Project5k and the new 75Gal salt tank

Thats a good looking sump.
At times I wished mine was marked for each gallon.

thanks guys.. i musta not been too high if i got motivated enough to do all that huh? hehehe naw, but anyway, i know that marking it off in the main skimmer section is kinda pointless cause that side will allways be full, but i figured eh, why not... the really important markings are in the return pump section, so that way i can just glance and know how much capacity i have, and if i let it go for a given period, it will give me a much more reliable measurement as to just how much i'm loosing, either to evap, or whatever, so that way, once i have a baseline established, lets say i'm loosing 1 gallon per day, and then all of a sudden i notice i've dropped 2 gallons since i left for work, i know to look for something wrong...

oh, and the full and low markings will be labeled with my trusty dymo labeler...

also spent some time yesterday working on what will be the fuge. its a large clear plastic container, that i siliconed the lid onto for rim strength, and then cut the top out of... drilled and siliconed in the "overflow" plumbing, so now i'm waiting till the silicone is set...,

something else that i started thinking about last night, i have a couple smaller pumps, but not any big ones, and liking redundancy, i was thinking, what if, instead of having a sepperate pump for the fuge alone, why not use one of my rio2100's and split its flow, part going into the fuge from the sump, and then the rest going up and into the tank, that would help offset the loss of the flow from the rena fillstar x3 filter, that basically has nothing in it, and is just basically flow at this point...(i'm thinking i'll keep the return hardware, and just pull the canister filter and the suction tube out of the system...) and all that dosent even mention the loss of flow cause of the tank now being right at a foot higher, that means that there is that much more head pressure, and thus loss of flow, the second pump should more than make up for that loss...

one thing that i know that i'll have to be carefull of is putting too much return back into the tank, and that flow rate being faster than my HOB overflow box can handle... i'll just have to play with it some i guess...

plus, if i do it that way, then when i get my algae scrubber built, IT can just use one of my smaller pumps, like the 190 for its flow, and it can be on a seperate switch, so it can be turned on and off at will and not have it disturbe the rest of the system... for maint. and stuff...

Made a trip to the hardware store yesterday as well, picked up some new pvc parts and some more clear tubing.. and a few other odds and ends that i need to make all this work.. one thing that i got was some nylon screws to replace the brass screw that was in what i'm gonna use as my ato valve...

my plan for now is to mount the ato valve on an adjustable frame, so that i can set the water height easily. then the ato resevoir will just be a container under the stand somewhere, that will hold the rodi water, and will gravity feed the valve. my plan is to have a "fill port" and some clear tube so that i can see the level of the water in the container inside the stand, from the fill station so i can just add water when i see the level is low.

so i went out to the shop to check on my fuge, and see how the silicone was doing, and to start looking at what i want the plumbing inside to look like, and i noticed that the silicone didnt look like it was stuck to the tote, so i touched it and it wasnt, it didnt stick at all...

so i peeled it all back apart, found a small chunk of some polycarbonate i had laying in the scrap bin, and i gave it another go. This time all of the parts are roughed up with 100 grit, and then siliconed into place. The polycarbonate is to help stiffen the sidewall of the tote, so that the silicone isnt having to try and support the weight of the plumbing.

We'll let that sit, at least till tomorrow, and then i'll to take another look.. If nothing else, at least this time the threaded parts are tight enough. apparently last time in my haste, i forgot to completly tighten the threaded parts that are going through the tote.

JMO,But wouldnt you be better off to use bulkheads through the side of the tote?Or maybe a rubber gasket between the PVC and the tote?Might lessen the chances of a leak.

eh, i guess one could make that argument, but i'm tring to do this as cheaply as possible cause of the limitations im under right now..

not to mention that the bulkheads are an untested thing for me, i know i can make this work...

You can make the same thing as a bulkhead for cheap with some PVC fittings. I wouldnt suggest it with glass, but on the tote, it's thin enough to work. Assuming you are using 3/4" pipe, go get a 3/4" female/female threaded coupler, a male/female threaded coupler, and a 3/4" rubber gasket from the plumbing section. Use a hole saw to make a hole just big enough in the tote for the male part of the male/female coupler to fit through. Put the male/female coupler inside the tote with the rubber gasket on it, and place it through the hole. Then tighten the female/female coupler on from the outside. Dont forget to use Teflon tape. Silicone doesnt work very well on these types of plastics and you are going to regret it if you dont use a bulkhead...

you think that the silicone wont stick to the plastic?

oh, and yea, 3/4" parts, thats exactly what i did, minus the washer.

oh, and if anyone would, ,please help me figure out which skimmer to get... i asked over in the vendor eval section about the aqua traders $30 and $60 versions....

also, just happened to be flipping through this weeks, harbor freight flier, and i happened onto a submersable fountain pump, only this one is bigger than the other ones that i have in my tank, and these actually say safe for aquarium.. hmm


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47117http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?function=Search 258gph $19.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47136 528gph $29.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47137 1268 gph $44.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47138 1585 gph $54.99

lookin good.

so i asked over on the vendor section, but i'll ask here cause i'm running outta time, what skimmer should i get? i'm looking at the $30 and $60 on aquatraders, and i also looked at ndepratts site, and i'm also considering the little octopus from the LFS at like $145 and then there is the (i think) coral life at the other LFS for somewhere around $100...

i dunno which way to go, but i got to move soon, before the wife takes the money back...

As handy as you are, why not go with Aqua Traders. You've got a 50/50 chance it will work for you and if not you can jimmy it so it will. Maybe.

As for making a bulk head, instead of the pipe fittings, you can use electrical pvc fittings. The threads are straight instead of tapered so they will screw in better.

I have done it in a 5 gallon bucket and actually used the pvc primer and glue on the threads to make the bond water tight and permanant. Because they are straight threaded, the teflon tape wont really fill up enough of the gaps to make it water tight.

Brian

yea, thats kinda what i was thinking.. just for laughs i called the LFS closest to work, and i gotta say, i was not impressed with that that lady told me on the phone.. they have the coral life units, and she suggested the 125 for my setup, in sump, and at a price of $187. I can get octo110's for 150, what the heck?

i also asked her how long i should expect the breakin period to last, and she asked me if my tank was new or up and running, i said up and running, and she said that there wouldnt be a break in period, that the unit would plug in, spend like 15 min fine tuning it, and that would be that.

i said, thanks and hung up the phone.

she also mentioned that i could come into the store and see that specific unit up and running, cause thats what they use in the store, and its true, i've seen em, and they look to be working pretty well to me, but why's it gotta be more than the octopus?


oh, and, just what did you mean that "maybe" i can jimmy it? :D

so, seriously, i have that prizim chunk of junk, i need something that will freakn work, if i have to tweak it at first, thats fine, just so long as i have good instructions, but you know, i googled mesh mods, and i couldnt find a set of instructions to save my life, and damn sure no pictures.... lots of talk about it, but nothing solid.

If you look at the surface of the water in my tank you can see the skum floating on about half the surface of the water, i'm gonna have to do something serious, and soon.

Well, LFS have a HUGE mark up on prices over the internet. Not sure why but you can get pumps for alot cheaper than LFS. I showed my wife the coralife at like almost $200 and said I can get a better skimmer for cheaper online.

Equipment I tend to buy online. Live stock at the LFS. It is cheaper because of the shipping and you can make sure what you are getting is eating good.

Brian

good point..

so, i'm still on the fence about getting the aquatraders $60 unit, or if i should just go ahead and drop the 150 and get the octo...

you can always look at ebay and see if you can get a used one for a decent price.

Brian

yea ive been looking but most of what i'm seeing looks like junk...

oh, and some of the descriptions... geez, i love this one:
With these heavy duty skimmers, the gas exchange can be accelerated and improved more efficiently so that the water and the micro air bubbles in the vortex chamber biologically react to naturally filter your aquarium.

this is someone that dosen't understand....

true
That is why you have to know more than the seller.
You end up getting a better deal!!!

yea, i'm just not sure that i'm familiar enough with the different brands and product qualities to be educated enough to make a proper decision. I understand the physics of foam fractionation, but not being able to see the different units in action, i'm kinda buying blind.

ok, i'll keep this short, cause i dont want to post too much or too often, so this will be my only post today.

I got an octo110 last night from one of my LFS.

Pics?