240 Inwall Construction (Image Intense)

[Bemmer]

Joseph,
Thank you for your reply. My glass tank is also .5" thick. I thick I will go with the Tunze magnet because it is better than "adequate"

If I may ask, I did not see a UV sterilizer as part of your equipment list? Do you use one? If so, how do you have it plumbed?

[Bemmer]

Joseph,
I also want to ask you a question about determining the right pump size. I have been struggling with deciding on the right size for my main return pump. I spoke with a friend of mine who calculated that I will have about 18 feet of head pressure with the plumbing running from the pump to the two seaswirls that I will be using as my returns back to my main tank. He is suggesting a Sequence Hammerhead (5400 gph) pump to get approx 3400 gph back into my system after the head pressure. I would tee it off to the two Seaswirls and a UV sterilizer. Giving me about 1000 gph running to all three units. My concern, and what is keeping me up at night, is wondering if that is not too much pump for this system. Can you help me determine if this is the right pump?

[weatherson]

Rebecca: I do have a UV filter and it's plumbed directly off of the main circulation pump. The line then continues on to my carbon canister filter and then empties back into the sump. Here's a visual representation for you...



As far as the pump rating, you'll need to provide more information such as prefilter box weir size, quantity of boxes, bulkhead and associated plumbing size utilized on the drain lines, etc. You mention running the UV off of this pump. Are there any other feeds this pump will supply such as an inline chiller?

Consider that it's better to overshoot your return GPH rating by a bit and if need be, you can "throttle it back" some if you find there's too much flow. You will see a slight reduction in flow after some time as your plumbing lines build up calcium on the inner walls so this too needs consideration. Too much flow for SPS tanks is hard to achieve so the flow back to the sump will be your limiting factor (weirs, plumbing size, etc.). In addition, there is a point where too much flow through your sump can become an issue with the passing of micro-bubbles back into the tank. But, a properly sized and designed sump should alleviate this.

Joseph.

[weatherson]

I took a few photos today of one of my true percs. He appeared to be posing for me so I was able to get some decent shots. Trouble is, I couldn't decide between the following three so here they all are for viewing.











And finally, a shot I call "Jaws".



Joseph.

[melev]

Such beautiful images. Nice! I love bubble tips that actually retain their bubbles. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for sharing.

[asnatlas]

Very nice pics... Keep them coming

Shawn

[dippin61]

awesome pic!

[Bemmer]

Originally posted by weatherson
Rebecca: I do have a UV filter and it's plumbed directly off of the main circulation pump. The line then continues on to my carbon canister filter and then empties back into the sump. Here's a visual representation for you...

As far as the pump rating, you'll need to provide more information such as prefilter box weir size, quantity of boxes, bulkhead and associated plumbing size utilized on the drain lines, etc. You mention running the UV off of this pump. Are there any other feeds this pump will supply such as an inline chiller?

Consider that it's better to overshoot your return GPH rating by a bit and if need be, you can "throttle it back" some if you find there's too much flow. You will see a slight reduction in flow after some time as your plumbing lines build up calcium on the inner walls so this too needs consideration. Too much flow for SPS tanks is hard to achieve so the flow back to the sump will be your limiting factor (weirs, plumbing size, etc.). In addition, there is a point where too much flow through your sump can become an issue with the passing of micro-bubbles back into the tank. But, a properly sized and designed sump should alleviate this.

Joseph.

Joseph,
Thank you for the visual of your UV sterilizer. I missed that in your pictures ;P Does the return from your sterilizer and your carbon chamber go back into the return area of your sump? How much flow do you think you are getting through your sterilizer? I am wondering if approx. 1300 gph is too fast for the sterilizer to work properly on my set up. I come up with that flow rate based on how much flow will be coming from the main pump split with the seaswirls.

Currently, the return drains from the main tank are two 1 1/2" bulkhead drains drilled into the upper left corner of the back of the tank. They are going to drain directly down to the skimmer area. One into the EuroReef CS 12-2 recirculating skimmer and one into a bubble tower (suggestion from Marc L) . I am not considering any other equipment feeds coming from the Sequence Hammerhead other than the UV sterilizer. The 1/2 HP in line chiller will be fed by its own dedicated pump. I am considering a PanWorld200PS (1750 max gph) for this chiller, coming from the return sump area.

I guess my concern with this large Sequence pump is that it may too big for the two 1" Seaswirls and the UV sterilizer. Although, looking at the head pressure chart with 18' head pressure, I am reducing the gph flow down to approx 3600 gph that is split among the three units at a rate of seaswirls at 1150 gph and the UV sterilizer at 1300 gph. I hate to second, third and fourth guess this but I just want to be sure. In addition to the Sequence Hammerhead and the Panworld mentioned above, a second Panworld pump will be split between the Seahorse tank (30" x 12 1/2" x 25H) and the frag tank (36 x 24 x 17). So, I will have three external pumps pulling from the sump return area.

The total flow in the main tank (60" x 36" x 25"H) will be from three 1" seaswirls (third seaswirl is a return from the chiller) and a set of 6200 Tunzes. I don't know how to measure all that flow but I believe it is a lot moving around that 225 gallon tank.

The sump size is rather large. It is 48"L x 30W" x 17"H. I will only have a skimmer area and a return area split almost equal between the two. After speaking with Marc Levenson, he thought that would be the most efficient set up. I will have a bubble tower and a set of three baffles before the water gets to the return chamber. I am also thinking of adding some live rock in the sump as well. Hopefully, all that will address the microbubble situation.

Thanks again for helping me think this through...so I can sleep at night.

[original-reefland]

*awesome pictures*

How come your floor is spotless? No sign of salt creep on anything, no sign of spilled water not even a dust bunny in the corner. No sign of any dust anyplace! You got some weird habbits we don't know about yet?

[whodah]

congratulations on Reefkeeping's November 2005 TOTM weatherson!!!

[melev]

Ditto!

[dippin61]

grats!! beautiful tank!

[weatherson]

[B[Marc. Shawn and dippin61:[/B] Thanks and glad you enjoyed them.

Rebecca: Unless you are going to utilize a 5000-watt UV unit, I think a 1300 GPH flow-through will be too great. I did a quick measurement on my flow through my UV/carbon filters and it's 2.3-gallons/minute. This equates to 138-gallons/hour or a rough tank turnover of 11 times/day. Of course, this doesn't take into account the multi-pass filtered water but I still feel this is closer to ideal for proper UV bombardment with my setup. Check the UV filter you are interested in and their recommended flow for proper effectiveness. Each is different based on design and wattage.

So your tank will have no prefilter boxes or surface skimmers but rather simply two 1.5" bulkheads at the water surface? Hmm. Are they located at the water's surface? This may not be the best design but I suppose it will work. It may be a limiting factor as you won't have any pressure forcing the water through the bulkhead so they will essentially be openings of only their inside area. If at the surface, this won't be the whole area and if below, you will have a pretty large amount of water drained from the tank during non-circulation pump times. Just thinking this through here. Noise may be an issue as well.

As a point of reference, I have the Sequence 4300 which is providing about 3800 GPH with part going to my refugium, the aforementioned UV/carbon filter and the rest directly back to the tank through one 1" open ended pipe and the sinusoidal valve. This with 3/4" Locline outlets with momentary single outlet openings.

I don't know if any of this actually helps you or not but I would recommend starting a thread, if you haven't already, specific to your setup for others to provide input. There are others more knowledgeable than I when it comes to flow calculating.

Rich: Thanks. Oh man, do I have some weird habits. None of which I care to share here. If it makes you feel better, I do have some salt creep at the shaft of my skimmer's 2" gate valve. Just haven't gained the energy lately required to switch it out yet.

Whodah: Thanks and thanks for keeping it quiet until now.

Marc and dippin61: Thanks again.

Joseph

[Bemmer]

Joseph,
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my concerns. i will definately have to rethink this pump set up with the guy I am working with at Premium Aquatics.

The bulkheads will have a 90 degree elbow pulling water at the water's surface. i did not want to put big overflow boxes in my tank so that is why I went with the two 1 1/2 bulkheads.

[Typhon]

Joseph.. Congrat on beening the TOTM!!!

I knew it was just a matter of time.

[want2reef]

Wow!

Congrats on TOTM.

Maybe someday I could come by and see your tank in person.




Kevin

[asnatlas]

Originally posted by whodah
congratulations on Reefkeeping's November 2005 TOTM weatherson!!!

Very nice... Keep up the good work

Shawn

[Bemmer]

Joseph,
I did not realize until today...congratulations on TOTM. It is obviously well deserved. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to me earlier today, when I am sure you were inidated with emails of congratulations.

Great job. Your website and your thread have been an inspiration and help to hundreds, possibly thousands of us out here.

Rebecca

[NexDog]

Congrats! Long overdue!

[jarhed]

Originally posted by NexDog
Congrats! Long overdue!

What else can I say except: WORD!!!

[weatherson]

Rebecca: I hate to seem like the provider of bad news but... those turned up 90's may be a little noisy. Do you have a thought of how to keep them quiet or noise not a factor? Thanks for the kind words and glad to help where I can.

Typhon: Thanks. It wasn't that long, was it?

Kevin: Thank you and tours are always welcome. Have you been on CVR yet? That's the best place to keep up to date with our local reefing affairs.

Shawn, NexDog & jarhed: Thanks so much.

Joseph

[tang_man_montreal]

WOOHOO!
Tank of the month!!! I'm happy that I started that nomination thread for your tank... not that you needed the help!
CONGRATS!

[Lunchbucket]

CRONGRATS weatherson. it truely deserve this honor. your tank is amazing and an inspiration to us all. your DIY skills are amazing to say the least.

keep on reefin'! we'll keep watching and learning

Lunchbucket

[Bemmer]

Originally posted by weatherson
Rebecca: I hate to seem like the provider of bad news but... those turned up 90's may be a little noisy. Do you have a thought of how to keep them quiet or noise not a factor? Thanks for the kind words and glad to help where I can.

Joseph

Joseph,
I am planning on putting a "T" on the back of each bulkhead drain then capping the tee. I will cut a slot into the PVC at the top to allow air in to help move the water through the drain better and reduce the noise factor. Also, this is an in-wall tank so the noise level will be reduced from the viewing side of the tank. From the inside of the tank, I am going to put a screen inside the elbow to keep critters from getting stuck in the PVC. A friend of mine has the same setup (got the idea from him). There is a small vortex funnel shape going into the elbow but it does not create any noise.

Rebecca

[Airman]

Thanks for sharing.