drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Finished the mounting panel for my other Vortech Battery Backup today. Basically it's the exact same size as the opposing panel so there is extra space for expansion. I might add another EB8 to the panel at some point so I have control for accessories on the left side of the room.


Here's where the Battery Backup was living for the last year.




And here's the new panel with the Battery Backup mounted on the wall.




And for reference, here's the right side panels.

[cromedogg33]

Yeah.... I'm slightly embarrased to show my fish room.....

I better hope my tank grows out before yours with better colors

You must have the most well behaved young one on the planet

[fishcatdog66]

Thank you,thank you,thank you! I've been waiting for pics like those for a long time.Sorry if I missed it somewhere but what do you have your Vortech Mp40 set at?

[fishcatdog66]

Also like the peace sign in the balast cables

[DanielJay]

Brett, What connectors are you using on the bottom of your manifold? The item that fits between your hose and your valve? Did you get those from a home improvement store?

I am just now finishing my plumbing under my tank and getting ready to build my sump. Needing the last few items before water test!

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by cromedogg33

Yeah.... I'm slightly embarrased to show my fish room.....

I better hope my tank grows out before yours with better colors

You must have the most well behaved young one on the planet

Hahahaha! He is the best but I've learned to make very good use of nap time.

Originally Posted by fishcatdog66

Thank you,thank you,thank you! I've been waiting for pics like those for a long time.Sorry if I missed it somewhere but what do you have your Vortech Mp40 set at?

Also like the peace sign in the balast cables

You are welcome, more updated pics to come. Right now I have my Vortechs running on Anti-Sync Lagoon Mode at 85% Max flow when the lights are ON. During sunrise and sunset - 1 hour, they Short Pulse for 9 seconds alternating. I'm able to do this via the WXM module with the Apex controller.

Originally Posted by DanielJay

Brett, What connectors are you using on the bottom of your manifold? The item that fits between your hose and your valve? Did you get those from a home improvement store?

I am just now finishing my plumbing under my tank and getting ready to build my sump. Needing the last few items before water test!

I'm currently using threaded insert fittings. They usually have some at the local hardware store, like HD or Lowes but www.savco.com has everything you'd need. Search their Poly Insert Fittings. I have 1/2" NPT to 1/2" hose barb, and also 3/4" NPT to 5/8" hose barb fittings. If you use threaded valves on the manifold you'll have the option to swap out hose barb or push connection (Mur-Lok/John Guest) fittings as you need. Makes it easy to swap out reactors and such as you go. If you want gray color insert fittings then look on http://www.aquaticeco.com/

[psteeleb]

nice clean work as usual

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

nice clean work as usual

Thanks Pete!

[prop-frags]

So clean and well-designed. Brett, you are still the KING!

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by prop-frags

So clean and well-designed. Brett, you are still the KING!

Ha! I learn from the best.

[drummereef]

So I'm wanting to drill a couple 1-1/4" holes in the body of my pellet reactor to fit some 1/2" UniSeals so I can plumb it to recirculate. I talked with the guys at NextReef today and they were concerned I might crack the reactor if I used a hole saw, so they recommended using a Unibit instead.

Any thoughts here from the acrylic wizards out there? If I went super slow and ran some cool water over the acrylic as I was cutting with the hole saw, would this prevent cracking? Or am I better off using the Unibit instead?

[aquaph8]

Nice clean work as always, looks great. The unibit sounds like a good idea to me too but sorry no experience using them with acrylic, good luck man.

[mattsilvester]

Originally Posted by cromedogg33

I would disagree that waves in the ocean along reefs do tend to slow down at night. This might not be the case all the time, but my rational behind it, is to give my fish that are trying to sleep a calmer environment to do so. I also believe this may give corals more of a chance to eat at night as well. Is it fact....I dunno....does it sound hypothetically able to work in my mind...yes

I live in Thailand, and have spent quite a lot of time on island with reefs; invariably (unless of course its story etc.) the ocean is much smoother in the morning, with waves (albeit it small waves) building throughout the day.

So, I would conclude that yes, the reef is calmer at night.

That being said, it is probably like 10% calmer - if even that.

should we slow pumps in our reef tanks at night - well as much as we try to replicate nature as much as possible, we need to acknowledge that our tanks are a compromise - a compromise in many ways. One of those compromises is that between the needs of corals and the needs of our reef fishes. In out 10sq.ft or so of reef, we try to replicate the high flow turbulent conditions of upper reefs - but our tanks lack the 2m+ gorges and crevices and niches of a natural reef which are quieter and calmer. On natural reefs, this is where many of the fish go to sleep ..... in our openly aquascaped reef tanks, where we do our utmost to eliminate deadspots, no such quite spots exist.

To that end, if one considers the compromise between the fishes health and that of the corals, I think it would be reasonable to reduce flow at night by say 30% - maybe even 50%.

[110galreef]

Originally Posted by drummereef

So I'm wanting to drill a couple 1-1/4" holes in the body of my pellet reactor to fit some 1/2" UniSeals so I can plumb it to recirculate. I talked with the guys at NextReef today and they were concerned I might crack the reactor if I used a hole saw, so they recommended using a Unibit instead.

Any thoughts here from the acrylic wizards out there? If I went super slow and ran some cool water over the acrylic as I was cutting with the hole saw, would this prevent cracking? Or am I better off using the Unibit instead?

Hole saw, slowly and straight and you should have no issues.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by aquaph8

Nice clean work as always, looks great. The unibit sounds like a good idea to me too but sorry no experience using them with acrylic, good luck man.

Thanks aquaph8!

Originally Posted by mattsilvester

I live in Thailand, and have spent quite a lot of time on island with reefs; invariably (unless of course its story etc.) the ocean is much smoother in the morning, with waves (albeit it small waves) building throughout the day.

So, I would conclude that yes, the reef is calmer at night.

That being said, it is probably like 10% calmer - if even that.

should we slow pumps in our reef tanks at night - well as much as we try to replicate nature as much as possible, we need to acknowledge that our tanks are a compromise - a compromise in many ways. One of those compromises is that between the needs of corals and the needs of our reef fishes. In out 10sq.ft or so of reef, we try to replicate the high flow turbulent conditions of upper reefs - but our tanks lack the 2m+ gorges and crevices and niches of a natural reef which are quieter and calmer. On natural reefs, this is where many of the fish go to sleep ..... in our openly aquascaped reef tanks, where we do our utmost to eliminate deadspots, no such quite spots exist.

To that end, if one considers the compromise between the fishes health and that of the corals, I think it would be reasonable to reduce flow at night by say 30% - maybe even 50%.

I tend to agree with this theory. I've slowed my night flow down ~30%.

Originally Posted by 110galreef

Hole saw, slowly and straight and you should have no issues.

That's what I would think to do, but... NextReef said their reactors are extruded acrylic that has been annealed after fabricating. For some reason they are saying it's really brittle stuff and the hole saw might cause the acrylic to heat up too much and cause a crack, or a lot of crazing around the hole. Thoughts?

[drummereef]

Goofing around with some bio pellet reactor mod designs today. This one is plumbed very similar to the Reef Dynamics reactor, but a few changes to accommodate the pump I will be using. The barbed fitting on the TEE at the bottom is the feed, and the quick connect at the top is the effluent. What do you think?

[psteeleb]

I like the idea of the valve to throttle the circulation but it would be better for the pump if it could be incorporated on the discharge rather then the inlet.

Also given the elbow right before the outlet the flow will not be consistent, there will be a higher velocity coming off the back side of the elbow then the near side. This may cause one side to tumble more then the other, it could create a dead zone or the whole media may in turn circulate around a water jet (example; water jet up one side and the media piles up on the other flowing back into the water jet.

A cone bottom would help or adding something to the center bottom to help divert the flow evenly

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

I like the idea of the valve to throttle the circulation but it would be better for the pump if it could be incorporated on the discharge rather then the inlet.

Also given the elbow right before the outlet the flow will not be consistent, there will be a higher velocity coming off the back side of the elbow then the near side. This may cause one side to tumble more then the other, it could create a dead zone or the whole media may in turn circulate around a water jet (example; water jet up one side and the media piles up on the other flowing back into the water jet.

A cone bottom would help or adding something to the center bottom to help divert the flow evenly

Thanks for the ideas Pete. I had the same concern about the valve being on the suction side, but after contacting Jeff at Reef Dynamics, he said since the "feed" to the reactor was below the valve it would keep the pump flooded at all times. When the valve is turned down it would divert suction to the feed, when turned up it would limit flow-through - essentially it would balance itself either way. This is how he plumbs their reactors. Thoughts?

I still need to address how I'm going to disburse flow after the elbow at the bottom of the reactor for sure. I've seen one variation of a cap on the elbow with a bunch of holes drilled in it to help even out the flow pattern. Unfortunately, I can't find any pics on how Jeff addresses this since the pics of his reactors are all full of pellets.

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Thanks for the ideas Pete. I had the same concern about the valve being on the suction side, but after contacting Jeff at Reef Dynamics, he said since the "feed" to the reactor was below the valve it would keep the pump flooded at all times. When the valve is turned down it would divert suction to the feed, when turned up it would limit flow-through - essentially it would balance itself either way. This is how he plumbs their reactors. Thoughts?

I agree things should ballance out and I'm not concerned about the throughput flow. My concern is more with a restricted suction can cause pump cavitation. After some more thought it probably isn't an issue as it's recirculating creating as much back pressure on the discharge as there is pull on the suction.

As a general rule, to reduce pump stress and potential cavitation, you want to control flow on a pump on the discharge side.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

I agree things should ballance out and I'm not concerned about the throughput flow. My concern is more with a restricted suction can cause pump cavitation. After some more thought it probably isn't an issue as it's recirculating creating as much back pressure on the discharge as there is pull on the suction.

As a general rule, to reduce pump stress and potential cavitation, you want to control flow on a pump on the discharge side.

Definitely, this is what I've always known to be true as well.

Check out this video... very interesting the way he has these plumbed. I just wish I knew what fitting he uses inside the reactor to get that nice of tumble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJllUN2xAs4

[drummereef]

If I really wanted to trick it out, maybe I could find a way to add this to the elbow inside the reactor... http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/pr...-Mixing-Nozzle Might help to disburse the flow more evenly and not have to worry about a potential dead spot.

[drummereef]

OK, one more question... I'm going to use a Mag 3 that I have here for the recirc pump. It has both 1/2" NPT on the ins/outs. Would it be sufficient to keep the plumbing 1/2" since it's a recirc and there's minimal plumbing length? The original down-tube that came with the reactor is 1/2" so I don't see why it would be a problem, but just checking.

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

OK, one more question... I'm going to use a Mag 3 that I have here for the recirc pump. It has both 1/2" NPT on the ins/outs. Would it be sufficient to keep the plumbing 1/2" since it's a recirc and there's minimal plumbing length? The original down-tube that came with the reactor is 1/2" so I don't see why it would be a problem, but just checking.

I would just keep it 1/2".

also look at a side out elbow for your feed, not that it maters from flow but may save a little foot print space. It's a standard elbow with a threaded connection coming off the turn. It forms a corner shape but with one connection threaded. You can find them at most hardware stores.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by psteeleb

I would just keep it 1/2".

also look at a side out elbow for your feed, not that it maters from flow but may save a little foot print space. It's a standard elbow with a threaded connection coming off the turn. It forms a corner shape but with one connection threaded. You can find them at most hardware stores.

Great! I need to order the true union ball valve so I wanted to get the right size. And excellent idea on the side out elbow. So instead of the Tee I will use one of those. If I can get a slip x slip x fpt it would even be better, that way I can just insert my tubing adapter directly into the fpt side. Perfect!

[psteeleb]

Originally Posted by drummereef

If I can get a slip x slip x fpt it would even be better, that way I can just insert my tubing adapter directly into the fpt side. Perfect!

if you don't see them in the regular pipe section of the hardware store, check the sprinkler supply section; they look like this: