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Sierra_Bravo's "What did I get myself into??" 120g in-wall build thread
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Finally received something that looks like a fish tank...sump came in! I went with the Trigger Ruby 36.
tangerine3486
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Awesome! Following as a reference of how to do it for my next tank.
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Ahh yes...I have put a large dent in the plumbing section.
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Thanks!
I hope something you see will work for you. Everything I'm doing is from reading the many great build threads on R2R...it's been a learning experience!
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I finally had time to plumb the mixing station and parts of the sump. The design, while looking as my 12 year old described as "a place where Super Mario would get lost", allows the single pump to mix within the salt water tank, remove water from the sump and send to drain, and then add water from the mixing tank to the sump. It all worked as planned.
The fresh water tank is plumbed to the ro/di with a float valve and has two valves for controlling flow. I can send the water via gravity to either the mixing tank or to the top off tank. I really pondered whether I wanted to automate the filling of the top off tank or even eliminate it and just bring fresh water directly from the ro/di into the sump. In the end I decided that I'd rather just fill the top off tank manually for a couple of reasons: First, I just wasn't comfortable doing ro/di direct to sump, even if I used multiple fail safes. I also didn't want to have my ATO force the ro/di unit work inefficiently filtering water intermittently as the ATO pulled it to the sump and the top off tank had to be refilled. I wanted to remove water from the fresh water tank in one large volume and let it replace it all at once. Lastly this forces me to actually view the system and make sure everything is operating correctly.
The fresh water tank is filled through a float valve and I plumbed in a safety overflow drain just in case it decides to fail.
On the mixing tank I drilled 3/16" holes along the width of a piece of 1/2" pvc and mounted it vertically within the tank. This provided very good circulation throughout the entire water column of the tank.
The fresh water tank is plumbed to the ro/di with a float valve and has two valves for controlling flow. I can send the water via gravity to either the mixing tank or to the top off tank. I really pondered whether I wanted to automate the filling of the top off tank or even eliminate it and just bring fresh water directly from the ro/di into the sump. In the end I decided that I'd rather just fill the top off tank manually for a couple of reasons: First, I just wasn't comfortable doing ro/di direct to sump, even if I used multiple fail safes. I also didn't want to have my ATO force the ro/di unit work inefficiently filtering water intermittently as the ATO pulled it to the sump and the top off tank had to be refilled. I wanted to remove water from the fresh water tank in one large volume and let it replace it all at once. Lastly this forces me to actually view the system and make sure everything is operating correctly.
The fresh water tank is filled through a float valve and I plumbed in a safety overflow drain just in case it decides to fail.
On the mixing tank I drilled 3/16" holes along the width of a piece of 1/2" pvc and mounted it vertically within the tank. This provided very good circulation throughout the entire water column of the tank.
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If you do not want to have the purple primer showing on everything, they do make a clear pvc primer that you can find at a real plumbing supply warehouse or online.
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I did have one big problem though. I'm using the Current USA Eflux DC pump. I bought two; one for my display tank return and one for the mixing station . I did this thinking that I'd have redundancy in case my primary went out - I'd have my backup readily available.
When I put the union fitting on and started to tighten it, the thread on the pump housing broke off. This isn't good. The yellow you see in the pick is Rectorseal #5 pipe thread sealant, so I don't think that had anything to do with it. I was able to remove the broken piece and still thread the union on to the remainder of the male threads but I'll send in a letter to Current USA so they are aware. Anyone have any idea what I may have done to cause this?
When I put the union fitting on and started to tighten it, the thread on the pump housing broke off. This isn't good. The yellow you see in the pick is Rectorseal #5 pipe thread sealant, so I don't think that had anything to do with it. I was able to remove the broken piece and still thread the union on to the remainder of the male threads but I'll send in a letter to Current USA so they are aware. Anyone have any idea what I may have done to cause this?
nstuber3956
Active Member
It's a bad design. Not enough wall thickness. The threads made that point of the plastic weak which is why it broke there.
joseserrano
2500 Club Member
nice plumbing work.
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These: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Armacost...lack-Polycarbonate-Trim-Ring-550221/206697583
You have to add a seperate power supply and dimmer switch, both of which are also available thru Home Depot.
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Current USA replied to me within a few hours on the issue with the pump. Great customer service on their part!
Current USA - Support, Mar 15, 13:15 PDT:
Hi Scott,
Thanks for purchasing our eFlux DC pumps - we sincerely apologize for the one pump end breaking off. We've honestly not seen this before.
I looked at your thread, the build looks really nice! I've not used the sealant your using before, but I've never heard of a sealant like this causing an issue breaking the threads. The only time I have seen threads snap before was from too much teflon tape.
Absolutely we can take care of you on this.
Two options:
1. We can send you a new pump volute
2. We can replace the entire pump
From your thread on Reef2reef, it looks like the pump is already installed into the system, so please let us know what works best for you.
Again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Ike
Current USA - Support, Mar 15, 13:15 PDT:
Hi Scott,
Thanks for purchasing our eFlux DC pumps - we sincerely apologize for the one pump end breaking off. We've honestly not seen this before.
I looked at your thread, the build looks really nice! I've not used the sealant your using before, but I've never heard of a sealant like this causing an issue breaking the threads. The only time I have seen threads snap before was from too much teflon tape.
Absolutely we can take care of you on this.
Two options:
1. We can send you a new pump volute
2. We can replace the entire pump
From your thread on Reef2reef, it looks like the pump is already installed into the system, so please let us know what works best for you.
Again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Ike
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We have a tank in place! It's an empty tank, but by God it's a tank!
I'll need to trim out around the tank and install a door panel above. I'm headed to Las Vegas next week so it will have to wait.
I'll need to trim out around the tank and install a door panel above. I'm headed to Las Vegas next week so it will have to wait.
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Thanks!
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Also: Touching base on the Current USA pump. It's designed to be plumbed with barbed connections. No way around it. no matter what I did with the union fittings I could not get a proper seal. With the hose fittings it works great with no leaks. I didn't see any reduction in the pump flow vs hard PVC.
I also installed a manifold for future media reactor use.
I also installed a manifold for future media reactor use.
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I've been gone on business so I had a bit of a break. Since I've been back I built a quarantine tank stand and set up a 20 gallon fish and 10 gallon coral tank ready for our first fishy inhabitants, which we've decided will be a pair of black and white occelaris.
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