A 750g SPS system is born

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The box is 12"x16"x16", so that is 13.2g. Them there is the mixing chamber, which is 12" diameter x 60" tall. That is another 29.4g. Maybe I calculated this wrong, but I think it is about 42g give or take a little.

I just came back from spending a few days in Nassau with the kids and wife. I have the skimmer almost finished. I am hoping to get it done by the end of today if not tomorrow. Pictures will be up by tuesday for sure.
 
I just came back from spending a few days in Nassau with the kids and wife. I have the skimmer almost finished. I am hoping to get it done by the end of today if not tomorrow. Pictures will be up by tuesday for sure.

I can't believe that you were just here! I thought you meant a while back when you said you came to the Bahamas(LOL) Aw well...Next time(LOL)

Looking forward to the pictures myself. I have been waiting on them. Speaking of pictures, we all know that pretty much everyone on RF has seen your setup (as it is one of the great setup featured here), but just incase someone hasn't, I think it would be great if you added a picture of your filtration setup to the thread below...I think it would be another great and diverse addition to the thread.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10264
 
Wow Alberto. I knew the skimmer was big, but 42 gallons... that thing really is a MONSTER. I would not want to be a DOM in your system!
 
When something can go wrong, it WILL go wrong!! So, it turns out the iwaki 40 I had been saving to feed the skimmer is now dead! I am getting another pump from a fellow reefer locally hopefully tomorrow or this week at some point. Also, my kalk reactor is now empty, my alk is 6, and the solenoid (I sincerely despice these things!!!) is stucked off, so no Ca reactor. Worse part is that I can't find a single place with a gauge/regulator only. I am going to try to get one from a brewing place so I don't get it with a solenoid, which I find it to be the biggest waste of money ever to begin with. The saga continues!!

On a positive note, there is a guy locally that opened a facility to be a wholesaler to LFS. Somehow they all teamed up against him and now he is transshipping and selling locally at retail level. However, his prices are still at better than wholesale level!! I just got a Swalesi basslet ($25!), 4 hutchi anthias ($8 each), 4 bangaii cardinals ($6 each), 2 female and a male longfin fairy wrasse ($10 each), and a fine spotted fairy wrasse ($12). I just hope they don't whipe out my tank LOL.............
 
Hang in there Alberto! Post pics of your new additions and the rework of your CA reactor when you get the right stuff!
 
Alberto, it is really easy to find a regulator, and they are pretty cheap. The thing that I couldn't really get working w/ a non-reef regulator was getting a setup that didn't leak and drain my bottle in about a week, I think that my problem was with the different metering valves I tried. I finally broke down and got a genx unit and been pretty happy with it. I agree on the soleniod I don't like them either, and think they are pretty silly if you don't use a controller.
 
Mojoreef can you tell me how many air stones and there size do you have in your skimmer and what size is the air pump?
 
Alberto, I have been trying to find an internet source for the light reflectors you have over your tank with no luck on my part. Can you help me on this please.
 
OK, so I finally finished the skimmer. All that is left to do is to pop it in place and turn it on. I was going to try to do it tonite, but before I put the skimmer in place I need to tend to other stuff around where it is going to be located. Night time is the worst time to be moving important things or experiementing with anything. So, I will leave it for after wook tomorrow. I will post some pictures after I fire it up and will update after so many hours.

Here are just a gew shots of what it looks like now.

Thia is the drain line. I will eventually connect it directly to a bucket.
14.jpg


This is the air pump I ended up with. At 2.6 PSI of depth (depth inside the skimmer and resistance from airstones) it should be able to pump 3.5 CFM. That is exactly what the stones add up to.
15.jpg


This is the air supply manifold. It has a check valve to prevent water from back syphoning into the air pump ruining it. The T witht he valve is to be able to bleed air out as necessary. Since it is lower than the rest of things, if the check valve leaks, water should leave from there before reaching the pmp too.
16.jpg


This is the feeding pump. I will feed approx 750-800 gph plus whatever it takes for the wetneck to work.
17.jpg


Drain pipe
18.jpg


I ended up with 6 airstones of the 6" type. Each is rated at 0.5 CFM max.
20.jpg


Feeding port with wetneck valve
21.jpg


Originally, I was going to put in 8 airstones, but as you can see the lower part of the manifold would ahve hit with the drain elbow. So, I took the middle 2 of the lower section out.
22.jpg


Tp,prrpw"

Lift off !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Alberto, That is one bad "A" skimmer!!! It came out really nice. When I saw that you were replying to your thread, I thought to myself, "I hope it is the pictures!"(LOL) You have a really nice piece there...Can't wait to see it connected and running. Thanks for posting the pics!!!
 
Looking good. Very smart to wait until tomorrow and not fire everything up right before you go to bed. I take it you have learned from experience. So have I! Why not just place the air pump higher than the skimmer? After using a check valve on my tank I would not trust one to hold back that much water from the air pump. The check valve on my tank is on the return pump. When I unplug the return pump the check valve will bounce open and closed several times before closing. I'm sure it must have something to do with the way the water pressure is in the plumbing line. I guess in your situation it may be ok as you only have air on the one end so there is no water pressure issues that the valve will deal with. But I would still mount it above the skimmer just to be safe.
 
Thanks Alberto for taking the time required to post pics, & updated information, this is a very informatitave thread, what works & what not to do should help many including myself.
 
Alberto-you need to have two check valves back to back,this is what is done to keep city water and boiler water a part.
 
dgasmd said:
OK, so I finally finished the skimmer. ................. I will post some pictures after I fire it up and will update after so many hours.

Here are just a gew shots of what it looks like now.




Fascinating thread......waiting with baited breath for the pics on the new skimmer in operation. That check valve and drip leg for the compressor was a great idea.

This may have been touched on before, but I’d suggest putting a good vent fan to the outside in the garage if you don’t want to be abused by your wife and kids…. :badgrin:
 
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