My new 29g DIY closed loop system

[Subliminal]

Well, I had big plans for this write up. The stuff of legend.

Really, really great stuff, at any rate.

But things happened.

Things that happened over the course of several days, between several states and at several stores with several credit cards.

Complicated things, and things I'm not so proud of.

But in the end, this is what we got:

Part I: The belly of the beast

1. The new pump.
I ended up with an Iwaki WMD20RLXT. It's an inline pump which is rated for around 880 GPH at 0 head, and 540 at 4 ft. I figure I'm at roughly 2 feet, but am also using the SCWD wavemaker (will be covered in Part 2) so I'm thinking it's probably a smooth 600 (don't bother doing the math...I just picked that number because it's probably close enough).

Anyway, you can see I had to do a bit of fancy plumbing. I'll leave the reasons out, but they basically just have to do with the store being far away, the planning being not so thorough and my thick scull. The pump has 1 inch out, I had to switch that down to 3/4 and the natural bend of the hose was the reason for my non-traditional vertical mountage.

2. The semi-new Top off reservoir.
My future plans for the fish tank in general is to enclose the bottom. But, I'm a firm believer in being able to always see the water level in the top off reservoir. The 10g tank seems like it will give me a large enough quantity to make it worthwhile (5g bucket seemed to need filled several times a week).

But I digress. The bottom enclosure will have a window to view the water level.
You can see my extra powerhead from the closet with the custom stand and the float switch for the JBJ ATO inside the reservoir.

3. Is my 175w MH Ballast. It's a Hamilton Technologies Championlighting.com clearance issued ballast that I have resting up against my cold RO reservoir.

4. The command center.

Basically the command center is a board that's wire tied to my metal stand.

The white strip has the MH ballast and my hood's fan plugged into a timer in the wall.
The closest strip has the fuge pump the CL pump, the ATO, and the heater.
The JBJ ATO is mounted in between the two power strips.

Part 2:The Buttocks

1. The Closed Loop Pump. You can see the output heading out the bottom of the picture to the SCWD wavemaker. The input is the line in the front going straight up the right side.

2. The SCWD Wavemaker. Basically this little betty has some kind of fan or something inside of it that goes around and alternates the output to my two...nozzles. It blasts about 75% of the power out the right side for about 6 or 7 seconds and then switches. It seems to always put out a little to each side regardless, hence the 75%. The two outputs wrap around my refugium and hit the back corners on the tank.

3. The CPR Aquafuge. My fuge hangs on the back of my tank. It's filled with macroalgae (mostly) with a little bit of sand and a rock or two, a bag of carbon and my heater. It gets its light the same way the rest of the tank does (mine is older, non-painted model). I've heard countering the pH swing is beneficial, but I don't know...I'll worry about that one some other day).


Part 3: The Pretty Face

The entire reason for this project was really twofold:

* To get the powerheads out of the tank thus reducing clutter, heat and possibly BTA injuries.
* To provide alternating currents for the corals in the tank.

1. The right output and the fuge pump can be seen here.

2. The ATO float sensor.

3. Here's some stuff. Ok, the white pipe on the left is the intake for my system. I wanted the holes to be low enough to stay below water even during water changes, and I wanted them to be plentiful enough to reduce chances of the aforementioned possible BTA injuries.

The thing right above the arrow is the left side output for the CL system. I put a piece of hose inside another piece of hose and jammed that into the output to up the velocity a bit...which is why it looks a little funny.

The big tube above the CL output is the flow back from my fuge. One of the best things about that fuge is that it dumps back into the tank, rather than pumping.

4. You can see the fuge in the back is pretty well packed with chaeto.

So, so far, that's it. I need to take pictures of under my hood and make another section right here, so this isn't quite done yet.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Bori]

Nice job!

 

[SIReefer]

Nice Setup!!!!!!

 

[Psycho graphic]

Sorry to say, but that is absolutely scary. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Here are some suggestions for you.

Take the wired tied pump down. If you remove the 4 screws on the pump end you should be able to spin the "head" and get it close to the direction you want, now you can mount it to a small board and have the return aiming upwards.

Also, if it's a closed loop you don't really have the head pressure you are talking about, just the pressure of your plumbing.

GET THAT BALLAST AWAY FROM THE RESERVIOR!!!!!!!! You will thank me for this advice the first time you spill water and your ballast is no longer there. Believe me this WILL happen sooner or later.

Mount your Power Strips securely, NOT WIRE TIES! Make sure any wires coming from above have a Drip Loop that is away from the Power Strips.

Get some Krylon Fusion and paint your intake, it will make it much less noticable.

You can also mount a Float Switch in you reservior (Sp?) so it can't run your pump dry. This way you don't need to have it exposed to view.

A little more live rock could be used to hide some of the other equipment.

I too am striving for a tank with as little equipment and plumbing as possible viewed in the DT, with a liitle planning and some enginuity I have just about accomplished this.

 

[Subliminal]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Take the wired tied pump down. If you remove the 4 screws on the pump end you should be able to spin the "head" and get it close to the direction you want, now you can mount it to a small board and have the return aiming upwards.

Why would I move the pump? It's totally secure and the instruction manual said vertical mounting is fine on this model. The bend in the tubes also seems to work out fine with the current configuration.

GET THAT BALLAST AWAY FROM THE RESERVIOR!!!!!!!! You will thank me for this advice the first time you spill water and your ballast is no longer there. Believe me this WILL happen sooner or later.

I see your point about the ballast, but other than sitting beside a tank of water, there really isn't anything around it to get wet.

Mount your Power Strips securely, NOT WIRE TIES! Make sure any wires coming from above have a Drip Loop that is away from the Power Strips.

Again with the wire ties? You ever try to break a wire tie without tools? It's almost impossible. They're strong as hell and my surge protectors aren't going anywhere. I could probably use them as a ladder if I wanted to change the time on the clock above the tank. (not that I would). Everything does have a drip loop, by the way.

You can also mount a Float Switch in you reservior (Sp?) so it can't run your pump dry. This way you don't need to have it exposed to view.

You can see my extra powerhead from the closet with the custom stand and the float switch for the JBJ ATO inside the reservoir.

The intake I'm kind of counting on turning purple. I know it's a bit of an eye sore, but that's what I get for not starting with the proper tank in the first place.

If I had it to do over again, I would have drilled two holes in the top for the closed loop setup and done a proper external overflow. That way the only things in the tank would have been the output nozzles and the ATO sensor...and I might have been able to get that out of the tank with enough forethought.

Anyway, please don't get pissed off at my responses, I just wanted to explain the reasons why the 'disaster waiting to happen' is the way it currently is.

 

[Subliminal]

That way the only things in the tank would have been the output nozzles and the ATO sensor...and I might have been able to get that out of the tank with enough forethought.

Oh yeah, and the fuge stuff...which really takes up a lot of room.

 

[NYreefNoob]

nice job, and you can still drill the tank you have, and out of curiousity why do you think you need so much flow ? only asking cause i only have about 400gph on my nano 24g ap that is mainly sps dominated. and corals look better than when i had alot more flow in it

 

[masterswimmer]

Your explanations to Dave (psycho graphic) were fine........except for the ballast being next to ANY water. Ideally it should not be under the tank or next to a place where you'll be working with water. If it gets wet (very likely at some point in time) and it shorts out, you're warranty will be void. Even if it was purchased yesterday.

swimmer

 

[reefman]

i agree with psycho. all the tips he gave r for reducing chances for accidents n disasters. but if u say its safe enough, then so b it. good luck.

 

[bigbris1]

I love the fact that you did everything yourself, kudos. If it were me however, I would just Buy another 29g & drill it (or drill your current tank) this way if you wanted in the future, you could switch to a sump/fuge setup. You could build a nice stand to tuck everything else away, which will also turn your tank into a piece of furniture.

This is coming from someone who recently switched from an old school setup where I had every piece of wet equipment inside the tank.

 

[Subliminal]

I don't think I have a warranty on the ballast anyway, as it was a $39 clearance betty.

I still don't understand the wire tie thing. It's not like I used the bread bag ties, these are nylon wire ties which are, in reality, stronger than any other form of fastener I could probably use (unless I welded tabs on my metal stand).

In the near future I plan on building a shell for the stand. It will basically be a 3 sided shell that will be pretty (matching the hood and the bookshelves and entertainment stand i built that are in the same room). However, it will be just 3 sides to I can pull it out of the way and get to my equipment.

As to the drilling of the tank, that'd kind of be a pain in the butt with all that livestock and water in there. I suppose I could drill the top two holes for the output nozzles, but I'd hate to mess something up and have coral on the floor.

On the flow, I just want some stuff blowing around a bit. I've got a few millies up on the top that are really hairy, but the hairs don't really blow around very much. I just assumed those babies should be blowing in the wind.

 

[Psycho graphic]

Just because your ballast has no warranty is no good reason for having it placed in an area so close to youe Top-Off Tank. If while filling it, you should spill some water on it and "fry" it, you will be without any lighting until you buy a new one. This creates three avoidable problems,

1> Temporarily no lighting.
2> Cash flies out of your pocket to purchase a new ballast.
3> A chance of fire from a short.

As for Wire Ties, there is ABSOLUTELY no way they are as strong as metal screws or nuts and bolts that are the right size for the job. Another thing to note, these Wire Ties are being subjected to heat (although not a lot) and vibration. These both can cause loosening and weakening of them. Heat Kills plastic.
So now what if you are at work and the pump falls?

I'm not saying these things to be mean, if I was'nt looking out for you in the long run I would have not said anything in the first place. There are many ways to do things right and many ways to do them wrong. I'm just trying to help you avoid problems that could arise in the future.

 

[Subliminal]

Oh, I don't think you're being mean, and I don't necessarily think you're wrong on everything, but I just disagree on the wire ties. Not a real big deal, though, since I'm the one who would have to live with the consequences should anything go wrong, but...

I've been building/rebuilding/working on cars for a long time. I've an 86 Dodge, for example, that has had the ignition coil held on by a wire tie for 8 years now. And consider the amount of heat/vibration in the engine bay compared to underneath my fishtank. Combine that with the fact that 1/2 of the pump is plastic, as well as the impeller, the scwd AND the plumbing.

Police use them to secure prisoners hands.

I'll bet I could hang my plasma television from the ceiling with wire ties if I had the inclination.

Anyway, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

And as far as the ballast, I just don't really have anywhere else to put it. Like I said, the stand will eventually be enclosed and I don't really want equipment hanging loose.

Anyway, thanks for the comments all...it's still a work in progress.

I have someone who might be interested in trading me a 30rlxt for my 20rlxt. That would take me from roughly 800 GPH to ~950 GPH (not accounting for SCWD and plumbing loss), which I would think would be perfect (or at least could be throttled back to perfect using a ball valve).

So...the project continues...

 

[Psycho graphic]

I run an Iwasaki 20 on my 30 gallon tank also. I have it running my return through a Modified SCWD, Skimmer (airdriven) and Ozone, Phosban and Carbon Reactors at about a 4ft. head. I have more than enough flow.

Are you sure you don't have a restriction somewhere? It seems you should have adequite flow from this pump without having to go to a larger one for such a small tank.

If you need more flow get the drill and Dremel out and mod that SCWD!

Do you have room next to your stand for the ballast?

 

[marki24]

No need to drill the tank. Its a small tank get a good Protein Skimmer and some good water flow which you already have and do regular water changes and u are all set.

 

[bigbris1]

...and my thick scull...

Well, at least you're no liar!

 

[Subliminal]

Bah. Protein Skimmers are for wimps.

Ever since I switched to RO/DI and stopped over feeding, my nuisance algae has pretty much receded to nothing and everything in the tank is thriving.

I've never heard of anyone 'modding' a scwd. I'll have to look around for that a bit.

 

[Subliminal]

Well, at least you're no liar!

Why lie?

It was such a hassle running back and forth to that store, and then trying to get the wrong equipment to work right.

I just went home at lunch and EVERYTHING in the tank is open. The only thing that wasn't open was my tubs blue from the NJRC frag swap, but that has about 1/2 of the polyps 1/2 way open...which is the most activity I've seen from that coral yet. Give me some hope.

So, I guess, in the end, the whole project was worthwhile.

 

[marki24]

Bah. Protein Skimmers are for wimps.

its a proactive approach and i wouldnt consider it for wimps but i guess ur a champ. Anyways good luck and happy reef keeping.

 

[Subliminal]

Actually, since my tank is a nano, I didn't include one in the setup and count on my 5g a week (17%) water changes to keep the disolved organics down. Plus, since I only have 4 little fish to feed, they get about a flake or two a day.

They aren't really for wimps, and i do have one in the closet in case i ever need it...I was just kidding around with that one.