Project 300 is underway!!!

[robchuck]

Originally posted by Fishybiz

My GAWD Rob, automated water changes and auto-replenishment of RO water? Holy Cow! Are you some kind of genius or something? You could make millions writing a book about this whole process. I'D BUY IT!!

I'm not a genius, just a humble reefkeeper who's got nothing better to do than fiddle with tanks and a wife that supports me! Many of the things that I'm doing with this tank are a culmination of lessons I've learned from mistakes that I've made over the years and also from advice that I've received from local hobbyists and internet message boards like this one.
An automated water change would be really easy to set up with a 2-channel dosing pump. You would need nothing more than the pump, some tubing, and two resevoirs (actually, the second one would be optional, as one tubing line could lead directly to a drain). One channel of the pump would remove water from the tank, and the other would add freshly-mixed saltwater at the same rate that the pump is removing water from the tank.

 

[fishybiz]

That's really a great idea. How are you going to maintain the salinity? Will you add the salt to mix in the resevoir a period of time before the transfer of water? The most mundane part of reefkeeping is water changes so that would completely solve that problem. Let me know how that works out.
:happyfish

 

[ctgretzky9]

Rob-
Fantastic! I'm so glad to have people like you post their wonderful step by step progress on your amazing tanks. I can't wait to see it done down the road!
I am in a similar bind you were in to begin with. We are in a 3000 sq ft starter home and will be having a home built in the next 2 years. With 2 kids and 2 on the way, we are out of room!
As I go over plans for this construction, I want to incorporate what steve weist (i think thats the guys name) did and ideas like yours as well of having a dedicated fish room. Im just glad im learning so much with my 60 hex so I'll be more prepared.
Again, thanks for sharing, and im sure like everyone else I wish you much success! Please keep posting!

 

[fishybiz]

hey ctgretzky9,
any relation to Wayne?

 

[ctgretzky9]

lol...no relation, but have met him several times when I played Juniors and apple core, and at msg for charity games.
Has been my fav player since i was a kid.
by the way, im nowhere near as good as him ;-)

 

[robchuck]

Originally posted by Fishybiz
That's really a great idea. How are you going to maintain the salinity? Will you add the salt to mix in the resevoir a period of time before the transfer of water? The most mundane part of reefkeeping is water changes so that would completely solve that problem. Let me know how that works out.
:happyfish
Theoretically, there shouldn't be any problems with this method; the pump puts back in exactly what it's taking out. The trick is to be there the moment the new salt water resevoir is empty (or use float switches to shut both channels of the dosing pump off after a certain level is reached), because one channel of the pump will still be removing water and the topoff will provide fresh water to account for that, dropping the salinity.
I feel more comfortable turning a few valves and shutting the topoff system off during the water change, so I'll probably rig something up with Rubbermaids and ball valves and then just sell the dosing pump.

 

[robchuck]

Originally posted by ctgretzky9
Rob-
Fantastic! I'm so glad to have people like you post their wonderful step by step progress on your amazing tanks. I can't wait to see it done down the road!
I am in a similar bind you were in to begin with. We are in a 3000 sq ft starter home and will be having a home built in the next 2 years. With 2 kids and 2 on the way, we are out of room!
As I go over plans for this construction, I want to incorporate what steve weist (i think thats the guys name) did and ideas like yours as well of having a dedicated fish room. Im just glad im learning so much with my 60 hex so I'll be more prepared.
Again, thanks for sharing, and im sure like everyone else I wish you much success! Please keep posting!
Thanks for the compliments!
Having a home built knowing that you are planning on a reef is a good position to be in. That way, you can come up with a suitable design for a tank room and not have to worry about all of the issues that come with retrofitting electrical, ventilation, etc. Plus, you could work the tank into your

[hr]
!

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally posted by RobChuck
Plus, you could work the tank into your

[hr]
!
LMAO

I didnt even think of that! I guess if i have a room dedicated to it, and I have them build all of the structure it is in the mort along with all of the electrical...i wonder if i can even get the plumbing included?:happy:
Good idea! Thanks!
Have any more pics for us?
I didnt realize how much plumbing goes into these things geez! when I saw all of your parts spread out i thought i was looking at a new home construction!
Seeing set ups like yours makes me want to move immediately!!!

 

[robchuck]

I haven't had a chance to snap any more pics lately, but hopefully I will soon. Progress is going to be slow for most of this week as I'm running sound for a national convention for the next few days. But I'm still on track for adding livestock this weekend!
Originally posted by ctgretzky9
I didnt realize how much plumbing goes into these things geez! when I saw all of your parts spread out i thought i was looking at a new home construction!
When I look at my tank, it doesn't look like there's much plumbing there, but I can tell you that I used almost all of the fittings in that picture except for a pair of 90s, a pair of the T's, a few of the unions, and two of the ball valves. Plus, I used almost 60' of 1" PVC.
That racheting PVC cutter that is visible in the plumbing fittings picture was absolutely invaluable in this project. It made clean cuts, and I didn't have a single burr to remove through the project.

 

[daceman89]

Originally posted by RobChuck
Return Pump:
-Little Giant 4MDQX (through two 1" Sea Swirls)
Closed Loop:
-Iwaki MD70RLT with two 3/4" eductors
Wavemaking:
-Tunze Wavebox
-2x 1" Sea Swirls (on the return line)
can you show me how you put together your sea swirls and eductors and where there placements are at. i'm thinking of buying something similar to your setup for circulation. Right now i have 1 tunze 6000 pump with controller, two returns off a iwalki 70, and a Oceanmotion 4 way which is on its way out. i'm totally dissapointed with this product, I was thinking of buying one more 6000 pump for controller, get a wave box,two sea swirls, and maybe i wont need a closed loop. This will be for a 180 gallon. I have two AGA Mega Flo and would like to know if the Sea swirls can be attach right off the returns of the mega flo kit. Also where can i buy the sea swirls and the eductors. if there anything you might have to tell me that can't be posted here email me at Daceman89@aol.com

 

[robchuck]

The bracing on the top of the tank was already drilled for Sea Swirls, so I just placed them there. Here is the best picture I could get of them. The plumbing from my sump return goes up the side of the tank, across the top, then T's off right between the Sea Swirls. I plumbed a union at each Sea Swirl to remove them for maintenance.

 

[robchuck]

The eductors are plumbed through the overflow box. Each box has three 1" holes at the bottom, plus two 1" holes through the box. I used one of the bottom holes for a Durso, then one of the other bottom holes plus one of the side holes for a closed loop intake, and the other bottom/side combo as the eductor output. Here is a "behind the scenes" shot of one of the overflow boxes.

 

[robchuck]

And here is what the eductor, closed loop intake, and Wavebox look like from the front of that same overflow box. (That long section of primered PVC is only temporary. I'm looking for a 3/4" FNPT to FNPT connector to shorten the length of each eductor hose).

 

[robchuck]

Since I haven't posted progress photos in awhile, here is a shot of the sump's return area. The stubbed feed is where the skimmer's pump will draw from. Hopefully, the skimmer and pump will be here by the end of the week!

 

[robchuck]

The Wavebox's driver and controller.

 

[robchuck]

Here is the calcium reactor with it's effluent chamber and 20 lb. CO2 tank, the Iwaki MD70RLT pump, and the sump in the background.

 

[robchuck]

This is looking down the length of the stand. Here you can see most of the plumbing. Sure, I was sloppy with the primer, but none of my socket welds leaked!

 

[robchuck]

And here is what the fishroom currently looks like. You can see that I've started work on the side wall and the state of things inside the room. I still need to get some shelving and hang the lights, but once I get some RO/DI mixed with some salt, the tank will be ready for livestock!

 

[robchuck]

The tank isn't yellow like it appears in the pictures. That "retro" dark paneling, the brown shag, and the circa 1965 tile give everything a yellow tinge. This is the one room in the house that isn't updated, but it more than makes up for the rest of the house! Hopefully, we'll have enough money this summer to renovate the rest of the room.

 

[jes281]

your system looks great im saving your pics for later thanks