[FishTechie]

wow this thread is awesome , keep the pics coming! even if it of you hammering a nail!...lol

[bguile]

Thanks! Here's the hammered nail for the day!


I installed my durso standpipes and the returns. I didn't finish the returns yet b/c I'm deciding on what return pump I'm going to use and whether or not I'm going to be using eductors. At first I had decided I was going to use a Reeflo Snapper and split it into four outlets and just throttle back the flow so that the overflows could handle the flow. Then I recently came across another thread highlighting eductors and I finally understood how they work so now I'm debating.

I picked the Reeflo because of it's low wattage and quiet ratings feedback from other reefers. Now I need to find a pressure rated pump that has a low wattage and is just as quiet. What I really want to do is have no powerheads in the display at all and provide some good flow and it seems that the eductor way is the answer. However, I'm not willing to trade the look of no powerheads for a noisy electricity hog. Any suggestions for quiet pressure rated pumps?

[Reefland]

I don't have any suggestions on the pump, but don't kill yourself trying to figure out how to get away with no powerheads with only the return pump for flow. I just don't think you will get good flow from only the return pump.

[FishTechie]

i ran a mag1800 in my 180 and plumbed the two returns to make a spray bar but still had 6 ph's for flow, maybe a smaller diameter pvc around length of tank spraying in??

[bguile]

Originally Posted by FishTechie

i ran a mag1800 in my 180 and plumbed the two returns to make a spray bar but still had 6 ph's for flow, maybe a smaller diameter pvc around length of tank spraying in??

somehow I missed this one. I believe the reason you still had to use powerheads in the tank with the spraybar is because the Mag pumps are not pressure rated so depending on how much head resistance the spraybar created your flow would be cut back significantly.

With that said, I think I'm going to try the eductors with a pressure rated pump in my initial tests and see if it will create enough flow that will not require powerheads in the tank. I read a DIY thread on another board that made some:

I'm going to install these and see how it works out then I'll purchase the real ones for true performance.

[bguile]

Update time!!

Pics first, talk later..






As you can see, I have begun adding water to the tank to begin testing the plumbing and eductor flow measurement. Initially I'll do leak tests with the Mag pumps that I already have and will order either a Velocity T3 or Pan World 150PS.
I'm using a 40G Breeder tank as a sump and will add baffles to create a skimmer area, media area and return. I will use a 20G tank for a fuge that will then feed to the sump.

[Reefland]

Looking good! So your going to have the tank drain to the refugium and then to the sump? Also, check the link in your sig, need to use this one:
210G Build Thread: Lotta pics

[bguile]

Yep, that's how it will work. I originally wanted the fuge to gravity feed to the display. I was going to build a stand that would hold two hospital tanks and the fuge on top and be fed by a separate pump. All that's changed now due to the limited space.
Thanks for the help on the sig. I couldn't remember the tag to link the text and didn't even test the link after placing it.

[Reefland]

Are you concerned with that much flow going through your refugium? If possible I would have only one of the overflows going to the refugium and the other straight to the sump.

[bguile]

Oh yeah...that's how it's going to be, only one of the overflows will go to the refugium. That definitely would be too much flow and would really defeat the purpose. I'm going to have a deep sandbed in the refugium with critters and macros which will then feed into the sump before the skimmer. According to the calculations I've done based on the pump curve of a 150PS with eductors, I should have about 420gph going in the overflows at a 6ft head. splitting that into two should give me about 210gph through the refugium.

this brings up another question I had regarding using a skimmer. I have an MR-1 skimmer with a MAG12 pump. seeing that the mag 12 is rated for 1200gph at 1ft, is the MR-1 too small for my setup? I figure if I have a good skimmer and the pump is theoretically turning the water over 3 times before it leaves the sump, then why would I need to get a bigger one?

[Reefland]

I think the MR-1 will be fine. If worse comes to worse you might want to upgrade the pump to a Mag 18 (I used it on our MR-1 and it rocked).

[bguile]

Mag18 eh? I just may give that a shot. Are you getting better results because it's processing more water?

[Reefland]

Well I use a Bermuda Aquatics skimmer now, but I think I got better performance from the Mag 18 than I would have from the Mag 12. I spoke with Andy about it before setting it up and he agreed, and supported the decision to go with the Mag 18 on the MR-1.

[bguile]

Update time!! I can't believe it's been 2 months already. Here's the pics.

Water testing. Found a couple leaks and had to redo the supply twice. The first time was b/c I was being lazy and trying to shortcut the plumbing work by not priming all joints. Won't do that again. The second time was due to a leaking valve. It leaked behind the knob. I took all five parts that had to be replaced back to Lowe's and they replaced them all. They even gave me back a foot of flex pvc. for Lowes!!!


The left and right supply lines.


I decided to go with a Poseidon/Velocity T3 pump. This pump is QUIET. I get more noise out of my 50 gph Rio. The valve off to the right is the drain side and will feed into the wall plumbing that leads to the main house sewage drain. Water changes are now just a matter of turning 2 knobs!

[bguile]

Both side supplies are like this and I'm considering whether to leave it in case I decide to use it later. My original design called for 4 supply outlets. I tested my output with my DIY eductors and I'm quite impressed with it's performance so I can only imagine what the real ones will do, so I'm only going to go with two supply lines for now.

[bguile]

Now to the good stuff...STOCKING THE TANK!!

First the rock




The rock and substrate in the tank. I finally gave in and bought the expensive Carib-Sea Reef Floor since Oldcastle Carribean sand is virtually non-existant now and I couldn't find a much cheaper proven substitute.

[bguile]

and here we go adding water. This is after 24hours on a 75GPD RO/DI system. Since I'm only getting 2ppm TSD after the RO filter, I skipped the DI portion of the filter thinking it would fill a little faster. Boy was I wrong.

So, here I am waiting for the tank to fill while the rest of my rock gets delivered. I still have to add salt once it all fills before the cycle can start.

[bguile]

The tank has been filled and all rock has been added to the display. The cycle was started as of last Wednesday. I added a couple pieces of LR to seed the sandbed and help the bacteria population with growth. I've already seen amphipods on the glass so I'm pretty excited about that. I'll post pics maybe later this evening once my camera batteries recharge.

[Live Rock Ricky]

looks awesome...

[Reefland]

Get those batteries charged already.