davelin315's 300 Gallon In Wall Reef Tank

[lanman]

LMAO - the place looks like some kind of Dr. Frankenstein laboratory! Pipes and tubs and tanks and equipment all over the darned place. You'll be lucky if some neighbor chasing his dog into your yard doesn't look through the window and send the police over to check out your meth lab.

 

bob

[fab]

When you say a 2 breaker panel, do you mean a service panel. If so then don't limit yourself to a 2 breaker panel. Go on and put in a full 60 amp service and include a 220 volt circuit. Stub out the 220 v for now. You can finish later if you ever need the 220v hookup and then you will know exactly which 220v plug and socket arrangement you will need.

 

fab

[davelin315]

I actually have tons of room in the 2 panels that are already there, so I'm really installing a subpanel just for the tank. The only one I found that accepted these breakers was either a 2 breaker one or a full size panel. I don't need that many extras, so I'm simply going with the smaller panel. This will be more than enough for what I need with my tank overall.

[davelin315]

Moved this to the general discussion area to see if I can get some more feedback on things...

 

Ugh... moved the tank over so that it's not straddling the two areas of the room and has it's own little area carved out and found out that the floor is uneven where I moved it to. Tried to shim the stand but it'll take a lot of shims to do it.

 

Anyone ever used self leveling flooring (cement/epoxy mixtures usually)? I'm thinking of propping the stand up so that it's even on the floor and then putting some duct tape around the bottom of the stand and pouring some extra wet self leveling floor compound in it and letting it flow out so that it evens out the floor under the stand without having to use wood shims. I figure that this stuff should do the trick (had actually thought of doing this on top of the stand as well) and it might even correct some of the minor flaws in the base of the stand that I can't see. I won't be able to move the stand again after I do this without ripping it to shreds, but since I'm building a wall around this anyway, I don't see how there's much harm in doing this as I don't intend on moving any time soon and don't plan on breaking down the tank that I have been trying to set up for so long!

[NRehman]

Dave,

 

Self-leveling is expensive (like $30 per bag). I would recommend that you:

 

Figure out the high level points and then use a straight 2x4 as a guide to making the floor level. You will need a trowel and float (wood...no need to go fancy magnesium).

 

0. Get a concrete bonding agent (Links is one). Paint onto the existing floor.

1. Fill in the big holes with high strength mortar. You can get a lot of bumps out this way. Mix to a thick syrup. Spread using a trowel and float it.

2. Then use feathering cement (it's next to the regular concrete in HD) and costs about $15 per bag. Follow the instructions to get a thick syrup consistency. Use a trowel and wood float and start filling in. As a thick syrup, the feathering cement will flow and level 90-95% of what you need at a much lower cost. YOU WILL NEED MORE BAGS THEN YOU EXPECT! Get more and you can return it later (just don't get it wet)!

3. Make sure you have an exit strategy and don't box your self in...

4. Don't do too large an area. As far as you hand can reach. You can add more to smooth out bumps when the concrete dries a bit.

It's not that hard at all to get an nice level floor.

Good luck.

[Black Mammoth]

I didn't read everything, but what about this?

 

Why don't you modify the stand so the tank is level? It would seem that it would be easier to adjust the stand itself than the floor. The one thing I would be concerned about is the pressure on the new floor. How much is it off by? The pressure of the tank may breakup the concrete that you put down. I'm not sure how or how much you want to level the floor, but you can do the following. Take a string and tape it down to good section of the floor. Then pull the string across the stand area to the other part of the good floor. Now you should easily see your low and your high spots. I'm really familiar with this technique as I'm installing a patio right now I poured the slab with a buddy and my brother and we didn't quite get a level slab...eh it's OK, it has flagstone going on top. But I had to figure this stuff out when putting down my dry mix to get a level finish with the flagstone. You could also consider building forms where you want to put the tank and pour another slab. I'm not sure if I would go that route. I think I would adjust the stand to make the tank level.

[flowerseller]

I didn't read everything, but what about this?

 

Why don't you modify the stand so the tank is level? It would seem that it would be easier to adjust the stand itself than the floor. The one thing I would be concerned about is the pressure on the new floor. How much is it off by? The pressure of the tank may breakup the concrete that you put down. I'm not sure how or how much you want to level the floor, but you can do the following. Take a string and tape it down to good section of the floor. Then pull the string across the stand area to the other part of the good floor. Now you should easily see your low and your high spots. I'm really familiar with this technique as I'm installing a patio right now I poured the slab with a buddy and my brother and we didn't quite get a level slab...eh it's OK, it has flagstone going on top. But I had to figure this stuff out when putting down my dry mix to get a level finish with the flagstone. You could also consider building forms where you want to put the tank and pour another slab. I'm not sure if I would go that route. I think I would adjust the stand to make the tank level.

 

I agree. You have chop saw. Just level the 4 corners and fill in the middles where ever you want them.

[davelin315]

I was on my way out the door to get the leveling stuff (the stand is flat on the bottom, but the floor is just too uneven where the stand was to want to mess with shims, it buckled up and down) and realized that the plumbing wasn't going to work as I would have to have a pipe running waist high right where the door to the room was going to go... so, I moved the tank back (my back and shoulders hate me right now) to where it was before as it was level there. Of course, a few shims fell out as I lifted and pushed and pulled the stand, but I put them back and added a few more. Now the tank is level and is in the right place.

 

I also bought the rest of the plumbing supplies I'll need so I'll be plumbed and ready to go as soon as I can muster the strength to finish putting things back where they belong in the basement (now that the floor is done) and get around to cutting and gluing!

[davelin315]

Bob, if you were laughing before, wait until you see what I've got coming up next...

 

I began plumbing the Ocean Motions 8-Way on the Barracuda tonight (sounds like code...) and so far it goes like this (I'll take a picture tomorrow):

1. Exit tank through 1.5" bulkhead with a 1.5" strainer that is contained inside a 4"x3" reducing coupling with a 4" strainer on the outside of it to provide an extra barrier between the intake for the CL and the inhabitants
   
2. bulkhead leads to a 90 which leads into a true union ball valve
   
3. true union ball valve goes to 1.5" spaflex
   
4. spaflex goes to a 90 which is then connected to a union and then a threaded male adapter which goes into the pump intake
   
5. water exits the pump through a 1.5" threaded male coupling and into 1.5" rigid PVC
   
6. PVC goes into a 1.5" true union ball valve
   
7. ball valve leads to 1.5" rigid pvc and then into a 1.5" male adapter which is screwed into the OM 8-Way
   
8. 8-Way is using the 2 at a time barrel (which actually has the equivalent of 3-4 going at once since the holes in the barrel are larger so that you don't ever get the current completely blocked off
   
9. Each 1" exit from the 8-Way is glued to a 1" true union ball valve
   
10. some of the ball valves will have 90s glued to them in order to make sure the pipe goes in the right direction
    
11. each exit then goes into 1" spaflex hose and each ends in another true union ball valve (1")
    
12. each ball valve is then connected to a 90 which then goes to the bulkhead
    
13. inside the tank each bulkhead has a 1" male threaded adapter leading to a T with two 45 degree fittings to direct water flow
    
14. four of the outlets will be on the top of the tank and 4 will be on the back
    
15. The other CL will use the other 1.5" bulkhead as a feed with the same set up and two 1" bulkheads which will be running constantly and plumbed into a grid raised just off the bottom of the tank to provide flow from the bottom up (I plan on using a deep sand bed)
    

For the overflow from the tank, I am going to use a 6"x4" reducing coupling into which I am putting a filter sock (got it from Bemmer from the group buy - it fits perfectly into the coupling and hangs down from there). On top of this I will place a 6" clean out on top of a 6"x2" T. This will allow the overflow to drain easily into this chamber which I will mount above the sump. The bottom of this will go into another 6x4 coupling so that I can use some pipe to eliminate splashing. The top will have the clean out which I will probably cut a section out of and put some acrylic over it so I can see what's going on. I am also going to drill and tap some smaller holes in order to make sure that the filter sock stays in position (I'll use some nylon screws and wing nuts to do this).

 

The return will be a smaller pump which will run off of 1" lines and probably just hang over the top of the tank or possibly be drilled into the overflow. Not sure exactly what I will do with this yet as I may use a larger pump instead and have some of it return to the frag trays. If I get enough energy and buy the extra plumbing parts I need tomorrow, the tank could be completed by the end of this weekend... keeping my fingers crossed. Of course, it will take a ton of time to get it filled up with water, but that's another beast that is just a waiting game versus having to do work on it (of course, then I get to move all of the live rock over and then finish installing the lights, the electrical subpanel, the calcium reactor...).

[davelin315]

OK, so I finally got some more plumbing done and snapped some pictures (among other things...).

 

Here's the back of the tank, lots and lots of true union all valves on the back of the system. I can basically shut off the entire tank and unplug everything there and go with just the return pump by turning some valves...

 

Another shot. You can see that the front is also plumbed. I have since added the inside returns which will direct flow all over the tank. I'm not sure if taking a picture of these will do anything as all of the returns are black PVC.

 

Here's the Ocean Motions 8-Way plumbed and almost ready to go. I had to repair one of the pipes coming out of the barrel as it snapped off inside and I had to glop on some solvent and jam it back in there. I have e-mailed OM to see what they recommend. I'm kind of disappointed that schedule 80 PVC would snap as I was gluing on the end of a union... I can't ask them to simply send me a new one either as I have $100 of union ends on this thing already and it'll cost me a lot to replace them.

 

Also, the pump that it's on is no longer the pump that it's on... There's a little sticker on the neck of the return that says do not overtighten... I did and after putting it on and letting it sit for a few minutes it cracked right off. I now have switched to my other Barracuda and ordered a new piece from BRK. I don't know if the piece is under warranty or not as it's new and I bought it almost 2 years ago from Eve who also had it for awhile before she sold it to me. Hasn't seen water yet, but it's broken... only positive is that it broke before I had water running through it.

 

Back to the PVC that snapped, anyone know if this new bond will be strong enough? Since it's a closed loop there's no pressure in the system, but at the same time I don't have an effective way of shutting down just one valve since the break is before the valve itself. This is basically the same question I mailed off to OM, but I really want to test out the closed loop to see if the flow is good.

[davelin315]

Took me a few minutes to find this thread so I'm moving it back to the member's section...

 

Anyway, spoke to Paul of Oceans Motions and he advised me that the solvent should hold the 8 way together so I'm going to go ahead and hook it up tomorrow I believe. He offered me some advice on getting the spaflex in place as well, cut it to size and then throw it in the dryer for a short period of time. The heat will allow me to bend it to where I want it and then it will cool and keep the shape I bent it to. I'll test this out and see how the closed loop works out.

[Rascal]

He offered me some advice on getting the spaflex in place as well, cut it to size and then throw it in the dryer for a short period of time. The heat will allow me to bend it to where I want it and then it will cool and keep the shape I bent it to. I'll test this out and see how the closed loop works out.

 

That's a real good tip. Let us know how it works.

[dhogan]

I'm kind of confused about the cracked pipe, but can you just put a reducer inside the cracked pipe with plenty of glue? I think that would restrengthen it, then "unreduce it"... I don't know if that makes sense.

 

Either way, hurry up and get this one done, I wanna see some finished pics already.

[dandy7200]

If your unsure of the joint I can weld it for you. That will make you sleep better at night.

[flowerseller]

If your unsure of the joint I can weld it for you. That will make you sleep better at night.

With school starting, can you weld brackets to keep kids in bed?

 

 

I tried the dryer thing years ago and found it to incredibly loud and hard on the dryer, worse than shoes but not as bad as a boy riding it around.

Cutting it close to length and laying them in the sun worked best for me.

The beauty of flex is you can use plastic pipe brackets to hold the tight curves in place.

Trust me, if it's too tight, it's going to want to straighten out regardless which heat and form method you try.

I use the Rain r Shine solvent and DO NOT use primer. Some of my flex pipe joints are more than 15 years old.

[davelin315]

Hey Chip, how long do you leave it out in the sun for? I was thinking if I take the whole coil and shove it into the dryer (I've got 100') but put it on the rack I have in there I can run it in there for enough time to soften it and then cut it and glue it. I figure it will stay warm and pliable for at least 20 minutes or so.

 

On a side note, had an overflow on one of the racks last night. I have the reservoir for the kalk stirrer on the stand and the tubing I used didn't work for the overflow for some reason (probably a bubble trapped in the line holding it up since it's smaller diameter). Anyway, the water overflowed onto the board and then it leaked through into the sump. Turned the entire system brown so I did an emergency 70 gallon water change and ran carbon on it and turned up the skimmer a bit. It's clear today again so I'm hoping that there are no residual effects on the corals. Seems like every time I buy something nice I have a little disaster to accompany it. The new corals are from Chris Tran and include a Miyagi tort, an original Tyree purple monster, a Bendalat turaki, and a pink deepwater acro. He also tossed in a couple of other frags... so far so good. I'll take pictures when they're actually in the tank as it's very difficult to actually see them from top down in the frag system.

 

Dan, I don't think it will take a weld since it's actually inside the drum where it snapped off. I'm pretty confident in what is there, but if it fails, I'll take you up on it. Paul said if it does leak he'll send me a new part and suggested I saw off all of the old tubes and use some couplings to attach them to the new part.

[davelin315]

Worked on the plumbing tonight and got everything plumbed for the first closed loop but, unfortunately, the 8-way is leaking from inside where the pipe snapped off. I shot an e-mail off to Paul at Oceans Motions to send me a replacement part. I think I'm going to have to ditch the entire part instead of what Paul suggested, sawing off the pipes and using couplings to attach them. The remaining pipe is simply too short to use in a coupling and get a safe seal.

 

On a good note, though, I'm going to pick up quite a bit of sugar sized sand so I will be at least a few inches closer to reaching the bottom! Also, the spaflex I got from Savko (called superflex) is great. I was going to put it into the dryer but it's a lot more pliable than the other spaflex I have used in the past. Most of the pipes were cut to the exact length when I guesstimated, so I only ended up with a few odds and ends. Now if only I could test the system out!

[Grav]

I love the plumbing.

[davelin315]

Finally! I went out and bought myself another hex wrench set and redid my 8-way and hooked it all up for a water test tonight... it's running without any leaks! I just need to plumb the other closed loop with the remaining barracuda and then run a return pump and I'm ready to go! Of course, I still need to let it run for a day or so with the tap water and then let it fill over a few days with RO/DI, but if I can keep this up, it could be up and running within the week!

[davelin315]

OK, it's been up and running for the past couple of days without any problems so I'll probably begin draining it tomorrow and then begin filling it for real with RO/DI.

 

Here's the catch, though, I have yet to install the new sub panel, anyone interested in coming by to do this for me? I currently have an extension cord that runs down the stairs to the tank so that I can run the pump, otherwise I'll blow the circuit down there. I won't be able to plug in lights or the chiller, let alone a couple more pumps, until I get the new circuit in. Anyone interested? Sunday is good...

[treesprite]

taking a while but you're almost there

[davelin315]

Well, I'm getting closer, the tank has been water testing for a while now and I need to drain it, install the second closed loop, and modify the returns a bit. They are currently split into two returns each and I think that's dispersing the flow too much so I'm going to cut them down to single returns (except for the 2nd closed loop which will only have 2 outlets). I also need to then plumb the sump and frag systems and figure out what I'm using as a return pump. Otherwise I'm good to go!

 

In the meantime, here's a table acropora I got from BRK awhile back. It was tan or a really pasty yellow with a ton of white around the base. The polyps were barely visible and the whole thing looked like it was going to be completely bleached out, but I shaded it in my frag system and it started to slowly take on color. It gradually shifted to a deeper yellowish brown with darker polyps and then it continued to shift in color and gain some browner tones. It then shifted again and turned greenish and it's now a metallic green with red base and red polyps. I have no idea what kind it is so I'm dubbing it a Dave Lin Limited Edition Christmas Table Acropora. If someone can tell me what it is I'll jump off of my pedestal and call it what it actually is. The pictures, by the way, are pretty rotten in comparison to what this looks like. I have already given one frag away via SWAP and when it grows out I intend on giving away one, maybe two more. I don't want to lose this one as I lost the other acro colony I bought that was really starting to turn orange and look good.

 

 

 

 

The pictures are all the same but I took a succession and you can see the base a little bit better with some. These are under my 20,000K Helios bulbs, but again, it's shaded by some grating that I'm using to keep the bubble tip anemones away with.

[vaironman]

That's some beautiful acro. Awsome!

[davelin315]

 

Here's a close up of the polyps and tissue structure of the Christmas Table. Anyone have any idea of what it is?

[davelin315]

A couple of people over on RC think it's an Acropora sarmentosa, but after looking at some of the pictures, I'm not yet convinced. One guy also said that he has the same coral and that he got his from Dr. Mac as a yellowish tan coral and it developed into this, too. They also seem to think that it will develop pink tips on top of the red base, green branches, and red polyps (wouldn't that be cool!). Anyone have any ideas or any of the last growout contest contestants recognize this as being similar (I think you used A. sarmentosa last time around)? Again, for me, I'm not convinced, mostly because the A. sarmentosa pictures I have seen have much more pronounced radial corallites, although the axial corallite is very similar in appearance and shape.