AlexGs Basement Plywood Build 2 displays one system.
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AlexG
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The day has arrived and the 1600 gallon system is now filled with saltwater. I decided to to use Fritz RPM as my salt as I have been hearing some good things about this salt. The salt was also locally available and my LFS was kind enough to deliver it to my home.
Alex, how long was the tank full before you started to notice the bowing? And whats the height and length of that beast?
So construction wise you did just one full "box" and the rest is the plywood strips for bracing (king of diy style)? And no internal corner bracing? I hope that makes sense of what I'm trying to ask...
Sorry if i missed it, did you glass mat the inside? Or just pond shield? I'll return the favor of "So many questions" haha
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AlexG
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Bowing was noticed approximately 1 week after filling the 720 gallon tank. It was not easy to spot but using a level vertically and horizontally on the sides and rear panels of the 720 gallon tank confirmed the bowing. The 480 Gallon tank has shown no signs of bowing to date. Due to the 36" height of the 720 gallon tank the water pressure from ~6000lbs of water was not causing bowing on any of the corners of the 720 gallon tank likely due to the perpendicular joints on the corners which adds significant strength to the plywood structure. The bowing was originating from the centers of the rear and side plywood panels. Even with horizontal bracing straps on the 720 gallon tank the plywood was secured on a parallel plane to the first layer of plywood and it does not have the strength of a perpendicular join to hold back high amounts of water pressure. I was originally going to apply another later of hardwood to the outside to skin the tank with an additional layer but I was warned this will not resolve the issue and the tank would eventually fail. The solution was to used on edge 2x4 bracing to create a perpendicular bracing system that could redistribute the load on the bowing panels.
The tanks are modeled off of The King of DIY method. 480 Gallon tank is 96"Lx48"Wx24"T, 720 Gallon tank is 96"Lx48"Wx36"T .
I did double the bottom of the tanks to 1.5" and all corners of the tank are overlapped with perpendicular screw patterns making all of the corners of the tanks 1.5" thick. The tanks also rest on an additional 3/4" sheet of plywood on the stand.
The euro brace is a complete 1.5" thick and 5" wide secured with pocket hole jig screws on its outer perimeter and RTV 108. Glass cross braces are 3/4" plate glass which are 5" wide.
The interior is coated first with one layer of pond shield. Chopped mat fiber glass was then applied to all bottom and side corners of the tank with pond shield. 4-6 additional coats of pond shield were then applied to the tank. before it was considered finished. All of the glass was secured using RTV 108 with a thickness of approximately the thickness of a zip tie as that is what I used for spacers to ensure there was an adequate layer of RTV 108 to hold the glass..
Fire away with the questions
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AlexG
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Its time to release an update on the DIY protein skimmer. I think the initial testing of the skimmer is going well even though it is not producing skimmate yet. The needle wheel is performing nicely and I believe it is just a matter of making some tweaks and the skimmer will be performing as it should. I explain in the video how the skimmer works and some of the tweaks I will be making to get it generating skimmate.
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Another update on the system. The live rock and live sand are in and its looking great. The rock was from the Gulf of Mexico and collected early in the week. Every day I am seeing more life in the system.
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I got the PVC sheet from home depot. I believe it was $55-65 for each sheet that was 1/2" x 48" x 96". I attached a picture of the product sticker from one of the PVC sheets I purchased. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Hey Alex how is the heater working out for you? Or still too hot to tell?
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So far the heating system is working well. It really has not started to get cold yet but it seems the heater only runs once a day at this point. I dont think there will be any issues for this heating system during the winter but in a few months time I will have some real world testing completed. I have noticed though that the basement is heating up a little from that massive body of water. The basement temp was 66 degrees but it is now running around 72 degrees and 75 degrees in the fish room. I have a dehumidifier running 24x7 in conjunction with the ventilation system for humidity control so in part I think the dehumidifier is helping to warm up the basement. Once I get an apex hooked up I will have a better idea how often the heater is actually running everyday.
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One more question where do you return the water to the hot water heater at?
I was thinking of making a rodi wast storage container and have it plumbed into my hot water heater not to waste it. And if I decided to use the hot water to heat my tank I would run the water back to the waste rodi container. Thoughts on this as ur pretty smart by the look of your build
I was thinking of making a rodi wast storage container and have it plumbed into my hot water heater not to waste it. And if I decided to use the hot water to heat my tank I would run the water back to the waste rodi container. Thoughts on this as ur pretty smart by the look of your build
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The hot water loop returns to the hot water tank via the drain valve at the bottom of the hot water tank. If you want to see how I made the connections watch the Heating With Fire Part 3 video. I walk through the entire loop, its connections to the hot water lines, and the controller.
I think your concept is possible but I would not recommend using RODI waste water for this application. The biggest concern is the potential contamination of your drinking water supply. From my reading on this forum post https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-ro-di-waste-safe-to-drink.213443/ Per Randy Holmes-Farley "I wouldn't drink it either. Once dechlorinated, bacteria can grow in it." I would not want to introduce RODI waste water into the homes water supply given the potential that it could create a situation where bacteria could grow. The other issue I see with this method is that it could create an inefficiency in the heating system depending on how the water is introduced into the hot water heater. There is also the complication of adding a water storage tank into the loop as it can not only create inefficiency but it can also create a lot of complications to this style of heating system because the container would need to be sealed so that it can hold line pressure of the water system as it would need to become part of the loop. Let me know if you have anymore questions as this is an interesting discussion.
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Well I understand ur logic on drinking rodi waste water but usually what do we use heated water for most? Showers and washing hands or clothes. So to me I would think if you created a storage container that was inline before the water coming in the hot water heater it would use up the waste rodi first then onto the supply water from the house. U said u think the container would need to be sealed why? If it is gravity fed why would u need it to be able to be pressurized? The tank heater water would return at the top along with the rodi waste water then gravity would do its thing until the container is full then when empty I would think the supply water from the house would take over if this was the case.
Not trying to argue trying to understand as I don't get why it would need to be sealed. Unless it shouldn't be ran dry with air at all and with the container running empty the supply would add some air to the system
Not trying to argue trying to understand as I don't get why it would need to be sealed. Unless it shouldn't be ran dry with air at all and with the container running empty the supply would add some air to the system
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