Blitzkragz' 12ft 375g rimless peninsula with rotary drum filter build

[Maxx]

Interesting!

I look forward to seeing how you get this figured out.

I also really really look forward to you licensing out or manufacturing smaller more affordable drum filters for reef tanks.

 

[crusso1993]

Something like this. One stepper raises and lowers, another slides it along horizontally to and from the return. It is not transporting them to the display, it is transporting them about a foot over the fuge chamber to the return chamber to get sucked into the pump and then up to the display. I plan to play with a baffle to channel the water through the loofa when it is in the return section to loosen pods on their way to the pump.

I am convinced the best route since I have lots of space is separate chaeto and pods into different places. You will notice in the new sump there is no plan for chaeto. Chaeto needs more flow than I want to have in the pod fuge. And chaeto/macro is messy -- after growing a bunch, I have come to the conclusion I definitely want that to be before the drum filter, not after. Pods don't eat the chaeto, they eat phyto and detritus, the chaeto they use just as a structure to cling to. A loofah serves just as well for that kind of structure.

So for the chaeto, I am planning a self trimming rotating growing chaeto ball, which sits before the drum filter so the clippings get caught by the drum filter. More on that later!

Better be careful or your wife will want one of these installed in the shower to scrub her back! ;Hilarious

 

[Maxx]

Wait til she see's he took her pink loofa to move bugs safely from place to another.

 

[Sltloser]

The thought process with the luffa isn't to establish anything -- the goal is a repeatable way to "dose adult pods" that have grown in the fuge into the display.

Juvenile pods are free swimming and cannot cling to structure. So i want to keep them out of the display water column, because they eventually meet their demise from the drum filter before they have a chance to grow up.

Adult pods will find and cling to structure. Structure being a loofah. By moving a loofah laden with adult pods from the fuge into the return chamber, shaking it a bit and moving flow through it, the pods would get dislodged from the loofah and sucked into the pump and up to the display (some will perish, but most will survive this) at night when they have the best chance to find structure before being eaten.

Regarding freezing the phyto, I am just going by what the manufacturer lists here, where they state "Bottled phytoplankton must be kept refrigerated (will keep for 2 months) or frozen (will keep for 2 years). " I would watch reefgrrl's video above if you haven't already, she certainly saw results from frozen phyto.

I stand corrected, I'm happy it worked so well for her!

 

[Blutspitze]

Loving the look of that massive sump, it's incredible! Quite jealous of your pod ideas, as well. I've been struggling to get a solid replenishing population established and haven't had any luck as of yet. They just won't stay in the fuge well. Stoked to see it in action regardless!

 

[blitzkragz]

Xenia and GSP can also be mesmerizing to try and remove from the tank once they get off their Alcatraz. I am in the process of upgrading my system, and am not putting either back in. Just something to think about before the jailbreak occurs...

I have already found and killed xenia escapee. But for now, I am really enjoying it:

 

[Blutspitze]

I'm looking to get some pulsing xenia as a future purchase - I just love the movement they offer, it's so mesmerizing. Sadly, my LFS hasn't had any whenever I go.

 

[bobyboy]

Beautiful build, I do believe you are overthinking the pod situation.
if your drum filter is setup in place of filter socks at the drain from your display then the pods can make there way to the display easy enough on there own or as I do go in and shake up the chaeto every now and then.

 

[spartanman22]

I love your ingenuity on this tank! RDF's are quite popular now in wastewater treatment as well. One of my facilities recently upgraded their tertiary filtration to four rotating disk filters (same concept slightly different mechanism) to treat 20 MGD removing anywhere from 0-100 mg/L of suspended solids. They work extremely well, albeit given the scale of industrial application RDFs the maintenance is a bit more involved. Pretty cool to see someone actually incorporate one into a saltwater tank!

 

[txrdnk]

Nice work.

I always come up with an excuse err, uhm, need for new tools.

NO job is too small for a BIG, EXPENSIVE power tool !

 

[blitzkragz]

NO job is too small for a BIG, EXPENSIVE power tool !

Amen! Speaking of tools, recently I decided to do the @Bulk Reef Supply DIY Frozen Fish Food challenge with the kids, and their recipe called for a meat cleaver. That being a tool I did not have, I saw it as an opportunity to go big with a Dalstrong Gladiator Obliterator. Makes quick work of frozen squid and tuna blocks in one chop.

This food rocks -- it feeds both fish and corals, the recipe makes a whole years worth and and really fun project while the kids are stuck at home (although they did not get to use the cleaver, of course )! Surprisingly, the finished product doesn't have a strong fishy smell to it like other frozen foods I have tried.

Here are some tips we had to figure out on our own:

First use the cheese grater wheel as shown in the BRS video which will give a rough grind. But the chunks, especially the tuna, will still be way too big. What we did was pour each rough ground batch into a separate bowl, replace the cheese grater wheel with the normal slicing blades into the bottom of the food processor, and pulse it for 10 seconds or so to get uniform fish-mouth sized chunks.

The squid is an awkward sticky material when ground up. It doesn't stir well with the other meats at first, but after you pour in the liquid part of the recipe, that makes it much easier to distribute it uniformly in the mixture.

We put all of the dry/liquid components in the refrigerator the night before to minimize the heat they would add at mixing time.

Rehearse your plan and work fast once you take the frozen ingredients out of the freezer!

 

[dbleoh7]

Would love to see a video update of this. With the flow if you ever wanted to get rid of the Gyres on the glass, you could potentially do a couple of tunze rocks (or make your own) and run the powerhead cords underneath the sand from the other side of the tank (would be a very long cord haha)

 

[Anirban]

Amen! Speaking of tools, recently I decided to do the @Bulk Reef Supply DIY Frozen Fish Food challenge with the kids, and their recipe called for a meat cleaver. That being a tool I did not have, I saw it as an opportunity to go big with a Dalstrong Gladiator Obliterator. Makes quick work of frozen squid and tuna blocks in one chop.

This food rocks -- it feeds both fish and corals, the recipe makes a whole years worth and and really fun project while the kids are stuck at home (although they did not get to use the cleaver, of course )! Surprisingly, the finished product doesn't have a strong fishy smell to it like other frozen foods I have tried.

Here are some tips we had to figure out on our own:

First use the cheese grater wheel as shown in the BRS video which will give a rough grind. But the chunks, especially the tuna, will still be way too big. What we did was pour each rough ground batch into a separate bowl, replace the cheese grater wheel with the normal slicing blades into the bottom of the food processor, and pulse it for 10 seconds or so to get uniform fish-mouth sized chunks.

The squid is an awkward sticky material when ground up. It doesn't stir well with the other meats at first, but after you pour in the liquid part of the recipe, that makes it much easier to distribute it uniformly in the mixture.

We put all of the dry/liquid components in the refrigerator the night before to minimize the heat they would add at mixing time.

Rehearse your plan and work fast once you take the frozen ingredients out of the freezer!

That looks yummy

 

[Coral therapy]

I had the same thought before taking the plunge! But in practice, it only takes a couple minutes. I have a Tunze Care Strong+ ready at the business end on each side, and sliding them back and forth the entire length is surprisingly quick.

Although this being a dream build, I would totally pull the trigger on a pair of MOAI's if they turn out to actually work as advertised. I would want to know if it is immune to sand scratching the glass when the bot goes low. With Care Magnet, there is no fear of that, I go fast even at the bottom and no sand scratches.

I just bought one of these. It’s great with sand, no scratches. I just wish there was a float for it. It’s still my favorite magnet I’ve used over the last 25 years.

 

[doodledreads]

I am pretty sure theres an attachment that makes it float.
Found it:

Tunze Care Booster

Tunze Care Booster 2 floats for Care Magnet long, strong and strong+.The Care Booster ensures that the inner cleaning magnet of the Care Magnet floats to the surface as soon as it detaches from the outer magnet. The Care Booster can also be used as a convenient grip aid for the external magnet...

www.aquacave.com

I just bought one of these. It’s great with sand, no scratches. I just wish there was a float for it. It’s still my favorite magnet I’ve used over the last 25 years.

 

[ReefKeeper09]

Following along... Very Cool Build!

 

[blitzkragz]

It has been way too long since I have updated this thread. The tank has seen ups and downs – most of the zoas/euphelia/softies have done great, but I have managed to kill almost every single sps frag I tried. I think I found the culprit – the pressure pump for the spraybar of the drum filter was rusty when I looked inside it and I suspect slowly introducing metals into the system. That has been remedied with a new thermoplastic pressure pump, so time will tell the next try.

I have almost too many updates to post, but I will start with the below, one last walkaround of the tank in its current state. It is about to be completely transformed, as today I have a one-of-a-kind aquascape arriving from Dream Aquascapes that I commissioned over 4 months ago. I think it will be worth the wait!

 

[tripdad]

That is really something! I can see why it took a while to make. Should be amazing once it's "grown in".

 

[Devaji]

I fricking love this tank. kinda sad to see the old aqua scap go but the new one wow .

are you going to add the old LR to the sump or send it my way...haha

 

[recreative]

interesting aquascape . . . massive bag of TDO!!!