Dart...as of 2 weeks ago, the Dart was going to run two 1 inch outputs into OM with 2 of 4 outputs cycling on. It seems too much to run ~1800 gallons each through two lines coming up and over into the top of my tank...so I reworked it. I Teed off of the Dart BEFORE the OM, with a 1 inch line into 4, half inch outputs that will always be ON. These will be under the sand, pointing up and towards the back of the tank. So the Dart will now be running 4 outputs of 1/2 inch each from the bottom of the tank, and 2 of 4 alternating outputs through the OM into some size TBD this week...coming up and over the top of the tank. Edited April 21, 2008 by Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbittner April 21, 2008 Share April 21, 2008 Sounds like you're going to have awesome flow. If the four 1/2" nozzles stir things up to much, you can always T them and add more. I don't think you'll have a problem though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl April 24, 2008 Author Share April 24, 2008 Wow. As I've said many times...I do not like powerheads. A large reason for me upgrading my current tank is to rid the display of powerheads and heaters and preskimmers... But, let me tell you, the amount of plumbing and wiring required as soon as you (me) add a sump, return pump, CL, OM and UV is unbelievable. The back side of the tank looks like a bowl of spaghetti. OMG. -Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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