New 75gal Reef Tank Step-By-Step Setup DIY

[VWD]

Just Tagging along here. Very cool

[PowerManJ316]

Thanks for the interest. I am outta town till Friday, so I will give exact measurements then. The technical name for the device is an Internal Carlson Surge Device. Googling it may get some hits, I don't know. I got my design from The Reef Aquarium vol. 3. Essentially, once the water level gets above the top of the outter standpipe, all the air inside of the outter pipe is evacuated creating a syphon that sucks water in between the two pipes and down and out the inner pipe. I will give exact heights, filling rates, emptying rates, etc this weekend when I get more time to test it.

[PowerManJ316]

I almost have the electrical schematics completed for the PLC automation as well. I think it will be pretty impressive. I am writing up something to entail the functionality of the different control mechanisms of the tank. Should have that near the end of the week. Stay posted!!

(Also its my BDAY tomorrow!)
Thanks for the happy bday Jeremy

[PowerManJ316]

I have finished a word file that sort of lists the functionality of my PLC Automoation for my tank. This is going to be the jist of the system. I may add some additional things later on, but I want to focus on this first. Let me know what you think and any changes you would make.

[PowerManJ316]

Thanks everyone for the birthday PM's!

[VWD]

Happy Birthday If I missed it, I try to keep up on them , Happy Birthday!!!!



Cheers!

[whatevva]

I would add a "Feed Mode" to the tank modes.

[PowerManJ316]

My skimmer is nearly complete. I am just waiting for the glue around the inlets and outlets to dry before I test it for leaks. I pretty much followed a document that Geoff has linked to his website. "Skimmer Design 101" by Shane Graber. Most of this information references a book by Escobal that looks at Skimmers from and Engineering standpoint. I personally have found this very helpful and informative and thus based my skimmer off most of this.

The skimmer main chamber is 48" tall and the total is about 60". I am using 4" Diameter PVC. The inlet and outlet from the tank will be 1.5" flex PVC. I also used a 1/2" inlet and outlet for the venturi feed. I plan on using an adjustable Mag Drive Pump so that I can vary the amount of air injected into the skimmer. Also, I am going to run between 75-100gph to maximize the contact time of the air with the water.

Let me know if you have any questions/comments. This was a very simple DIY project that was incredibly cheap (<$50) so I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in trying a DIY project!

[Geoff]

looking good.

hopefully you will have better luck with your knock out closet flanges than i do. i have given up on these. i now use the rubber caps for the bottoms of my skimmers. those knock outs keep leaking on me. out of the 4 or 5 i have used only one did not leak. i am now playing around with flat PVC sheets for the bottoms of my skimmers.

you are setting this skimmer up like a recirculating skimmer? i am a little lost on why the 1.5" inlets and outlets if you plan on just running 100gph through the skimmer? i would just run the inlets and the outlets you have planned for the venturi only. i would increase the outlet size to 3/4" though.

G~

[PowerManJ316]

The only reason for the 1.5" inlets and outlets is because i already had 1.5" Flex PVC and barb connections laying around, otherwise I would have went much smaller.
The two 1/2" inlet-outlets are for a separate pump. A real small adjustable Mag is going to go on there exclusively for bubble generation. That way my bubbles don't depend on the flow rate of the main gph going through the skimmer it self.
I am actually a little worried myself about that closet flange. It says on the bottom "Punch Out ...." I can tell it is very very thin around the edges. I will keep my fingers crossed.

[Geoff]

how much water do you think will be going through the skimmer?

G~

[Jeremy1973]

That is pretty cool skimmer. I am not talented enough to build my own skimmer. heh heh But heck, you can't beat a $50 price tag for good skimmer.

btw, what is a knock out closet flange? Where is that located? Trying to picture what Geoff is talking about.

[Geoff]

the closet flange is what the base of that skimmer is sitting on. they are used to mount toilets to the floor in your house.

some of them come witha piece covering the hole in the middle of the flange. this piece is knock outable in some. these are the ones that i have had problems leaking.

G~

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by Geoff

how much water do you think will be going through the skimmer?

G~

According to Escobal, I am aiming for 75-100gph. I have a gate valve on the end of the outlet of the skimmer to control this.

[Geoff]

what sized pump are you going to use to supply the skimmer?

G~