ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) January 8, 2014 Share January 8, 2014 Go as large as you can handle for open channel and emergency. Open channel needs lots of open space inside so the water can stick to the walls instead of going down the middle. Maybe one inch for full siphon would work to speed the flow up for that one, but there is no reason to ever downsize the others. Bulkhead size isnt super important, I think. Maybe Adam can decide on what holes and layout work best for the tank he is making. Go as large as you can handle for open channel and emergency. Open channel needs lots of open space inside so the water can stick to the walls instead of going down the middle. Maybe one inch for full siphon would work to speed the flow up for that one, but there is no reason to ever downsize the others. Bulkhead size isnt super important, I think. Maybe Adam can decide on what holes and layout work best for the tank he is making. You are correct on the open channel Alan. One inch for primary would speed up the flow, but I don't think it will be enough to compensate for the 20' run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldReefer January 8, 2014 Share January 8, 2014 This is a great build and you are getting plenty of help on the plumbing. Two things I don't see yet that you may want to consider -- if you have not already. 1) See if you can get a fresh air line to the skimmer. It is easiest to do while things are under construction, and it will help your pH up when the house is closed up in the summer and winter months. 2) Think about an exhaust fan with a humidistat on it. It looks like there is going to be a lot of water in that fish room. Excess humidity can be a nagging pain that takes some of the fun out of a great system (and annoys the spouse). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 8, 2014 Author Share January 8, 2014 Thanks for the tips bill. I haven't thought about the fresh air line, will talk to the guys that finish up that room on the weekend, Unfortunately the house is already closed, and I will have to make sure it is easy to to without introducing new issues. as for the humidity, I was thinking to install a vent out side of the room, to the main living area. I am planning to cover most of the sump, and the tank. but will talk to the guys too on the weekend to see if they can tap in the bathroom exhausts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 10, 2014 Author Share January 10, 2014 RO/DI unit arrived Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 11, 2014 Author Share January 11, 2014 Framing for the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 11, 2014 Author Share January 11, 2014 Completed work for today Installed a vent to the outside, to control humidity. Installed airline to the outside to feed the skimmer with fresh air Completed RO/DI plumbing and plumbed the auto water change system. (More about that system in few days) Completed framing out the stand, and doors. Going to have 4 doors in the stand, and two access doors in the top. Can't wait for tomorrow for the drywall. And completing the drainage plumbing. I will keep it the way it was described earlier going with 1" for the main drain and gate valve closer to the sump. Read through the bean animal thread on RC yesterday. And that approach was recommended for longer pipes. If that won't work out will have to give up on the siphon. Hopefully it won't be too noisy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT January 11, 2014 Share January 11, 2014 Great planning and implementation. How did you vent the air to the outside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 12, 2014 Author Share January 12, 2014 (edited) Great planning and implementation. How did you vent the air to the outside? Thanks, the existing vent from the basement bathroom, runs through the unfinished room (future fishroom), we've tapped into it really close near the part where it exits to the outside (also from within that same room). Edited January 12, 2014 by motti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 12, 2014 Author Share January 12, 2014 Sundays update: Hang most of dry wall, left sump area without drywall for now. Will give me another week to think out the return plumbing. Utility sink area, ro and water mixing station. Waiting on two 40gallon water storage units. Sump area. Sump will go on a small platform on the bottom, refuigium and frag tank above. (Haven't ordered those yet) Tank area, still need to cut open the space for the doors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 12, 2014 Share January 12, 2014 That looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 12, 2014 Share January 12, 2014 If you can access the tank from the back, why cut doors in the front? Its a much cleaner look without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 12, 2014 Share January 12, 2014 If you can access the tank from the back, why cut doors in the front? Its a much cleaner look without them. +1000 Whenever I see tanks with doors cut in the front, it always looks unfinished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 12, 2014 Author Share January 12, 2014 If you can access the tank from the back, why cut doors in the front? Its a much cleaner look without them. Thanks, I only have about 18" in the back. I thought it would make feeding and cleaning a little easier if I had doors in the front. Also going to use the base cabinet as little storage closet since all equipment is going to go in the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw January 16, 2014 Share January 16, 2014 Trust me, you are going to want those doors in the front. I guess it's all personal preference, but I had to go back and cut mine out after the fact and it sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 16, 2014 Share January 16, 2014 Wow nice progress. What did you do for the vent would like to see some pics if possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 16, 2014 Author Share January 16, 2014 (edited) Kind of hard to see in the picture. There is a vent duct going across the room from the bathroom -> outside. The guys who do the construction work teed it off and installed the vent right off of it. The bathroom downstairs is bearly used, as long that it will remove excess humidity from that particular room I'll be happy. Also I got a plumbing parts order from BRS, gate valves, ball valves and I accidentally ordered 2 1.5" flap flow valves. Another picture Edited January 16, 2014 by motti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 16, 2014 Author Share January 16, 2014 Some plumbing pictures.... Sump: Left top- open channel from tank Below that is 1" for siphon To the right is the emergency drain Above that I got 2 3/4" pipes that will be used for water changes. One is plumbed directly to the drain, and the other one will be connected to the ws mix tank I want to put the frag tank and refugium above the sump, still need to see if it would be possible. Return assembly: Still playing out with different ideas. But this is the latest. Open for suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 20, 2014 Author Share January 20, 2014 Not a lot of progress this week, I've picked up a used 55g reef ready tank that will be used for refugium (48x13x21), and ordered 30 gallon deep blue frag tang (24x24x12). started construction on the shelf that will support the refugium above the sump, and will start building the frag tank stand in few days. Also, i found out that there is an 8 week wait for the water tanks, so I try to swap that order to Chemi-trainer tanks instead of those ace water tanks, it will be a little more expansive, but it won't take 8+ weeks to arrive. Software wise, i started prototyping the water level controls, I am using MPX5050GP pressure sensors to measure the depth of the water. waiting for an order of DS18b20 temperature sensors to arrive these week, and for 2 additional Chauvet SR8 8-Channel Relay Pack for all the I/O controls. More pictures to come this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 21, 2014 Author Share January 21, 2014 Frag tank arrived today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor January 21, 2014 Share January 21, 2014 <<snip snip>> The TL;DR version is: You cannot have any portion of a full siphon run going upwards and horizontal or nearly-horizontal is also discouraged. The second rule is that since you will want your open channel to convert into a full siphon if the original one fails and the emergency can't keep up with the startup flow that one can't have any upwards runs either. The third rule is that every big of solid doodoo that comes out of your tank will sit in the bottom of that U and eventually clog it. Wonderful description of the Bean Animal and its workings! I have a BA C2C on my tank (no horizontals or Us, thankfully) and have slowly been learning precisely what makes it tick over these last few weeks. Your post certainly sums everything up nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 25, 2014 Author Share January 25, 2014 Update time... Finished with the self that will support the fuge tank, also finished all the sump plumbing and return plumbing More drywall work and mudding this weekend. Primer is finally going on tomorrow, paint next week. We also opened the cabinet door openings Also, received my dc6000 pump, tested it with arduino, it needs 5v PWM signal. Works perfectly, the pump has a nice ramp up period too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 29, 2014 Share January 29, 2014 (edited) That's great. I'd love to have a tank build like that with two exposed sides. I'm excited that you're an arduino tinkerer too, and are driving that pump from an Uno instead of whatever controller they give. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the tank controls. I don't remember if you said what controller you're going to use, but you might think about Reef Angel or applying to be a beta tester for this one: Edited January 29, 2014 by AlanM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 29, 2014 Share January 29, 2014 You're making good headway, looking forward to this getting in and wet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti January 30, 2014 Author Share January 30, 2014 Alan, I am actually going to go with an arduino mega which will be controlled from a Linux machine running nodejs . Still working on the web interface and since I've been very busy at work for the past few weeks I didn't have any time to work on it. Since most of the construction work is pretty much completed I will have some free time to hack at it this weekend. I think that I have most of the components I need to make it work now. I am too can't wait to get the tanks in, spoke with Adam yesterday and he said they will be ready in couple of weeks. Some additional images taken last Sunday: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 30, 2014 Share January 30, 2014 Looking good, Motti! Are you doing all of the work yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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