Chuck's 150 Gallon Reef Project

[ChuckG]

Since I recently lost most of my remaining SPS I've finally decided to "force" some stability to things. Since I'm reworking the system now, we're gonna add one of these little babies into the mix.

Digital Aquatics 2008

[Thomas]

I would reconsider this decision Chuck. I have one of the DA products and it's fine for turning on lights and other simple tasks. If I had to do it again I would much prefer one of the Neptune systems aqua controllers. I think this is a much better product line. The DA customer service sucks!

If you look at their new Reefkeeper model you will see that they still do not have the Ethernet part of the controller working yet. This is one of the main reasons I bought a controller. I could be at work and make an adjustment if I needed to. Not possible with the reefkeeper at this time. You can do this with the Neptune and I also believe you can log parameters to the computer as well. This is not possible as far as I can tell with my reefkeeper. The software package on the Neptune looks very nice. I do get to view pH and temp on my computer via the my reef software package. Both systems require a ground loop Isolator in order for you to get a correct pH reading.

[ChuckG]

My streak of bad luck apparently is still with me.



That's the NEW sump.

[ricosuave]

I believe that someone told me very recently that a large diameter pipe between sumps was not practical and that bulkheads would cost a bundle. I think that I will heed his/your advice after seeing this.

I hate it for ya, man. Maybe you should try acryllic. It's a little more forgiving.

Maybe it's time to find a Shaman or Witch to help you rid yourself of the bad luck. Hell, even a voodoo doctor couldn't hurt.

[ChuckG]

Actually, I think I may have salvaged it.



I ended up buying a 50 gal for the front sump and another 29 for the rear sump. The 50 gal has thicker glass. The uniseal worked great for that but it was just too much pressure for the thinner glass of the 29 gal.

In hindsight this could have been prevented in two different ways.

1) Use a uniseal for the thick glass and a bulkhead for the thinner glass.
2) Ream out the holes a little bit too big and add a ton of silicone.

#2 was my only option at this point. I siliconed up the crack on both sides as well. Since the crack is high in the tank it will be a low pressure area. As long as the silicone around the pipe/uniseal hold I think I'll be good to go.

Leak test tomorrow night.

[Thomas]

What's up with the controller situation? Have purchased one?

[ChuckG]

I'd already paid for it prior to posting but it isn't here yet. I'm sure I can cancel/return if I really don't want it. Haven't had time to check things out yet.

[Thomas]

witch one did you but? The reefkeeper, reefkeeper 2, or the new model? Just nosy.

[ChuckG]

The newest one that is just coming out. The Reefkeeper Elite.

[ChuckG]

I'm almost done with the replumbing of the tanks.

When I was tearing the sumps down I realized that I could get a little bit more water volume by going with a bigger sump.



The original sump set up was two 29 gal tanks plumbed together (top of diagram).
Using a 29 gal and a 50 gal tank plumbed together as shown in the bottom of the diagram gives me more water volume along with taking out the bend in the pipe prior to the pump.

So I made the new 50 gal sump.



I'm not sure why I went back to the old style baffle set up and I already need to change this. I think I'm simply going to knock out the closet baffle to the pump and it will fix things. The problem with it now is that the water comes "over" at the very last stage. Any more than about a 1/4" drop will create bubbles in the last section that will get caught up by the pump and enter the main tank.

When I tore things down and pulled out the main pump I got a little bit of a surprise as well. My dart on my closed loop had a small leak but that is nothing compared to what I found when I pulled this pump (which was pretty well hidden from sight).



I still hadn't used the seal kit that Reeflo had sent me for the other dart so I used it on this one. It was real easy to do and the pump is back up and running with no leaks. I called Reeflo and this pump was still under warranty so they sent me out yet another seal kit.

Old sumps removed.



New ones put in place.



I mentioned previously that I cracked one of the new sumps connecting them together. I had to cut a 4" hole in each tank and then use 3" uniseals and 3" PVC pipe to connect them. One cracked but I was able to silicone things up and it seems to be holding.

The 20 gal tank that was under the frag tank was removed. I had accidentally cracked it as well. I leaned up against one of the bulkheads while I was working on something and it cracked. So I had to make a new one. I made a very low baffle because this is going to be the home for my in sump ETSS skimmer. I also made the overflow using the 3 pipe dead silent fail safe method.



As I stated earlier, this is going to be the home for a skimmer. I had to make a new manifold for the skimmer. It original came with the inlet pipe going straight down. I needed it to come out at an angle to allow me to fit it into the tank.



Put it in place.



And then I realized that the overflow is almost a dead horizontal run to the other sump and so the 3 pipe overflow system really didn't work out too well. I removed all the excess piping and will simply run 3 full siphon pipes as this overflow. Believe it or not, it is still silent.



Then I connected the skimmer and cranked things up. It appears to be running fine and VERY VERY quiet.

Now I just need to clean out the carbon, GFO and calcium reactors (been sitting for weeks without circulation) so I can get those hooked back up.

I came VERY close to miscalculating the baffle height this time around. I wanted to maximize my water volume ------ and I did.

On power failure or pump shut down, I come within an inch (or less) of overflowing the sumps.