Jiddy's 220g MASTERPIECE!

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I would like to thank Scooty, Linkki, Fleet, Steve, Ken, Travis, Haole, My mother, my producer, my DJ.... what, thats it, for the valuable knowledge and encouragemnt. Im sorry to say im goin to keep my ghetto design for now, im really sick of tearin it down and the leaks have stops, so its "good enough" for the time bein'. I will be look for some teflon tape today!

Travis, about the PVC size which is only 1" wide, i brought home the 1.5" PVC to do the job, and the wife turned me around and told me to get 1" because it was covered by the seam of the tank. That was the reasonin behind that. The clear tubin was just used for ease of the turns, which i didnt even use anyways, i just used the PVC i had initially got. The tubin will be designed better when the tank is re-setup, i have definatly learned a valuable lesson and will use this when i get the thing done for good. I want to thank you all for help, you've been great, good night good bless *why are you rollin the music IM NOT DONE*

-Jiddie Bing Bang
 
I am going to give the poly pipe a shot on a C/L. There is probably a reason people do not use it but I am going to be stupid enough to try. NO GLUE, PRIMER, Chemical reactions, measuring fifty friggin times!!!! A little tep tape for threaded parts and that is it. Stuff bends fairly easy which would mean less elbow's 45's and less restrictions to kill flow. Cuts like butter with a pipe cutter.

Just a cheap as PVC and it can be taken apart at the place you screwed up and fixed only where it needs it. Heck this sounds so good it has to be wrong! I will be getting around to it in a few weeks. I will try to figure out how to post pics and give you all an update.
 
I guess the only thing I would check is to make sure any UV coming from the lights won't break it down, and the effect saltwater would have on it long term. I know that the poly airline we use at work will become very brittle outside quickly if it is not uv rated. Don't know how much of this applies, but I would check before doing a system.


Ken
 
I have had a sprinkler W/ 1/2 inch poly ( 10 feet) exposed to weather outside for three years. I use this one pop up for a few different areas in my yard. it has shown no signs of break down. It was well over 100 deg today and all week. Pipe gets a little hot but shows none the worse for wear and tear. I doubt UV would have any effect.

I started thinking that the pipe might leach chemicals into the water but the city uses it for our water. ( I am assuming it is safe) I will put a small peice of poly in my QT tank (no fish right now) and check on it every other day or so. I will check for Phos every day along with all the other tests.

The manifold will be interesting to say the least. I could use pvc but then I am right back where I started. Instead I will use a sprinkler manifold with valves. I could hook this up to a timer and I have an instant wave maker. Manifold, valves (cylinoid), timer should put me right around $130 - $150.00. Could easily seperate and have timers for two C/L and use only one pump!

Surely someone has tried this in the past.......... wish they would chime in.
 
I have often wondered about using sprinkler solenoids in the aquarium, just didn't know what, if any, metals were in them.

Ken
 
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I knew I spelled that wrong! solenoids!

Mostly plastic and rubber. I have torn a few apart and not much to them. I guess i will have to add that task to the QT tank. I have an extra 1200 gph pump that I would have to use for testing. Lots of flow for a 29!
 
Poly pipe isn't used for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that it will become brittle in time with saltwater. When you make a tank out of it that's not so bad; but something like pipe that's under bending pressure is likely to have problems with age. The other reason is leaking. It often does leak, which isn't a problem in a sprinkler system. If you have a very slow, low pressure drip into the ground it doesn't matter; but a slow drip of saltwater in your bedroom becomes a big deal. Give it a try if you're curious, but keep these things in mind.

When done right PVC is extremely forgiving; and also never develops leaks (outside of extremes, like freezing). The trick is to not go overboard on the glue. Dab the insides of the can to get most of the glue off of the swab; then apply a thin, but very visible layer completely around the pipe. Then quickly connect the fittings together with a twisting motion. Give it at least a 1/4 turn, pushing the fittings firmly together. When done correctly you should never have a leak. Be sure to connect them as quickly as possible. In seconds the glue will dry enough to affect the seal.

Clayton
 
Travis said:
First of all, your intake in the tank only has a few small holes drilled in it. This is probably not enough to allow the water to move freely into the CL without the pump having to "work" to get water. You never want to make a pump work to get water. I would drill about 10 times as many holes as you currently have for the intake.
Click to expand...

Could i just take the cap off the intake pipe, or would that be to strong for fishes or whatever?
 
By the way guys, stop tryin to hijack my thread with all your sprinkler talk. This is a serious thread and needs to stay on track *roflmao* Anyways, i wanted to share my readin's with you, so you could criticize me and knock me down, lol, im teasin!

Nit-0
Amm-0
Nat-5
Cal-400
PH-7.96
 
Is it okay to turn off my Mag CL's at night, i still have a little dorky Seio in there, and have the CL's turn on with the lights in the morn, they are kind of loud for the princess i married
 
fleetbox, I would not trust poly tubing on my tank. I use it for my water change pump and it gets very brittle. It has literally cracked lengthwise along the pipe about 12" for not reason. I never overbend it or kink it. Also, due to the rigidity, I'm not sure how leak-proof the connections on hose barbs would be.

clayswim, IMO, I think it is usually better to err on the safe side and use more glue than necessary when gluing pvc fittings. I've ran into problems trying to skimp, which usually led to leaks. As a general rule, as long as you get a nice ring of glue around the outside of the fitting when you are done you probably used enough. Also, I used to use clear primer and also wipe all of the glue off of the outside after fitting the pieces together but I learned that it is best to leave the "ring" of glue around the fitting as it creates a seal just in case your fittings didn't set properly. Done right, the ring actually looks kinda neat.

Jiddy, you could take the cap off but it will be a hazard to your fish. If you don't want to drill more holes then just replace the cap with a slip x threaded fitting. Slide the slip fitting over the pipe and screw an intake strainer into the threaded fitting. I'll see if I can find you a pic of an intake strainer. Your levels are looking good. Did you do some big water changes to get the trates down or something? Maybe it is your skimmer doing its job.
 
I don't think you understood what I was getting at Travis. Of course you should have glue completely around the pipe; I believe I said that in my post. Too much glue, however, will often cause problems. The point of the glue is to melt the PVC together; it doesn't work like silicone where it performs the seal itself. Using too much defeats the purpose because it actually gets in the way of the process. You probably don't use too much when you do it, but some people put an incredible amount on.

Clayton
 
Im goin to have to go back are reRead the posts, its been a long rally-filled weekend (lol) i have a few complaints ive noticed over the weekend and wanted to ask the crowd....

1. My new base rock which came white are now covered by a brown/rusty algae, is this just growth, or is this bad growth. No water has been added that wasnt RO.

2. On the bottom seam of my tank there keep gettin salt creep buildup, i can notice a small amount of water in the seam too. Its very minimal but still obviously a big deal.

3. My sump level should be as high as the system drains it with the pump off for safety reasons, well the overflow maxes the sump out, but then the return lines from the pump act as a syphon and keep puttin water in the sump and drains my tank about 3in from the desired area. *does that make sense*
 
Jiddy drill a small hole in one of the return lines just below the water level to act as a siphon break.
 
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