My closed loop PICS wadya think?

[scubadude]

Here is my closed loop that is hooked up to 2 Seaswirls 1" models all plumbing is 1.5"...I have approximately 12' of head both units are driven by a Dolphin Ampmaster 3000....Help me out here guys....I thought I would get atleast 2000GPH for both of the SS's (1000 ea.) but after calculating I think im only gonna get about 1400 maybe a tad less even...all thoughts opinions, and tips appreciated....I havent glued it all together yet.

 

[EEreefer]

Since you already have all that space and the plumbing will be visible behind the tank any way, why not mount the pump up just below the intakes? This looks like it would reduce the head by a total of 3 or 4 feet. Also, I've used the flexible PVC for bends and IMO these add less head pressure than elbows. Also, what size are the inlet strainers on your bulkheads? I expanded the 1.5" bulkheads on my sump outlets to hold 2" strainers by adding a 1.5" to 2" adapter right on the bulkhead. This "appeared" to decrease the head pressure significantly. The 2" strainers require much less frequent cleaning as well using the same hole size. HTH.

[ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: EEreefer ]

 

[Acropora]

Very nice tank.I like the starfire glass.I have a 220 gal. reef tank,traditional dimensions.I have a 6" deep sand bed and I used wood molding, which I siliconed to the glass, to hide the lower darker layers of sand.I agree with EEreefer above.You could nail a shelf to the top section of your stand,or build a seperate small stand to raise the pump.This also would be a good time to consider painting the back of the tank to match the overflow box.Good luck with the new tank. Anthony

 

[scavdog]

Its coming along nice. Keep the pics rollin .

 

[Jeff Hood]

Actually there is no need to raise the pump to the intakes because the fluid collum pressure on the intake negates the head pressure up to that point. By raising the pump you reduce the outlet pressure by say 3 feet but you remove the 3 feet of inlet feeding pressure available to the pump. On a closed loop it should cancil out.

It looks great just like you have it. I like the Idea of going to a larger strainer. On my closed loop I used 3 one inch strainers on a T to spread out the pressure to keep my shrimp from being sucked in. Where did you get the 2 inch strainers?


Jeff

 

[albee1947]

Hey DUDE, You need to put styro under that tank, or it won't be guaranteed. Steve requests the 1" styro.
I don't see any. Just a thought.
Albee

 

[scubadude]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Hood:
<STRONG>Actually there is no need to raise the pump to the intakes because the fluid collum pressure on the intake negates the head pressure up to that point. By raising the pump you reduce the outlet pressure by say 3 feet but you remove the 3 feet of inlet feeding pressure available to the pump. On a closed loop it should cancil out.
Jeff</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was waiting for someone to say this....Yes I have heard this other times too....And im not sure if you guys are familar with the Dolphin Ampmaster but it needs to be bolted to a very stabile base with a cushion underneath it, I did ponder this for a while and thank you Jeff for refreshing my memory....I was calculating my head and You actually dont really count head below the waterline...also horizontal head is much less than vertical head. I also used long sweep elbows on my connctions. After recalculating my head the CORRECT way I came up with about 8-9' of head and that will put me about 2300-2400 GPH on my closed loop....YES! all i wanted was 2100...I may have to throttle the ole bad boy back a tad

Jeff, strainers I got at one of these places...cant member exactly

http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/index.icl?referer=&eflag=2
http://www.savko.com/

Im almost done with all of my plumbing now...I will show more pics soon

Got my other Dolphin pump in today...so I can finalize my plumbing and do a test run then do some tweaking....thanx everyone

[ October 03, 2001: Message edited by: scubadude ]

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice.

The flexible PVC is a good suggestion!

1 Suggestion I would make would be to add unions to both sides of the pump to make periodic maintanace easier. I see you have ball valves in place, which is a good idea, but those threaded joints do not look easy to remove.

 

[EEreefer]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Hood:
<STRONG>I like the Idea of going to a larger strainer. On my closed loop I used 3 one inch strainers on a T to spread out the pressure to keep my shrimp from being sucked in. Where did you get the 2 inch strainers?
Jeff</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jeff, Definitely got mine through Savko. http://www.savko.com/vcb.html

Good prices and quick shipments. JME. HTH.

 

[scubadude]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by albee1947:
<STRONG>Hey DUDE, You need to put styro under that tank, or it won't be guaranteed. Steve requests the 1" styro.
I don't see any. Just a thought.
Albee</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nobody ever told me to put styro under it!!! And its kinda too late now...I have everything plumbed.

 

[Anonymous]

Well you may want to, and putting in the unions will give you that opportunity.

Tom O'Toole
Inland Reef Aquaria
Nashua, NH

 

[scubadude]

Ok...just talked to Steve my manufacturer of the tank and he said as long as the tank is on 3/4" plywood and it is level (which it is....i made the stand

) then I dont need the styro....Whew! Thank god! I had a Kink in my plumbing this morning...I am redoing some things with my plumbing and Yes I will be adding unions to the SS's....I will let u guys know when I get to a finalized plumbing point w/pics of course

 

[scubadude]

Ok I did a test run on the plumbing yesterday....and WOW first time i seen the dolphins in action! talk about some major current....it was way too much current for the seaswirls...none of the pics here have the closedloop/or seaswrirls running...I had to put a piece of plywood over the top of the tank from water spray from the SS's....anyway here is some pics of wher I was at yesterday afternoon

Notice the waterline on the tank and see how the SS's are right at the waterline....that had to be fixed!!

Heres the spraybar in action....I had to empty some water...drill sum holes..fill....and do again till i got it just the way I wanted

My 2 dolphins...these 2 badboys dont playaround!

My Stockman Standpipe....handles the flow rather well...and no noise!

Now...here are the modifications I made since all the above

As you can see I put Unions before the SS's as advised by SOOOO many ppl!

And if you look at the outputs of the SS's I made new ones...they extend deeper into the water.

There obviously seems to be some concern about the intake suctions being WAY to strong (fish snails etc.) Here is a pic of the intake...its fairly large and I even drilled more holes and while I did test the closed loop w/the dolphin3000 on full throttle i stuck my hand down there and its not bad at all...And I doubt i will be running at full throttle anyway!

As seen from before mods, my water line was too low I modified my Overflow box to be about an inch higher

Im fixing to do one more test run and if it all looks good then im gonna drain and put my Rock Racks and Southdown sand in....then fill w/ some SW and let the cycle begin!

 

[Anonymous]

I'd just like to say that this will be a truly awesome tank...and I like the fact that you're taking tons of pics to document it's 'creation'...keep 'em coming!

Peace,

Chip

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Several points I like to point out about your set-up so you can just think about it.

I still think the intake for the close loop is too strong. A small fish will not be able to escape it and if you have an anemone, it will be shredded by the intake. I know it seem not too strong for you but these are small animals that we are talking about here.

I just notice that the horizontal beams of your stand are attached to the side of your vertical beams by a few nails. In essence, your tank is been hold up by these few nails. These nails can bend or slip over the long time frame and cause problem for you.
The horizontal beams should rest on the vertical ones. This will give your stand more strength and able to bear heavier vertical load, which is what you need. You can add a few 2X4 between your upper and lower horizontal beams. This should fix the problem.

The water return should not be too deep unless you have siphon break holes just under the water line. Without siphon break holes, when your power turns off, the tank will drain to the sump to the height of the highest water return. As it is in your tank, you may over-flow your sump. Once your tank is full of water, test and make sure the sump can handle the water when powers go off.

I built my stand and plump my tank also. These were what I learned while doing my project1.5 years ago. Good luck. You seem very handy. Your tank should turnout great.

 

[scubadude]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Minh Nguyen:
<STRONG>Several points I like to point out about your set-up so you can just think about it.

I still think the intake for the close loop is too strong. A small fish will not be able to escape it and if you have an anemone, it will be shredded by the intake. I know it seem not too strong for you but these are small animals that we are talking about here.

I just notice that the horizontal beams of your stand are attached to the side of your vertical beams by a few nails. In essence, your tank is been hold up by these few nails. These nails can bend or slip over the long time frame and cause problem for you.
The horizontal beams should rest on the vertical ones. This will give your stand more strength and able to bear heavier vertical load, which is what you need. You can add a few 2X4 between your upper and lower horizontal beams. This should fix the problem.

The water return should not be too deep unless you have siphon break holes just under the water line. Without siphon break holes, when your power turns off, the tank will drain to the sump to the height of the highest water return. As it is in your tank, you may over-flow your sump. Once your tank is full of water, test and make sure the sump can handle the water when powers go off.

I built my stand and plump my tank also. These were what I learned while doing my project1.5 years ago. Good luck. You seem very handy. Your tank should turnout great.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I really do appreciate your tips Minh

However all those points are very valid, but have been taken into consideration....the stand is supported by the legs...they have been precision cuts....all of them and all weight points have been distributed mainly on the legs....and yes thank you on the added support issue...I may do that

The intakes....again I stress they have VERY VERY little velocity to them...This has been thought out for quite some time....thus the 2 - 1.5" intakes for 1 1.5" intake pump! I guess you guys are just gonna have to trust me on this one....cuz you guys had me worried at first...but as soon as i turned on my closed loop that was the first thing I checked!

The water return/anti siphon....I have a 90, and a 20 reef already....One of the most important things I have learned from these tanks and the boards is power outage/flood control! So to say the least, you could say that it all is evolving around that....I am testing and retesting and will not start the cycle until all aspects are satisfied!

 

[Jeff Hood]

Thanks EEreefer.

Ill check them out. Looks like they have bulkheads for my new tank also.

Jeff

 

[Jeff Hood]

I have a little giant 3mdqsc closed loop and have it plumed to 3 one inch strainers. It moves about 1000 gph. I have seen my shrimp very near the strainers and not even his antennae were moving near the strainers. They have been no problem on my tank.

On my New 580 I will use a very similar system to yours but I will probably place a Y in the tank and have 2 two inch strainers for each intake just to be on the safe side. I am going to have two Ampmaster 3600s for closed loops and one 3600 to run the sump and sea swirls or two 3000s. Not sure yet of the final config but should move some water. Turnover is about 18 times per hour.

Jeff