Walkthrough of my 180g Setup
- Thread starter Dr B
- Start date
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szidls said:Hey Doc,
Is there any way to measure pump output on your spray rack? Just wondering how you determined amount of holes without retarding output of pump? Awesome job. Congrats again.
Scott
I think there are flow meters that can tell you how much flow you are getting, but I am unsure of how they work or cost.
I used the trial and error method to decide how many holes to place.(w/out the error part).
When I was doing my leakdown test, part of the plan was also to get this sprayrack working properly. I started off by drilling 10 holes in each staggered like 3-4inches apart. I threw some pvc shards from cutting and drilling into the tank too see what my flow patterns looked like. I noticed a couple deadspots that the sprayrack didnt get too, and then felt how much pressure was comming out of the holes. I had a lot of pressure comming out so I decided to make more holes.
I added a couple holes at a time to get rid of those deadspots. I ended up adding just enough to where on the last round of drilling I noticed a slight decrease in pressure(but I was still left with enough pressure and flow). So I stopped there. I could have possibly made more, but I was happy because the rack was leaving no deadspots. I ended up with like 18-20 holes I believe on each of the racks.
The sound of backpressure on your pump might also talk to you and be able to tell you how many holes you need. Because of the way I plumbed my tank and the size of pump I used I could not use the backpressure noise to guide me. I already had backpressure into the system because of plumbing, and I reduced my pipe down to 1'' in the tank instead of 1.5''. I did do my plumbing as best as possible to reduce headloss. So when I took my sprayrack off I heard the same ammount of backpressure on the pump as I did when the sprayrack was on. This is how I knew I was close to providing as much flow while maintaining good pressure as possible.
Hope that helps....
theduker
New member
Wow!
What a great job on the tank and a fantastic job of documenting the steps! I feel like you should bind it and make a book.
I hope you keep the pictures and updates coming as you add equipment and critters.
I just discovered this website yesterday and saw this great post today which prompted me to join and praise Dr B's work [ I woulda joined anyway, but it would taken me a week or 2. ]
Oh the tank envy that I have....
What a great job on the tank and a fantastic job of documenting the steps! I feel like you should bind it and make a book.
I hope you keep the pictures and updates coming as you add equipment and critters.
I just discovered this website yesterday and saw this great post today which prompted me to join and praise Dr B's work [ I woulda joined anyway, but it would taken me a week or 2.
]Oh the tank envy that I have....
Nautilus
Well-known member
speechless.
NeilsReef
Well-known member
Very impressive
An amazing amount of plumbing, the spray bars looks great. Great tank, only wish I could see it in person. Well done, thank you.
An amazing amount of plumbing, the spray bars looks great. Great tank, only wish I could see it in person. Well done, thank you.
on my reefcentral thread I was asked about my skimmer, so I decided to post my reponse here too.
SKIMMER
Okay so ill talk about the skimmer on my tank, which is a myreefcreation skimmer. It is a mix between a mr2 and a mr3, it was made to custom dimensions. I didnt want to risk going as tall as a mr3 because It would have been a tight fit, so I had my skimmer be 30'' tall. It worked out real good.
Good Things-
The quality of the skimmer is pretty good. It looks really nice, and seems to work real good once you get the height of the water dialed in. I have gotten some really good gunk out of this thing.
Bad Things-
1. I paid 40 bucks for the quick release, which is not worth it. The quick release is the grey union you see... It is so big that it is hard to get on and off, and I cant do it in the sump. So it is literally useless for me. You have to get it on SUPER tight or it will leak too.
2. The becket injectors have a really chincy ring on them that holds them together. This ring holds them together when you are tightening them down. I snapped both of the rings on my injectors and in the picture if you look at the injector housings(left of skimmer) you can see a green object in there. That is my replacement for the becket ring. It is from a hose repair kit, and it has metal screws wich are now rusting and I dont like that. I have been told that if i get 1'' sch80 pvc it will work instead of needing a hose repair kit. I plan on trying ths asap.
3. The injector housing itself on my reactor sucks. If you look at the injector housing thats duct tape on there! The housing is cut there so I can slip the beckets in and out. The cut wasnt even or something, but air leaks in through there and it causes my reactor to go insane because there is just too much airflow. So i have to duct tape it off, which is really tacky.
So overall I would say that I am moderately happy. It works good, but I have had to deal with a few lame details. Better bang for my buck however than any other reactor most likely though.
SKIMMER
Okay so ill talk about the skimmer on my tank, which is a myreefcreation skimmer. It is a mix between a mr2 and a mr3, it was made to custom dimensions. I didnt want to risk going as tall as a mr3 because It would have been a tight fit, so I had my skimmer be 30'' tall. It worked out real good.
Good Things-
The quality of the skimmer is pretty good. It looks really nice, and seems to work real good once you get the height of the water dialed in. I have gotten some really good gunk out of this thing.
Bad Things-
1. I paid 40 bucks for the quick release, which is not worth it. The quick release is the grey union you see... It is so big that it is hard to get on and off, and I cant do it in the sump. So it is literally useless for me. You have to get it on SUPER tight or it will leak too.
2. The becket injectors have a really chincy ring on them that holds them together. This ring holds them together when you are tightening them down. I snapped both of the rings on my injectors and in the picture if you look at the injector housings(left of skimmer) you can see a green object in there. That is my replacement for the becket ring. It is from a hose repair kit, and it has metal screws wich are now rusting and I dont like that. I have been told that if i get 1'' sch80 pvc it will work instead of needing a hose repair kit. I plan on trying ths asap.
3. The injector housing itself on my reactor sucks. If you look at the injector housing thats duct tape on there! The housing is cut there so I can slip the beckets in and out. The cut wasnt even or something, but air leaks in through there and it causes my reactor to go insane because there is just too much airflow. So i have to duct tape it off, which is really tacky.
So overall I would say that I am moderately happy. It works good, but I have had to deal with a few lame details. Better bang for my buck however than any other reactor most likely though.
Okay not to stray off subject, but since asked by a few people here is the pic of our drag car.
It is a 98 mustang. It is an all motor car(no power adders) and with the motor currently run 9.30's-9.40's on quarter mile.
This season we will only hit a few races, but next season we plan to tour at Fun Ford Weekend and run in the street bandit category. Our new motor which will be done in the next few months is aimed to run 8.60's on the quarter mile.
I dont work on the car, my dad does... I am just the driver =D Its nice lol.
From one extreme hobby to another.
Any other direct ?'s please ask through PM's, Thanks
It is a 98 mustang. It is an all motor car(no power adders) and with the motor currently run 9.30's-9.40's on quarter mile.
This season we will only hit a few races, but next season we plan to tour at Fun Ford Weekend and run in the street bandit category. Our new motor which will be done in the next few months is aimed to run 8.60's on the quarter mile.
I dont work on the car, my dad does... I am just the driver =D Its nice lol.
From one extreme hobby to another.
Any other direct ?'s please ask through PM's, Thanks
NEW CORAL
I got an order from www.aquadesignz.com in this week. I got a few zoo colonies and a nice sps colony. I got some pretty good pieces, and hope to get another order from him soon.
My favorite, green with blue center
Green with a purple center
Pinks
Green with pink center. These are really hard to get a good pic of, this doesn’t look nearly as vibrant as it does to the eye.
Blues
Green and orange mix.
Some nice peach colored zoos. These things really glow
Orange with gold center. These things are really bright.
Red w/ purple ring. These is a awesome, quite unique piece. I cannot get a good pic of these things. This thing looks really sweet in person and is probably one of the most true reds ive seen out there. Thanks a ton Anthony!
Pink w/ blue tip table. This is a small little guy, but looks great. Ill be working him up on the lighting and flow slowly over the next 2 weeks and then get him placed in his new home.
I got an order from www.aquadesignz.com in this week. I got a few zoo colonies and a nice sps colony. I got some pretty good pieces, and hope to get another order from him soon.
My favorite, green with blue center
Green with a purple center
Pinks
Green with pink center. These are really hard to get a good pic of, this doesn’t look nearly as vibrant as it does to the eye.
Blues
Green and orange mix.
Some nice peach colored zoos. These things really glow
Orange with gold center. These things are really bright.
Red w/ purple ring. These is a awesome, quite unique piece. I cannot get a good pic of these things. This thing looks really sweet in person and is probably one of the most true reds ive seen out there. Thanks a ton Anthony!
Pink w/ blue tip table. This is a small little guy, but looks great. Ill be working him up on the lighting and flow slowly over the next 2 weeks and then get him placed in his new home.
Well today is a sad day...
While cleaning my tank I noticed two of my three cleaner shrimps dead, sucked up into one of my strainers on my closed loop.
My shrimp normally hang out on the left of my tank together, however I found them on the right side of the tank, in one of the inlets for my sequence 5800. I never turn this pump off during feeding or anything.
It makes me wonder what happened. They are completely intact and dont even seem to have any sign of damage etc. I wonder why they got sucked in, if they were too close or what. I find it odd that it was 2 of the 3 where in the same inlet, and in the strainers by the place they normally hang out. I dont know if it happened during the night or the day.
I guess this is one reason why big pumps may not be good =/
I thought having the suction divided between two inlets would be good enough but I guess not.
Poor lil guys, I loved them. It was just this week when I put my hand in the tank one night that all 3 of them jumped on me and started cleaning me.
Everything else looks healthy in my tank and all my peppermints are accounted for, and my crabs. I have only lost 2 snails out of the whole lot that I got too.
Wish I had answers...
While cleaning my tank I noticed two of my three cleaner shrimps dead, sucked up into one of my strainers on my closed loop.
My shrimp normally hang out on the left of my tank together, however I found them on the right side of the tank, in one of the inlets for my sequence 5800. I never turn this pump off during feeding or anything.
It makes me wonder what happened. They are completely intact and dont even seem to have any sign of damage etc. I wonder why they got sucked in, if they were too close or what. I find it odd that it was 2 of the 3 where in the same inlet, and in the strainers by the place they normally hang out. I dont know if it happened during the night or the day.
I guess this is one reason why big pumps may not be good =/
I thought having the suction divided between two inlets would be good enough but I guess not.
Poor lil guys, I loved them. It was just this week when I put my hand in the tank one night that all 3 of them jumped on me and started cleaning me.
Everything else looks healthy in my tank and all my peppermints are accounted for, and my crabs. I have only lost 2 snails out of the whole lot that I got too.
Wish I had answers...
RGibson said:
2 injectors are better than one. Like I said the skimmer came with 2 injectors which I didnt ask for, but since it came that way I used them and I can tell a diffference.
RGibson said:
The genx8500 is not the best pump for the skimmer, and I know that. I am getting the results I wanted, and I wanted a submersible pump. So I am happy with it, and dont feel I need to change my pump.
Dr it has to do with the violence of the bubble action in the skimmer. if thier is two sources of foam bubbles and alot of heavy flow the bubbles will colide with each other and break to early and thus not work thier why upwards like you want. At least that is the though behind it.
Mike
Mike
