Ed's 180 rebuild

[Shoelace]

Nicely done. I have a few Ovation's that I really like, but self taught years ago. I do play, but if I play well is another story, haha.

 

I'm really liking the WP40's.  Especially for the price.  Yes, they aren't as sleek as the MP40's but you're right, I don't think it'll make a big difference in appearance in the end.

 

One thing I am not really sure of... what does the knob do in "Else" mode.  I can't really tell if it dials the flow down or not and those Engrish instructions are terrible!

 

At the next meeting, bring your guitar and let's jam!

[Cliff Puckstable]

The knob ramps up/down the randomness in the flow.

[DaveS]

Good point, but I've never trusted check valves. :(  I usually design my sumps to make sure all the overflow can be accommodated.  I've done power outage tests and found that the overflow volume is 12.5 gallons.  My 40L sump will be less than half full, so I hope the math works out.

 

Hmm, could be cutting it close.  Assuming the sump runs at 1/2 full, you have spare capacity of 20 gallons.  Factor in the 12.5G in the overflow you are down to 7.5g.  For a standard 180G tank that's 6'x2', 1" of height = 7.5 gallons.  Taking into consideration water in the pipes and other overflow that will also drain into the sump, you won't be able to have much head height above the teeth.

 

You could always raise the height of that return in your overflow to reduce how much of that 12.5G drain out when the power goes out.  Then you may end up with detritus collected in the bottom but you can just siphon it out occasionally.

[Shoelace]

Thanks, Dave, for walking me through this.  I think I didn't say things correctly.  When I turn the return pump off (i.e. the power goes out), the TOTAL volume of overflow (DT + Megaflow) is 12.5 gallons (or less).  That is including both the full volumes in the Megaflows (I pull the pipes to let them drain all out) and also the volume that is above the teeth of the overflows in the display that drains out when the power cuts.  So if I am operating the sump at 20G + 12.5G = 32.5 which is < 40G.

 

I guess the real proof is that I currently have a 55G sump that is running (the tank is actually full of tap water for now) and when I cut off the power, pull the Megaflow pipes to let everything drain, and wait for the main tank level to go down to the teeth level, the water goes from the lower piece of blue tape to the higher one which is 3.5 inches of height in a 55.  Since the 40L will have the same footprint as the 55, if I keep the water level around 8 inches or less in the sump, when the power goes out, it will go up to about 12 inches in a 16 inch high tank.

 

[DaveS]

Sounds like you got it covered!  Just didn't want you to have a big wet mess when the power goes out!

[Shoelace]

I've made big wet messes even when the power doesn't go out so I can take all the advice I can get! Wait. That didn't sound right.

[Shoelace]

I'm having a lot of wishy-washiness with the sump design.  At first I was going to do a typical skimmer -> fuge -> return design, but I've been on a algae turf scrubber (ATS) kick recently.  So I went to Home Depot to see if I could do it on the cheap.  Here's a little mock up.  I have a couple of questions for anyone who has run an ATS before:

 

1.  Should the skimmer go first or should the ATS?

2.  Should I put the ATS screen perpendicular to the length of the tank (as shown here) or parallel?

3.  Am I going to get a lot of salt spray and/or micro bubbles from the ATS?

 

I've been reading the algaescrubber.net FAQ and haven't found the answers yet.

 

Of course, comments, critiques, are very welcome!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Packman@90]

hi shoelace, thanks again for the chiller. The ATS will splash so you should build a splash card or a box for it.  I have placed my ATS  before the Skimmer and after the Skimmer and have found that both work, you will need something for the micro bubbles, depending on your design it could be a little or a lot. I love my ATS that i got from Turbo. Good luck with the ATS.

[Shoelace]

Thanks for the tip. I was worried about microbubbles and salt spray.

[Shoelace]

I added a bunch of plastic shelving because I never seem to have enough storage space for all the junk I accumulate in this hobby.  I'm doing a tap water test run of the new sump and it seems to be working according to plan.  Overflow volume is easily accommodated by the sump.  I got two Brute cans for a mixing station.  One will be raised to have an emergency bulkhead drain straight into the sink in case the ASOV fails.

 

 

 

 

 

[Shoelace]

And this is one of the best investments I've gotten in the hobby for a long time.  I was lugging around a heavy chair in the tank room for the longest time.  I don't think the floor paint has fully cured so I borrowed the idea of tennis balls from a sweet little old lady I saw at the mall with a walker.

 

[Orion]

And we have water in tank???

Woohoo!

[Shoelace]

And we have water in tank???

Woohoo!

LOL, yup.  Just testing.  After you came over and then went on your quest for black vinyl tubing, I decided to soft plumb the return line.  It does seem quieter and more isolated.  Moving the sump way left as you suggested was a great move so I can put the ATO container over to the right, but it's sort of weird because of where the other overflow bulkheads are placed.  The return line has to go way over to the right and then up.  Oh well.

[monkiboy]

any idea on the weight capacity of that shelving? what are your plans for fresh air, ventilation, humidity control? so nice to have a nice little fish room isn't it? ours look about the same size so i'm interested to see how you make the space work!

[Shoelace]

any idea on the weight capacity of that shelving? what are your plans for fresh air, ventilation, humidity control? so nice to have a nice little fish room isn't it? ours look about the same size so i'm interested to see how you make the space work!

The shelving has a 150 lb per shelf capacity.  It's only for storage of dry goods.  There are those metal ones at Home Depot that could easily hold a tank and I've seen a lot of people use them for mixing stations.

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-5-Shelf-36-in-W-x-72-in-H-x-18-in-D-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Shelving-Unit-17601099/100010588#specifications

 

I have a bathroom fan above the sink that I run on a low setting.  I really want to figure out how to set it to a hygrometer.  There is also a passive vent behind one of the brute cans that is continuous with outside.  I'm thinking of hooking a fan up to it, to draw in outside air, but I haven't figured that out yet.  I'm not to keen on that yet because baby, it's cold outside.

[Shoelace]

Pic of bathroom fan above and vent from outside below:

 

[Shoelace]

There's a big pile of rock right here.

A celebration to last throughout the years.

So bring your live rock, and ammonia, too

We gonna aquascape your liverock with you.

 

C'mon now.  A - QUA - SCA - PING.

 

[YHSublime]

Hey... remember when you were going to do a 40 gallon breeder? No? Me either  

 

Looking really good, and moving fast, I like it! Get aquascaping!

[monkiboy]

dude, that was pretty good. i chuckled and was singing along. yes, i'm a dork. thank you.

[Shoelace]

Hey... remember when you were going to do a 40 gallon breeder? No? Me either

I'm glad I bit the bullet, but this is a lot of work.  But I'm enjoying it.  I would not have been satisfied with the 40B.

 

 

dude, that was pretty good. i chuckled and was singing along. yes, i'm a dork. thank you.

Most welcome.  I used to be a closet dork.  Now I embrace it!  Remember Jenn's post where the Celtics fan was dancing to Bon Jovi?  The chicks were digging him, haha!

 

This is all I could muster up to do on Turkey day.  Too much food.  Too tired (but thankful for our blessings).

 

[Shoelace]

Here is my first aquascaping attempt at a double island with a small valley between.  I tried to use a lot of Golden Ratios and escape lines.  I will take a hammer to some of the pieces so they look less like stacked pieces of rock.

 

 

 

 

This is my inspiration.  I love Andre Silvestre's ideas:

 

 

Comments/suggestions, please?

[smallreef]

I really like your inspiration tank..,the only thing I will say about your rock scape is its very short...I don't think it will even come up to 1/2 the height of your tank...so you may need to add some more base to bring it up...

[Shoelace]

Really good point!  I measured the "peak" on the left and it's 17" in a 24" high tank so it's about 70%  I read somewhere that it's a good idea not to go past 2/3 the way up for SPS because they will grow into the space.  Is that a good rule of thumb?  I'll try to boost it up a little more on my next attempt.

[smallreef]

It didn't look that high...you should be good then! It's personal preference for the most part but you wouldn't put anything on a peak if it could grow up and out of the tank like if there was only say 3 to 4 inches..

[Shoelace]

It's really weird how the camera and your eye plays tricks.  I didn't think it looked tall enough either.  But when I take a shot like this it puts the tank and the rock more into perspective.  But I guess it really won't come together until I stick the rock into the tank.