Brian builds a tank! Megan posts the thread!

[Hop]

Originally Posted by wolfe4372

actually i had this ad up here for about 4 days asking peoples opinions on it and the only people who ever looked at it were vinnie fat tony and aquawolf. :P

I work a lot (12-16 hour days) and only can stop by so often on those days. I can check threads from work depending on what office I'm in (I have 6 in the county), but only 2 will let me on TRT since it is an entertainment forum according to the stupid program out IT people placed on the servers

[OneDummHikk]

Drain pipe to sump. Return pipe from pump to tank. Whether any other equipment runs off the return pump depends on what other equipment, size of the pumps.

[shaggy52282]

There is a storage tank (175g) with an auto-topoff (haven't figured that one out yet), a protein skimmer (36"...not 48" like originally mentioned), a calcium reactor, and an ocean motions 4 way wavemaker. There are also 4 or maybe 5 "large" pumps, and 2 small ones. How would I go about incorporating all those items properly?

BTW...I am the Brian in question.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by shaggy52282

There is a storage tank (175g) with an auto-topoff (haven't figured that one out yet),

Auto topoff for the storage container? It should have a float valve in the tank with a fitting that a water line can hook to. The water line that was run into the bucket for Megan to get water, will hook to that float valve. When the water level gets low (from use), the float valve opens and lets the RO/DI unit produce water. When the tank is full, the float floats up and shuts off the valve and the RO/DI unit stops producing water.

Originally Posted by shaggy52282

a protein skimmer (36"...not 48" like originally mentioned), a calcium reactor, and an ocean motions 4 way wavemaker. There are also 4 or maybe 5 "large" pumps, and 2 small ones. How would I go about incorporating all those items properly?

Are there any pumps on any of the equipment or are the 4 or 5 pumps all the pumps? You may have extra pumps as well.

The skimmer appears to use only one pump. It will connect to the lowest water pipe and drain out the highest water pipe. If the skimmer has threaded fittings, see if any of your pumps will simply thread back to it to try to figure out which one goes to the skimmer. The skimmer pump will simply pull water from the sump and drain back into the sump.

The calcium reactor appears to have its own pump already mounted. It just needs to pull water from the sump and return it.

The ocean motions 4-way goes after the return pump and then back into the tank off the 4 sides of it. It has a threaded coupling on it (appears to be half a true union). See if you can find a piece of pipe with the other half of the coupling on it.

Then, its just a giant jigsaw to start trying to figure out how to assemble.

Originally Posted by shaggy52282

BTW...I am the Brian in question.

Welcome to TRT Brian. I am the Randy that she (Megan) has complained about today

[wolfe4372]

Originally Posted by Hop

I work a lot (12-16 hour days) and only can stop by so often on those days. I can check threads from work depending on what office I'm in (I have 6 in the county), but only 2 will let me on TRT since it is an entertainment forum according to the stupid program out IT people placed on the servers

thats really sad.

[wolfe4372]

me? complain? never.... i have no idea where you got that from

[shaggy52282]

The auto top off is for the display tank...not the storage tank. The rest seems like good info...although it will still take a bit to sink in i think.

Also, the calcium reactor has a small pump (one of the 2 small ones I mentioned). The other pumps are currently not connected to anything...although I do know which one matches up with the 4 motion based their website.

[OneDummHikk]

The pump that hooks to the 4-way is, more than likely, the return pump and simply sits in the sump.

The ATO, I thought was for the holding tank. For your tank, you should have a float valve that will mount in the sump. A water line hooks to it and goes to a smaller storage container that is typically in the sump and sits higher than the float valve. The principle after that is the same. The water level in the sump drops, the valve opens and dumps water in the sump (RO/DI water, not saltwater). When the water level gets back up, the valve closes and shuts off the gravity fed water. The easiest way to see one in actual action, without leaving home, is to go sit on the toilet - facing the wall - remove the tank lid, then flush the toilet. Repeat until you start cussing me for making you do that But, that is basically the same exact thing as an ATO on a tank. The only difference is the toilet is pressure fed.

And Megan, no, women would NEVER complain.

[wolfe4372]

i dont think any of his pumps are submersable they were awfuly clean.

[shaggy52282]

What size sump/refug would be acceptable for a 180 gallon tank? That is the 1 piece that is missing in this setup. His old sump sprung a leak.

[aquawolf]

Welcome to TRT Brian!!!

I am very glad to see that the $250 was such a steal for all of that equipment! I am curious as to if Megan asked the seller to help you set it up as I had suggested in her other thread.

[wolfe4372]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

Welcome to TRT Brian!!!

I am very glad to see that the $250 was such a steal for all of that equipment! I am curious as to if Megan asked the seller to help you set it up as I had suggested in her other thread.

nope it wasnt my doing he had figured that out by the time you said some thing

[OneDummHikk]

Brian, I would take all the equipment and start arranging it. Either in the stand or the floor, and figure out what is going where. That will let you figure out how much room you have. Then, I would find the sump that filled that space the fullest. Not so much the depth as the footprint of it. And then let that dictate what size sump you started using. Tony (Fat Tony) has a 33 under his 135. If your skimmer and Ca reactor are going to run outside the sump, but in the stand, then make sure you leave room for them. In other words, let the equipment dictate the size but make the sump as large as you can.

Do you know what size he had before?

[shaggy52282]

I am sure he would help if I asked...but I would almost feel bad asking for any more from him after the killer deal I got.

[shaggy52282]

His old sump was a custom build by him. It looked somewhere in the 30-50 gallon range...but it is tough to judge the size of it since it was next to the 180...which made it look smaller then it probably was.