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Maxx · 11-07-2004, 06:38 PM

Started the wet test today. I found three small leaks immediately, and that was it. The first leak was from the 1 inch drain bulkhead to from the overflow. It was easily fixed by tightening the bulkhead a little more.
The next two were in the closed loop itself. The Oceans Motions HD 4 way unit has a 2 inch female pipe threaded opening to feed it. My Iwaki 55RLT has 1 inch ports, so I bought a 2 inch to 1 inch adapter to make the transition. Evidently I forgot to put teflon tape on the threads of the adapter and had a slow, seeping leak as water forced its way through the threads. I removed that piece and covered the threads with teflon tape. The final leak was a slow steady 2 drips a minute from one of the 45 degree elbows of a return arm from the OM unit. Rather than attempt to make something work, I just made another one from the numerous extra plumbing parts I had from Lowes. A quick word of advice:
ALWAYS BUY 4 MORE ELBOWS/ADAPTERS/COUPLINGS/T'S/ETC, WHEN MAKING PLUMBING PURCHASES!!! THIS WILL SAVE YOU FROM MAKING 10 BAZILLION TRIPS TO HOME DEPOT/ LOWES AND HAVING THE PLUMBING PEOPLE PUT A RESTRAINING ORDER ON YOU BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY ARE BEING STALKED!!
I glued the new arm in place about an hour ago, it should be ready to fire up again by tomorrow. I did have the Iwaki and the OM unit fired up for about 5 minutes while I did a quick check for leaks........it was AWESOME!!!! The flow generated y this combination in my 58 gallon tank was nothing short of amazing. I may have to adjust things abit by splitting my loc-line returns even more than they already are. Currently, each of the 4 returns from the closed loop go to a Loc-line Y which turns 4 outlets into 8. I may have to go to 16 outlets total. It doesnt looklike keeping SPS with this much random current will be a problem. I may be severely limited in my ability to keep clams though......
It will definately require some creative rock work design to "make" some low flow areas.
Pics, where are the Pics you ask????? My camera batteries crapped out when trying to take just one shot of the set up wet-testing in the garage. The battery is re-charging, but it wont be ready in time for me to take pics before I have to go to work tonight. I'm sorry guys...
But I am very excited to have this beast finally filled with water, (even if it is sitting in my garage).
Nick

11-07-2004, 06:38 PM	#94 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,079 View Gallery Karma Komment	Started the wet test today. I found three small leaks immediately, and that was it. The first leak was from the 1 inch drain bulkhead to from the overflow. It was easily fixed by tightening the bulkhead a little more. The next two were in the closed loop itself. The Oceans Motions HD 4 way unit has a 2 inch female pipe threaded opening to feed it. My Iwaki 55RLT has 1 inch ports, so I bought a 2 inch to 1 inch adapter to make the transition. Evidently I forgot to put teflon tape on the threads of the adapter and had a slow, seeping leak as water forced its way through the threads. I removed that piece and covered the threads with teflon tape. The final leak was a slow steady 2 drips a minute from one of the 45 degree elbows of a return arm from the OM unit. Rather than attempt to make something work, I just made another one from the numerous extra plumbing parts I had from Lowes. A quick word of advice: ALWAYS BUY 4 MORE ELBOWS/ADAPTERS/COUPLINGS/T'S/ETC, WHEN MAKING PLUMBING PURCHASES!!! THIS WILL SAVE YOU FROM MAKING 10 BAZILLION TRIPS TO HOME DEPOT/ LOWES AND HAVING THE PLUMBING PEOPLE PUT A RESTRAINING ORDER ON YOU BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY ARE BEING STALKED!! I glued the new arm in place about an hour ago, it should be ready to fire up again by tomorrow. I did have the Iwaki and the OM unit fired up for about 5 minutes while I did a quick check for leaks........it was AWESOME!!!! The flow generated y this combination in my 58 gallon tank was nothing short of amazing. I may have to adjust things abit by splitting my loc-line returns even more than they already are. Currently, each of the 4 returns from the closed loop go to a Loc-line Y which turns 4 outlets into 8. I may have to go to 16 outlets total. It doesnt looklike keeping SPS with this much random current will be a problem. I may be severely limited in my ability to keep clams though...... It will definately require some creative rock work design to "make" some low flow areas. Pics, where are the Pics you ask????? My camera batteries crapped out when trying to take just one shot of the set up wet-testing in the garage. The battery is re-charging, but it wont be ready in time for me to take pics before I have to go to work tonight. I'm sorry guys... But I am very excited to have this beast finally filled with water, (even if it is sitting in my garage). Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)