First Time Salty ~370L

[john.o]

Have you considered using any "push fit" style connectors?

Nope the rubber seals rot with the salt water and the speed fit connectors have metal washers in them that rust.

I still need to get pre filter material for in the sump... I'm not sure what I will use yet.
I buy 5 pairs of ladies tights from tescos for £3 then cut the legs off them which gives me 10 pre filters
I put one on my down pipe and hold in place with a elastic band, I normally have to change it every 4 to 5 days because it really does work that well

 

[drsquirrel]

some piping is in metric, others in imperial.

mine from ND aquatics is all on odd size so can't get bits in B&Q etc.
have to get all mine thru aquatics places notably Coral Culture.

It's pretty cheap from their site anyway, so I guess I could get it from there (delivery is only 99p under a tenner it seems).

BUT... they sent me a 13mm hose tail connector not a 16mm, so going to call them tomorrow and get them to send me a 16mm and ask if they can throw in the piece of pipe/bend that I need

 

[APG78]

Looks good mate, good luck - kind of at the same stage as you with mine. Trying to work out how to connect a dursto stand pipe to my weir. local plumbers gave me some of that under sink white stuff, and flexi hose. but that had a black washer, so here's to hoping that doesn't leak before I work out what I'm going to do...

 

[drsquirrel]

Thanks for the response, things do feel rather slow... I called them and they had no stock of the hose tail, I could have lived with the smaller one temporarily but I still need the pipe. Asked them to chuck them in for me, a 90deg and 1 metre of the "32mm" pipe, though he wasn't sure that he could for the pipe because of the size and will check for me... the pipe is only £1.33/metre + £0.99, so what is that against hundreds... (it's also what I said).


I got a large switched strip socket, and some "koi filter padding" for my prefilter. I should really start wiring the cabinet up and getting the MH under the hood... which is going to be tight.

 

[ben1987]

id be worried about the heat issues when putting a MH in a hood mate!

 

[drsquirrel]

Dealt with hotter lights, so not *that* worried. I do have side (and top) vents which I will put flow in and out with some fans if I see fit (already got the hardware to do that, also got one for the reflector).

Aaaaaand, it's only a 150w, no 300-500w monster here going to be lining up along side some T5s

 

[drsquirrel]

Got the pipe work today, with extra bends and hosetail.


1. How "bad" is it to actually use a 90deg at the bottom under the bulkhead of the weir drain...? Because of hte limited space and the #40## skimmer, it's making it awkward to find a decent path for it, putting the 90 on nearest the bulkhead and the 2x45 by the sump makes pipe routing much easier... maybe a long 90deg would be better?

Still might make the positioning awkward as I am not sure of the radius size of the bend.

How much noise would this make compared to a 90 or 2x 45?


2. My other quandary is the pump return, which goes through the weir... I have enough pipe work to take it over the cover glass and into the tank on the opposite side... if I go direct it ruins my plans to get the small MH reflector in there without routing the pipe around it making 4x90 bends instead of the more direct 2x90 bends.

What advantages do I have returning the water in the opposite side of the tank? Will it make *that* much difference if I just return it on the weir side? For water movement I have 4 power heads available and could bias the circulation towards the wier side.

I might be dropping my plans of the MH+T5 if this is such a problem...

 

[drsquirrel]

Take the bulk head and insert it with the threads sticking down and out the bottom of the tank ,then put the hard plastic washer on{the white one} then the nut and hand tight use silicone to seal inside the weir and outside, don’t use the black rubber washer as it will rot with the salt water .
Hope that helps john

Apply silicone after tightening? I have some PVC-U Adhesive (Tangit branded) and I thought this was supposed to go between the joints, or are you suggesting both?

 

[Anguilla82]

i split my return to 2 corners:

 

[drsquirrel]

Nice idea, my weir is in the centre of the narrow side though so splitting doesn't help me much.

I've decided to leave out the MH until I can build a more compact reflector, as such I'm going to run 4x T5s and I will run the return pipe work direct for now using "long" bends like you have.

Also for the weir output, 45deg will be too awkward, so I'm going to just try with some 90 long bends and just see how it goes - I just worry about changing the pipe work around underneath if something is overly noisy.

 

[Anguilla82]

the long 90 bends are just as good as 45s IMO. i've used them for plumbing my frag tank in and have seen no real loss in flow.
you just have to plan well and go with it when u solvent weld pipe. just use supple pipe for connecting to pumps etc.

 

[drsquirrel]

Well I have a few on order now, both 35mm for the weir drain and 20mm for the return. I won't glue the return pipe in at the top of the weir joint (holding it some other way for now), then I can change it after playing around a bit.

Today I am spending my time with the wiring instead


Thanks for the input

 

[drsquirrel]

1. Rubber and salt... I got a "plumbing kit" with the tank, tank specifically being marine orientated. Though the ball valve (double union) for the return pipe has rubber seals... is this bad?





On order/awaiting...
-2x Twin T5 Controllers
-Assorted pipework
-Airline and valves


Need next...
-Light bulbs
-Live Rock :: just seal up and test the pipe work then I'm all ready to fill!
-Water mixing bin :: I found some "decent" priced food safe bins online with delivery, holding off for a while as my initial mix will be in the tank itself so might find something else suitable by chance.
-Extra RO work + odds :: going to drill the wall near the tank and install a drain directly from outside and luckily the main house feed is only 3m away behind an interior wall (plus I already have trunking so it will be hidden away for quick access).
-Ammonia :: no luck in shops yet, for anyone elses interest online best I can find is £1.74 + £3.50 P&P for 500ml, obviously would be saving if you got more bottles etc

2. I have a pipe saddle for my RO feed... but the "tap" on top doesn't seem to turn it on and off, it looks like it just punctures the pipe... is this correct and I will need a separate valve to stop the water? I thought saddles (at least the one for our outside tap does) allowed you to turn them on and off on the saddle itself.


For tubes I'm thinking... (mMy 150w MH is 20000k which I might squeeze in at a later date).
2x T5 White Reef 10000K
1x T5 White Marine 14000K
1x Blue Marine Actinic (420nm)


Did some wiring the other day... and got most of the equipment sitting in it's place for now. Power will be okay on one socket, although should I "trust" a single plug? I can't exactly split it into 2 anyway because I would only have to join it again at the wall socket, I've only managed to single one socket out just for the tank. I did mean to put a mounted female socket inside so I could mount my power meter where I can see it, currently the socket will have restricted space which will be left only just enough to remove the sockets and won't be enough to actually read it (not super important anyway).



Also have the power head controller mounted to the left but no pictures of it.

I want to put a connector in line to disconnect the light controllers and the power heads (their own leads are not long enough so need to break them somewhere) so I can completely remove the hood if needed (and switch around power heads etc).

3. Anyone got any ideas for 4x compact 2 wire 240v connectors, the 2x for the lights I am looking at using standard IEC (for the earth, not sure if the controllers use earth yet) although a compact option would be well received for both. The smallest I can find so far are the "lawn mower" connectors, although still pretty big, doesn't really need to be water proof either since they will be outside the tank routed behind the weir to hide them from view.

4. Is it okay for heaters to be submerged in sand? Assuming I have sand(etc) in my sump the Jager 300w needs to sit diagonal across the bottom thus the end would need to be in sand... I might end up buying a replacement cheap 300w which is what the Jager was supposed to be, and maybe drop it to a 200w (my other 300w is a Rena SmartMeter). The Jager can be then used as a good water mixing heater.

 

[drsquirrel]

Bulkheads are in, silicone only.
Pipework was done today so won't be putting water in until tomorrow afternoon.


Received...
-Pipework
-2x Dual T5 Controllers
-Airline + Valves


On order...
-1x T5 Acintic
-1x T5 14000k
-2x T5 10000k
-Filter bags (for phosphate remover etc)


Next...
-RO Pipe work found a good socket so I don't need a saddle, just a step down from a bleed valve - any ideas?
-Live rock (assuming leak test works, can now look for "2nd hand" rock)
-Phosphate Test Kit (If you were to list the test kits in importance, generally how would it go?)
-200w budget heater (300w is too long, will go for mixing)
-Ammonia (still looking)
-Equipment for a shrimp tank (but that's another journal!! MTS is fun)



The path I am taking from my weir, at the left end is a 90deg which comes back towards you at 45deg(ish).



My path across the top for now, it won't be glued in, with the joint inside the weir, I will use something to make sure it doesn't pop off (not sure on the pressure yet). This will let me replace it if I don't like it there.


My light controllers (2x Twins) and extra pipe work.



There is scope for raising the hood up about an inch without the braces being visible so I'm contemplating doing that, which increases positioning for T5 ballast and my MH at a later date.



Additionally, I've liked the idea of building my own blue LED setup from scratch.

These are my red LEDs for my rear bike light project, not many official details about them other than they are "Cree", although that could be fake. Blue ones go for £2.85ea shipped (cheaper in multiples), bar of aluminium (already have), bit of glass/perspex sealed in on the front, matching resistors and a cheap ACtoDC multi voltage adaptor. Super cheap

 

[APG78]

Coming along nicely mate.
Have thought about the lighting thing myself.
Maplin blue LED
Know it's not red, but maybe they'll have something else?

Al.