The Journey - 300+ Gallon System Build - Picture Heavy

[worm5406]

HAHA... He is going to flood us with updates and we are going to go into memory overload.

[bpcardona]

Okay so updates are coming so get ready for a TON of info.

When we left off I had just got the protein skimmer and power heads. I was doing leak test on the tank/system. During this time I was letting the tank set with base rock and zero light. I did a few water changes during this time in an effort to rid the system of as much phosphate as possible.

I will leave this post as is, the updates are to follow. Just wanted to remind those followers where I left off.

[bpcardona]

So in order to catch up here I need to rethink the way I present the material. Instead of giving you a chronological order to these updates, I will break up this system into individual components.

Mixing station.
This was to be the basic setup for my mixing station. The RO/DI system would be on top, with ball valve in the bottom to empty in to saltwater mixer. The RO/DI barrel would have a float valve and and auto shut off to make it hassle free. Near the bottom of this valve would have a couple of feeds. The most important was to be a auto top off. At the point of design, the auto top off was design was unknown.

The saltwater mixing barrel was to have a circulation pump. This pump was to also pump water to a hose for quick water changes. This design was also unknown at the time of inception.

Original Design

So here is want the results look like. The RO/DI came together fairly easy. I cut a 1 in hole for a bulkhead in the bottom of the barrel, and installed the ball valve. The float valve also came together without a hitch. The most difficult part of the part was the connection of the RO/DI filter to the new water source.

The down pipe was a CPVC feeding a outdoor hose bib. I read the pipe, it said 1/2". I went to Home Depot, purchased 1/2 pipe and fittings. Came home cut the pipe. Discovered 1/2" PVC doesn't fit 1/2" CPVC. I went back found an adapter and connected it. Everything worked great with the barrels, but the CPVC and PVC connection leaked. I struggled with the leak for a few days, repairing and failing. I finally cut the pipe and redid the fittings.

CPVC pipe cut, if I only knew the problem I would have


The RO/DI filter connected and leaking



The RO/DI barrel. Bottom to dump into Mixing barrel. The side for Auto Top Off and misc water.


RO/DI in position, and a peak at the Auto water change system


Circulation pump for the Mixing barrel. I had to think of a way to attach this to the barrel. I want my full barrel to be mobile. Those are simple tie downs.


This is the circulation creation. Works well.


Flow out of RO/DI into the mixing tank


The circulation in the mixing tank.

[Crazy_Beaver]

Everything looks great!

[cartouche]

very Impressed Brian and a good read with tons of info, fair play for taking on other ideas etc it makes for an extremely informative thread...

Tagging along...

[Newbie Aquarist]

Originally Posted by bpcardona

This is the circulation creation. Works well.

[/B]
[/CENTER]

By the law of gravity, this should not be happening. How did you get it to work or is that pump that strong?

[syedjilani]

Nice build... tagging along.....

[Crazy_Beaver]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

By the law of gravity, this should not be happening. How did you get it to work or is that pump that strong?

Where do u see the problem Wayne?

[likefish]

Flooded suction on the pump supply side.

Great design, very clean.

[vair]

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

By the law of gravity, this should not be happening. How did you get it to work or is that pump that strong?

As long as the water in the barrel is above the level of the pump intake there would not be an issue. Then once mixed it would pump to the bottom of the barrel I bet.

Nice work so far.

[bpcardona]

Originally Posted by Crazy_Beaver

Everything looks great!

Thanks so much for sticking around. I will be getting back on track soon.

Originally Posted by cartouche

very Impressed Brian and a good read with tons of info, fair play for taking on other ideas etc it makes for an extremely informative thread...

Tagging along...

Glad to have you join. I certainly have "stolen" my fair share of ideas.

Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist

By the law of gravity, this should not be happening. How did you get it to work or is that pump that strong?

It is a fairly small pump. Like "likefish" said, the suction side of the pump is flooded. As long as the pump stays primed, the water level doesn't matter.

Or is all this "suction side" stuff a lie, and bpcardona is a wizard?

Originally Posted by syedjilani

Nice build... tagging along.....

Glad to have you, please chime in if you see something that can be improved. Everyones opinion is welcome.

Originally Posted by likefish

Flooded suction on the pump supply side.

Great design, very clean.

Thanks for sticking around. This is exactly right. As long as I have the pump primed it run perfectly

Originally Posted by vair

As long as the water in the barrel is above the level of the pump intake there would not be an issue. Then once mixed it would pump to the bottom of the barrel I bet.

Nice work so far.

I have actually pumped the barrel dry. As long as the pump is primed the water level doesn't matter. But to your point I do turn the pump off when the mixing is complete.

[Newbie Aquarist]

Note to self, borrow idea. Since I borrowed so many ideas before me.

[Poriferan]

Without a valve on the top to stop the recirculation, how do you get it to pump the water out?

[bpcardona]

Originally Posted by Poriferan

Without a valve on the top to stop the recirculation, how do you get it to pump the water out?

Good point. I thought about putting a valve on it. However I put a slip pvc end cap on it and it holds fine.

[bpcardona]

One of the last photos I posted before I disappeared was the of my new skimmer. I purchased this skimmer from a fellow reefer, and was a bit worried about how it would perform. This skimmer is a "homebuilt/custom" skimmer. I was told when I purchased it I was told that the builder worked for My Reef Creation, and that he modeled this after the MRC MR-3R dual stack. I couldn't find much about the skimmer, due to the fact it has been discontinued.

Well it arrived! The shear size of this thing commands respect. How ever it came in pieces and I had to figure out how to assemble. At the point I was very concerned. This is how it came!

I purchased a Reeflo Blowhole 1450 to run the recirculation side of the skimmer. This would feed the water up the Becketts and provided bubbles. I asked for some advice from Beckett users and figured out the assembly. However due to the size I had to build a separate stand for it. The drain of the beckett needed to be above the water level in the sump, and therefor I abandoned the placement of the wash sink. In its place I built the following stand. The hole cut out is for the collection container.

I dont have a picture of it but the Blowhole 1450 simply didn't produce much bubbles. I thought I might have it put together wrong, or maybe the skimmer was just a piece of crap. I was very very concerned at this point. I really didnt want to show the wife......

I called Reeflo to see if I could some how get a needle wheel pump, and forget the becketts. They told me I should try the Blowhole 2700. My response, "The what ? I sent them the pump back and they sent me this beast!

I will break this up for photo purposes....more to come.

[Newbie Aquarist]

Daaannnnnnnngggggg

[owenspackman]

now that skimmer is a beast! holy cow!

[worm5406]

AND?? How well does it work?

[bpcardona]

Skimmer part 2

So I connected the Reeflo Blowhole 2700, plug it it, and about fell backwards when I saw the power! It was a beautiful moment in this build. The following are the powerful pump/skimmer at work.

Okay so the pump made a difference and I was happy, the end. NOPE. I came back 15 minutes later to aww at it's power. This is what I saw. IN 15 MINUTES!!!

This is the collection cup


This was after about 4 hours

I ran the skimmer pretty wet for a couple days and continued to produce a ton of junk. I am so happy with this skimmer I cant put it in words. It continues to produce more and more. I have turned it back to run a bit more dry. One side run slightly more wet then the other. The following are some pictures of the skimmer in place.

[Crazy_Beaver]

Only one word can describe it! BEAST!

[Newbie Aquarist]

Correct. That would be beast of all beast.

[worm5406]

Nice skimmate. On my RO I had nice skim within hours of setting it up.

I was really satisfied with it. I think I need to set it up so the water level is a bit higher. The buildup in the neck is getting thick.

I guess this unit is too small for a neck cleaner huh? Prob better that way.

[Dustin1300]

Things are progressing well and can't wait to see the updates when you have time. Keep that focus on grad school and the reef can wait! I've been in this hobby for 9 years this summer and can say the worst time my systems ever had was while I was in grad school, so glad I'm done with that chapter!

[Mark...]

Phew...just finished 13 pages...looking forward to the finished product...

[worm5406]

13?? I must have changed the # of threads on a page then. I only see 7.

HAHAHA