Ron's 240g build

[rkaiser]

Spent a few hours down at Will's place. Chatting about plumbing, RODI, Salt, Lighting....pretty much everything. Very knowledgeable guys, and even walked me around explaining their setups in the shop to me. It was extrememly helpful and I appreciate the time they spent.

I was able to get the 4 bulkheads: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_04_12_09_9_06_41_0.jpg

The 100lbs. live rock arrived in two boxes: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_04_12_09_9_06_41_1.jpg
Everything was wrapped well, and there is hardly any breakage: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_04_12_09_9_06_41_2.jpg
Stones range from small: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_04_12_09_9_06_41_3.jpg
to large, but I have at least 4 of these: http://www.njreefers.org/forums/gallery/2013_04_12_09_9_07_32_0.jpg

Hopefully I can make some decent progress this weekend.

 

[rkaiser]

I was thinking about the plumbing. Since I have the OM-4way, I was trying to think how I might incorporate it. The recommendations from Paul are pictured below, as best as I could draw them:

This looks a little overkill to me? I'd like to use the 4-way rather then powerheads, but you will still see the PVC in the tank. I figure the Dart will work with the 4-way to circulate water, and the Iwaki/Sump will be filtration/waterhcnages etc.

What do you guys think?

 

[Hawkeye]

The numbers shouldn't change since its really just a more efficient system It uses two canisters with media instead of 1, same salt and cycle. From what they told me, the unit I have only has softened water available part of the time, so hardness fluctuates. The new unit should make this more regular. I should be able to get the softener system in a couple days, and my friend who installed his will be there to assist.
It should give me more consistent soft water, which should improve the life of my appliances.

So i'm not going to dispute the need for a softner - I will question the idea that you "run out" of soft water. I would say that seems to be a little strange. If your home is utilizing the water that frequently, then you should be able to just execute a manual regeneration. On the other hand, when you are on vacation, you should be able to program the system to skip the regeneration until you return.

That stated - I do like the idea that it runs "as needed" versus at a pre-set time. But to me a bag of softner salt $6) and water cost saved may be return the amount of money you are spending into this system up front.

Anyways - it definitely sounds more efficient, but let me ask you - if it runs as "needed" - what happens when it has to regenerate in the middle of the day. Does that mean you cannot take a bath then? We run our system regen at 3AM - when no one is likely to use the system.

Well I am only sharing my personal exp - i am not an expert in softners at all - frankly all of it seemed a bit of a stretch but I got one anyways.

 

[Hawkeye]

btw - where did you order the rocks from? looks good...would look better if you could DIY into some kind of bridge/cave/pillar look.

 

[rkaiser]

Hawkeye: Not sure how to explain it, but I would be willing to work with my existing softener as long as it doesn't prematurely kill any of my new tank components. We had some issues with the washing machine, and had to get it fixed.

When we had the softener system cleaned, the guy said that our softener was not the right size for our house. When I challenged him as to water usage (since it was the two of us at the time), he said, "based off of the number of baths, and if we plan to have kids...it's not enough". My wife has complained of the water getting hard, even when there is still salt in the unit. So I am just leaning on the safe side.

I'll take a shower in hard water, what the heck do I know. My skin doesn't spot like the dishes may. HAHAHA

I ordered the rocks from Marcorocks.com. Black Friday they had a special on rock, plus free shipping. I only ordered 100 lbs as I had no idea the quality, and well didn't want to end up with 300lbs of rubble.

I bought a stock tank, am throwing them in, and getting them cycled. This way I can focus a bit on Plumbing and Electric, and still save a little time in the process. I also have a small tank I used to quarantine my clowns that I may use to get a few fish ready as well.

 

[arvin]

This looks a little overkill to me? I'd like to use the 4-way rather then powerheads, but you will still see the PVC in the tank. I figure the Dart will work with the 4-way to circulate water, and the Iwaki/Sump will be filtration/waterhcnages etc.

You can easily hide the pvc in the tank with your rock work/sand bed if you plan ahead. Take a look at this for some inspiration: http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=8203.0

Good luck.

 

[rkaiser]

Aravind, Dan did a great job of hiding his plumbing. He helped me setup my 28g and really introduced me to the hobby. I will refer to that thread when I start plumbing. Did you see the orange int he drawing is actually pulling to the pump? Paul from Oceans Motions said its great to get the "Crap" off of the rock, and back into circulation to get picked up. He's a good guy, talked to him for a while about proper circulation requirements for the tank. You are using an oceans motions 4way correct? If so, how do you have it plumbed?

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I used an Oceanmotions on my tank for years and loved it. I wouldn't consider a tank without one. Personally I would eliminate the supply lines on the bottom of the tank (white pipe) and just have each port of the green pipes supplied individually from the OM. Then I would point them towards one another. That's the way I had it in my tank and the flow was great, no need for powerheads or trying to hide pipework under rock. Which can be a pain to maintain.

 

[arvin]

Here is what Paul recommended for my system:

And here is what I ended up with:

Basically the four outlets come from the back wall of the tank and buried at the bottom sand bed. As you can see from the picture, one mistake I made was to put the inlet hole 6 inches from bottom. I had hard time hiding it. But all said and done I am quite happy with what I have.

Paul from OM is indeed a great guy. He patiently answered all the questions that I had while building this.

 

[Nickjr000]

Wow thats some tight plumbing behind the tank!

 

[rkaiser]

I have completed about 80% of the plumbing, the rock is still curing, and I am going to start the electric next week.

I'll have pics up probably tomorrow.

The TDS meter puts my water at 315ppm before the softener, and 345ppm after. I guess the softener salt drives up the level a bit. I am talking to Bruce about a Kati/Ani.

In search of a skimmer at the moment. That's all for now.

 

[Hawkeye]

The softner is preventing the hard water from depositing minerals all over your pipes, appliances and drinking water. A slight uptick in the TDS should not be a concern. Not sure why that is happening - but then again I've never measured my tds before the softner. As I undersatnd it the softner will help reduce the amount of work your intial membrane has to do. You should measure the TDS after RO, and then finally the TDS after RODI.

 

[rkaiser]

I am so tired of the "You must be thursty" comments. I am gonna give the Kati/Ani a try. Going to arrange a pickup with Bruce at the party this weekend.

Here is the rock curing:

I put up the sheetrock, and ran the plumbing to the basement. (Sorry, no plumbing pics, it was 3am)

 

[mikem]

Looks good Ron. I should have offered for you to borrow my RO/DI earlier. If you need to borrow it, LMK.

 

[rkaiser]

Thanks Mike, but you have done WAY TOO much already. I thought you might never want to talk to me again after moving this sucker With the hardness I have (around 11) I figure the Kati Ani is the way to go. As much as I want to fill it up and get it going, I still have the leak test and electric to do, and I'll see Bruce at the party to pick it up. I think you are going as well? I am bringing the kids....hope thats a good idea, hahaha.

I picked up the 100g rubbermaid I told you about, on sale $69 at tractor supply, and went to wallmart .79 a gallon for RODI green label....and filled it up half way, threw the rock in and the heater. I have been keeping an eye on it, and testing the water. It still hasn't turned black like some people have said. I took and extra filter pad I had in my nano and threw it in there thinking that might help kick things off. We'll see.

See you soon.

 

[mikem]

Na, tank move went smooth.
I always wanted a Kati-Ani. I'm still waiting for my RO/DI to break on me. I'm 99% sure I'll be there with my kids.

Keep it up, you're almost ready to sit back and enjoy all the hard work you're putting into your tank.

 

[CoralsMania]

Ron, looks great! Can wait to see it stock! Great job!

 

[Baxreefs]

Nice sheet rock'n that's a great view! Gonna be one sweet display!!!

 

[malulu]

...
And here is what I ended up with:

...

with water pipe so low in the tank, what happened IF the return pump's power got cut off? the siphon effect would drain all the water to your sump?

 

[mikem]

Dave. I think thats his closed loop.