Boom's 180 Gallon Tank Project

[Boom]

Well my balls are nice and clean now...

I picked up a 5 gallon pail worth of bio-balls from a guy on Kijiji. They cost me $5,

At B.A's they sell 1 gallon for $10. You do the math...

And I know my dechlorinator works because the bio-balls were sitting in bleachy water for 3 days. I rinsed them with tap water then put them in the bucket with a healthy dose of dechlorinator. Tested the water after stirring well and sitting for 5 minutes. and no chlorine reading at all.

[Lana Bollers]

Well my balls are nice and clean now...

I picked up a 5 gallon pail worth of bio-balls from a guy on Kijiji. They cost me $5,

At B.A's they sell 1 gallon for $10. You do the math...

And I know my dechlorinator works because the bio-balls were sitting in bleachy water for 3 days. I rinsed them with tap water then put them in the bucket with a healthy dose of dechlorinator. Tested the water after stirring well and sitting for 5 minutes. and no chlorine reading at all.

Sweet!!!

What dechlorinator do you use?

I saw those bio balls listed on kijiji, but I should have a full bag here, I just can not find them suckers!

Lana

[Drydock]

Roger, quick question, with putting the heater in the sump, how do I determine what size heater I need?

I agree and disagree with Firestorm. Your return pump will add heat, but you are still heating 210 gallons. The fact that it is flowing through the sump, where your heater is, works both for you and against you. The sump is a smaller size, therefore needs fewer watts to heat, but it is turning over its volume 42 times an hour (at 1400 GPH flow) and is constantly being diluted with (theoretically) cooler water. You also are having this in your basement. What is the difference in the average room temperature and the temp you want for your tank? I have always added extra wattage for my tanks in the basement, especially in the winter.

Run your setup with just the pump on and see what stable temperature you get, then see how many degrees from the ambient temperature you need to go up. If it is only 2 or 3, then maybe a 200 W would be fine. More than that, I think you should go bigger. Just make sure it actually fits into the sump... (don't ask)

Regarding the ATO...

You won't notice evaporation changing the level in your display tank, it will show up in your sump. If you are running a heater in the sump, try not to put it in the same compartment where your pump is. I am assuming there are some baffles in their so that water can't go straight through. When your water level starts to drop, due to evaporation, that compartment is to one that goes first and you could find a plugged in heater sitting higher out of the water than it should. The ATO helps minimize some of this. With my setup, I don't have a lot of room to add buckets of water in the top of the tank, or the sump, so if you hat a smaller container that you could remove and replace, it would be a good idea.

I still would plumb in the bypass loop on the return... IMHO

[Drydock]

O.k. So I did some research on the auto top off systems. If I understand correctly it just uses a float valve to determine when you've lost x amount of water due to evaporation, then adds water to get back to a proper level. Correct?

I'm thinking that with a glass lid completely covering the tank, and a lid on the sump as well, I'm not gonna loose enough to evaporation in between water changes to make this worth while.

On my 55 with a not as tight fitting lid, I barely loose enough water to even notice over a 2 week period. I know the surface area of a 180 is much larger, but the glass lid will be tighter fitting as well.

Am I wrong or missing something re. the top off system?

Nope, that's basically how they work. Some people plumb in their R/O system to feed the top off water, or you can use a smaller container that has a pump in it or just gravity fed. My 210 is 72"x30" for surface and I have a tight fitting glass lid. I lose 5 gallons every 3 or 4 days. My sump does not have a lid on it, so that contributes for sure.

[Boom]

I will do some invetigation on the heating I require once set up. My basement is the warmest place in the house in the winter. I finished it myself.

I'll also see how much evaporation I loose and plumb in an ATO later if needed. Will be easy where I have it.

[Boom]

Alright, so I made some headway today. Arnold showed up (late, but at least he showed) to drill the tank. After figuring out exactly the best place to put the holes, we began drilling. I say we because he drilled the first one for the 1" bulkhead, and I drilled the second one for the 1 1/2" bulkhead. His bits worked perfectly and the holes were done in no time andno problems. I clamped a scrap board at the back side of the glass to prevent glass from chipping out. That worked great.

Then I siliconed the bulkheads in place.

After that, I finished planing the boards for the stand, making them all equal width and thickness, and perfectly square.

I cut them all to final length and started assembling.

.....

[Boom]

... Here is the sub-base. It will be alot easier to level the stand with this.

This is as far as I got as of this evening. The space between the four verticle boards is where the sump will be. The space to the side will be shelving for kids toys. As seen in the sketch I did (see above).

I need to go get some cherry plywood and cherry lumber tommorrow. As well as a few supplies from Lee Valley.

Drydock, if I understand the bypass loop on the return, I would place a T in the return line, with a pipe going back into the sump, that pipe is where I would place the ball valve, instead of in the return line itself, right? Then I could control the flow going back into my tank, by opening or closing that ball valve, letting more or less water from the return divert back to the sump, with putting additional back pressure on the pump. Is that correct? Seems to make sense. If I have it right, I think I'll do that.

Lana, the de-chlorinator I use is this stuff:

That's all for tonight. More progress tommorrow, I hope.

Boom :boom:

[Doc_Polit]

Hi Boom,

Just a quick tip...

A properly installed bulkhead does not need to be siliconed. They will not leak.

If you ever need to adjust or replace them it will be a PITA.

Nice work....good luck on the remainder of your project.

Edited October 21, 2008 by Doc_Polit

[jvision]

if I understand the bypass loop on the return, I would place a T in the return line, with a pipe going back into the sump, that pipe is where I would place the ball valve, instead of in the return line itself, right? Then I could control the flow going back into my tank, by opening or closing that ball valve, letting more or less water from the return divert back to the sump, with putting additional back pressure on the pump. Is that correct? Seems to make sense. If I have it right, I think I'll do that.

You've got it exactly right.

[Boom]

Hi Boom,

Just a quick tip...

A properly installed bulkhead does not need to be siliconed. They will not leak.

If you ever need to adjust or replace them it will be a PITA.

Nice work....good luck on the remainder of your project.

Thanks Doc. I had heard that, but I'd also been told that it's just a bit of extra security and can't hurt (other than your very good point about it being a PITA to adjust later, but hopefully I'll never need to do that.) Being the anal retentive type that I am, I'm al about extra security where I can get it.

Boom :boom:

[Boom]

You've got it exactly right.

Thanks Jason, it makes alot of sense to do it that way. I'll go for it. I assume you just have that diverted pipe going back into the pump area of the sump, and not send the water back through the filter media again?

[RDFISHGUY]

You've got it exactly right.

Thanks Jason, it makes alot of sense to do it that way. I'll go for it. I assume you just have that diverted pipe going back into the pump area of the sump, and not send the water back through the filter media again?

Makes sense. Great project . Keep up the good work!

[Drydock]

if I understand the bypass loop on the return, I would place a T in the return line, with a pipe going back into the sump, that pipe is where I would place the ball valve, instead of in the return line itself, right? Then I could control the flow going back into my tank, by opening or closing that ball valve, letting more or less water from the return divert back to the sump, with putting additional back pressure on the pump. Is that correct? Seems to make sense. If I have it right, I think I'll do that.

You've got it exactly right.

I have 2 ball valves on my return: one on the way up to the tank and one after the T.

For the most part, the valve on the main return stays wide open, but I do close it if I turn the pump off during water changes. It would stop any suction through the return lines as mine are below the water level

[Drydock]

You've got it exactly right.

Thanks Jason, it makes alot of sense to do it that way. I'll go for it. I assume you just have that diverted pipe going back into the pump area of the sump, and not send the water back through the filter media again?

I guess you could do either. Your choice. Here are some photos of my sump setup.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showt...20493&st=15

[Boom]

I have 2 ball valves on my return: one on the way up to the tank and one after the T.

For the most part, the valve on the main return stays wide open, but I do close it if I turn the pump off during water changes. It would stop any suction through the return lines as mine are below the water level

My return lines will be below water level as well, 2 3/4" spray bars t'd off the 1" return line. I'm putting a one-way check valve in the return line to prevent any reverse sifon effect.

So I made much more progress today then yesterday. Yesterday i spent much of the day runing around getting materials. I had my heart set on cherry plywood but at $118 per sheet for the good stuff (and I calculated needing 4 sheets) I decided to go with cabinet grade birch ply, and stick with cherry for the trim. I may have to stain the birch a bit to match the cherry, I'll have to see. At any rate, I spent a pretty penny on some materials anyway.

So yesterday I finished framing up the stand, routed out the slots for the sliding track I put in for the sump to slide on, and put the top on the stand. Here's some pics.

I made the beams that go the length of the tank by laminating a 2x4 between two strips of 3/4" plywood. This makes a far stronger beam than just 2 2x4's together. They are glued and screwed and will never bend.

Here's me routing out the 1" wide groove for the track.

Here's the track installed. It goes the width of the stand from front to back.

Here's the stand as of last night, with the plywood top on.

....