Project 58!! (Image intense)

[wrightme43]

Nick I have been enjoying the hell out of your post. I think you have done a great job. I want to copy your lighting canopy system. I like it alot. Thanks for taking the time to document and share what you have done. Steve

 

[Maxx]

Thanks Steve....glad I can be helpful. My fiance thinks I'm completely nuts...but she's slowly coming around. We were at the LFS recently and I saw a sweet 120 gal All-glass RR tank...I loved, she said it was too small, she wanted a longer one. Thats why I'm going to marry this woman! Well, theres more to it than that....but its things like that.
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Nick
Your setup is insane! I love it! The OM is one great unit! As for the Spa-Flex I am not making any sharp turns or twisty bends as you did so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm just using it for my convienience so I don't have to be exact with regular PVC, done that and want to try this. I'll give the M$ paint a try, if it doesn't look good I'll just scan what I have and post it.

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Ok here is my best freehand attempt, don't have M$ paint so I went with the scan. On the inside I will go with something very simular to Nikki's setup, if you use your imagination with my draring you can see that I have it set up pretty close to hers inside. As you can see the Spa-Flex is pretty straight forward, just a whole lot less rigid that way and a little more forgiving.

 

[Maxx]

Rock on!! Your tank is the size of the one I was planning on, until my landlord said no.....But thats okay..the 58 gallon is a nice size...big enough to keep alot of interesting critters, and small enough to fit in a 2 bedroom apartment. I really like your new house. My fiance are looking off and on at houses....actually more like window shopping since we cant afford one just yet. But a bigger tank is definately in works when we do buy a house!

The Spa-flex really isnt THAT big a PITA, just the way I have it running through the overflow box made things frust....uh, interesting when it was being done. I just glued the unions in...went in pretty easy, so its not like this stuff is impossible to use. Just challenging...
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Sounds good, so do you like new houses or are you into the old ones like my wife an I? It's been really challenging yet highly rewarding remodeling/renovating our 1906 Craftsman. My tank is now the main focus, well that and painting the entry way, got that about half done tonight. I have school, work, the house and my cube all in the mix right now...lifes full of fun challenges :lol:

 

[Maxx]

Okay Todd,
Looking at your drawing, If I'm reading it right, you're planning on basically pushing all the water forward? Is this tank going to be BB or DSB/SSB?
The two returns blowing throuhg your overflow box are going to be tricky to work out. Have you thought about moving them more to the sides of the overflow and running Loc-Line from them so you can angle it which ever way you want?
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

DSB but not the fine sugar sand. I thought about a spray bar first, but I wanted the random flow from the 8-way. Yeah I know the plumbing through the overflow is going to be a real PITA but I have seen it done before so I know it's possible :doubt:

 

[Maxx]

I like the look of old houses....St Louis has lots of gorgous old brick homes....I just hate the not having updated innards...plumbing, electrical, insulation.....etc. My fiance and I have a list of "Must Haves" for the house we buy:
Hardwood floors...they look gorgeous, and are easier to keep clean than carpet if you have pets. We have two dogs...a 90 lb lab/chow mix and a 60 lb yellow lab. Being able to sweep up dog hair is a beautiful thing.
Central air...nuff said.
3 bedrooms minimum....I want one guest room available whenever, and wee plan on having kids...eventually.
Need a garage to keep my motorcycle in..preferably two car, but will settle for one.
Big fenced in yard for dogs......gotta have it.
Must have at least 1200 square feet of space, 1.5 baths, and would like a basement to store things in.
Thats all...we dont want much!
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

My return from the sump will be coming from the top and pushing back towards the back.

 

[Maxx]

What are you gonna be keeping in this?
Nick

 

[Maxx]

okay...I was under the impression this was going to be BB for some reason....
I guess cause mine is, and thats the only tank I've really been thinking about lately...lol
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Know exactly where your coming from on the must haves, we got most of ours, however not all of the electric was "properly" upgraded, nor was all of the plumbing. These are things that I am willing to take on next spring though so we jumped on it, besides we got 2,000 sq ft and it's only my wife an I now, so lots of room, plus a big 2+ car garage, and a fair sized yard. We do have lots of future plans for the house...like the next 3 years of my time locked up in projects, not because its needed, but because we want it, so it's all worth it in the long run

 

[DisturbedReefer]

I have two lionfish that are already used to some serious flow, and my ever growing collection of SPS. Here is a shot of the boys.

 

[Maxx]

Nice Lions...I've always wanted a radiata....just havent gotten around to it yet....someday.
Sounds like you guys got an awesome house. The pics I saw on your thread were gorgeous...basically you have the house we want.
Nick

 

[DisturbedReefer]

When I walked in the house, I looked at the entry way turned around with a big grin and said i think this is the one. We looked the whole house over, then my wife said I think your right, so I promptly went over to the entryway and declaired it my cube spot

 

[DisturbedReefer]

The lions are only about 4-5" now, just got the dark brown one a few days ago. They are in my 55Hex until the cube is ready, at first the red one was none too thrilled with the idea of a tankmate but now they are inseparable. That shot I have there was day 3 and the red one wasn't too happy to loose is hangout, now they jam themselves in there together :lol:

 

[DisturbedReefer]

Looking forward to seeing your new tank cycled and stocked. It's been a long time coming! I'm off for a few hours sleep before class.

 

[Maxx]

I cut the Spa-flex and glued two unions in line. This will allow me to completely remove the OM unit for maintenance. I also glued a union into the vertical length of my return plumbing. This will allow me to "swivel" the return nozzle so I can angle it pretty much where ever I want. The skimmer also arrived today. The plan today is to drain the tank and sump, test the return pump flow rate, paint the back of the tank, and slather silicone into all the seams of the stand that the Marine Goop did not seal right. If I get all of this done in the garage, my fiance wont be able to complain about the smell of drying paint and silicone.

 

[Maxx]

Okay....this was weird.....
According to the math, my return pump in its present configuration is only putting out 316 GPH.
I used the Skimmer Math link to calculate the return pump flow. If its works for skimmers, it ought to be able to work for smaller return pumps...

How to measure your skimmers capacity.
Gallons per hour rating can easily be measured by anyone, all it takes is a watch and a 5 gallon bucket. Measure the time it takes to fill the bucket with the skimmers discharge. No guessing, no "trust me" here.
Total gallons filled (divided by) Seconds to fill (x) 3600 = Skimmers GPH flow rate
e.g. 30 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket would equal a 600 GPH flow rate.

I went out and got a bucket, and an oversized piece of flexible tubing. The tubing was oversized in order to prevent friction from being a factor. At no time was the hose completely filled with water from the return pipe...just kinda like a water slide...all along the sides and bottom of the tubing. It took 57 seconds to fill the 5 gallon bucket.
5 divided by 57 multiplied by 3600 equals 315.789.....roughly 316 gph. This is a mag 7 and I was expecting somewhere in the 400 gph range.
Next I went to the RC head loss calculator and entering in all the info I would have if I were plumbing it with 90 degree elbows.....it came out to 410 gph. BUT the smallest diameter plumbing that it allows to be used in the calculator is 3/4 inch...and I'm running 1/2 inch....so that might make a large difference....
I remember reading on a long forgotten thread that Mag drive pumps require oversize plumbing...but that made no sense to me. Anybody know if this the case?