Octoman's 55 gallons of euphoria

[Octoman]

Hitchhiker ID challenge here...

Something creepy on the glass...

[Octoman]

I redid my plumbing this morning. In my original setup, I had a huge return pump that teed off to the fuge and the display. I put a smaller pump on to reduce heat/power usage and wound up not having enough pressure to supply the fuge so I shut that valve off and used a maxijet to pump into the fuge. The pump still wasn't pumping as much as I hoped into the display and after cranking out some numbers, I realized I was getting a lot of friction loss from the old tee and the 90 after that.

Here's the old configuration, also note the line coming from the overflow to the sump...

[Octoman]

Today, I eliminated the tee and 90 after the return and it pipes straight up to the tank now. The flow to the display increased significantly and now I'm satisfied, I really didn't want to use a larger pump.

I also plumbed the fuge off of the overflow. I inserted a sanitary tee in line that supplies the fuge, the line going to the fuge screws into the 90 just in case it needs to be removed for cleaning out, and there is a ball valve to control the flow to the fuge.

It's working great! With the valve wide open, all the flow goes into the fuge, I tried closing it all the way and everything flows out of the main drain just fine. Now I can dial it in for perfect flow in the fuge and I eliminated one pump.

[fishnu]

I was going to do the same, but I was going to straight vertical line the return up to DT, and have a perpindicular t running off with a ball valve to the fuge.


I thought the straight line would cut friction. Actually, I may try yours if I lose too much flow vertically.

[Octoman]

That makes a huge difference Fishnu, flow straight through (run) is subject to much less friction loss than through the branch.

Here's a chart I was looking at...

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/flowchart.html

For 1" pvc, it's 1.7 for the run and 6.0 for the branch.

[BigAl07]

Good job Mark. I think I'll revisit my layout and adjust accordingly.

I'm glad you re-did your plumbing this way the Fuge is getting "Raw" water instead of skimmed water.

Keep me posted and get to "Tweaking" that valve

Allen

PS How's the Cheato? Growing?

[Octoman]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

PS How's the Cheato? Growing?

Like a weed!! It's at least doubled in size...

Day 1...



Now...

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by Octoman

Like a weed!! It's at least doubled in size...

Wow it really HAS doubled in size if not more!

Good job!! You'll be sharing with other reefers before long

Allen

[Octoman]

Phosphates!!! Grrrrrr!

I've been using a Seachem phosphate kit - Waste of money!!! It's impossible to read, the reference doesn't make any sense, the color transition is terrible, especially for us color-blind folks, and my girlfriend said it was hard to read also.

So I got a Salifert Kit. Now that I can actually read the test, the phosphates are still worse than I hoped. Right now they're at 0.5 ppm. However, after seeing the scale on the kit, I realized that when the store checked it a few weeks ago, they were at 2-3 ppm, so this is substantially better!

I've just had the Phosban stuck between a couple dividers in the sump. I think I need a more aggressive approach with higher flow, so I think I'll put it in my new filter sock when I get that set up this weekend. I'm also thinking the explosive Chaeto growth is helping substantially, so I should probably just be patient - the corals are all looking 100% better so I think I'm out of the woods for acute toxicity.

[Octoman]

More plumbing upgrades today...

I modified the main drain for the filter sock. I wanted to be able to mount the filter sock and not have to worry about it backing up when the sock gets full, this way it overflows through the tee when the sock is full.

Temporarily, I modified it to hold my Phosban. I drilled some holes in a cap and put the phosban in line inside the drain so it forces water through. When the sock comes, I'll take the cap off and mount the filter sock there.

Nothing glued here, I'm not too worried about drips into the sump and it makes is easier to change around if I need to...

[lcstorc]

Be careful about putting too much flow through the Phosban. It will break up and turn your tank orange. You want slow flow through the phosban.

[Octoman]

Thanks Lynn, it's moving through pretty slow and I've got it pretty tightly packed so it won't move around and erode away. Most of the flow is going out through the tee.

[corrado007]

This is some great information. I'll be plumbing my 90 over the next few days and really like your modified set-up. I think the T from the overflow with a valve to regulate flow to the refugium is a good idea. Well done, its looking good.
Justin

[Octoman]

Here come some more pictures!

First off, lets check in on the Xenia to see how its doing, seems to be coming along...

[Octoman]

Picked up some trumpet this week, didn't see the free trumpet bonanza until it was too late...

Also a gratuitous shot of the toadstool...