Following. Cool build.
CuzzA's 40 Breeder Display & 40 Breeder Sump | True All In One | Mixed Reef Tank Build | Heavy Automation
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A couple pics and update of some livestock.
First fish as mentioned before was the Purple Firefish. I keep forgetting to snap a picture and unfortunately it has been a little more coy since adding him.
The captive bred Bengaii Cardinal has been doing great and I'm anxiously trying to get more fish in the system to bring out the Firefish, but whenever I've had the time to go to the LFS they either don't have the species I want or it is too old to add. I like adding young fish as I know some species don't live very long lives. I am also looking forward to my next dive to grab a nice photo synthetic gorgonian which I'm sure the Cardinal will appreciate.
I may have mentioned it but I have also added pods, two red legged hermits, two blue legged hermits, two trochus snails and two nassarius snails.
Today I went to the LFS to add another fish. Either a small Diamond Watchmen Goby or Blue Reef Chromis. No luck, but couldn't pass up on this Caribbean serpent star. Just a beautiful magenta body with orange legs. I went ahead and added a small Skunk Cleaner Shrimp as well.
First fish as mentioned before was the Purple Firefish. I keep forgetting to snap a picture and unfortunately it has been a little more coy since adding him.
The captive bred Bengaii Cardinal has been doing great and I'm anxiously trying to get more fish in the system to bring out the Firefish, but whenever I've had the time to go to the LFS they either don't have the species I want or it is too old to add. I like adding young fish as I know some species don't live very long lives. I am also looking forward to my next dive to grab a nice photo synthetic gorgonian which I'm sure the Cardinal will appreciate.
I may have mentioned it but I have also added pods, two red legged hermits, two blue legged hermits, two trochus snails and two nassarius snails.
Today I went to the LFS to add another fish. Either a small Diamond Watchmen Goby or Blue Reef Chromis. No luck, but couldn't pass up on this Caribbean serpent star. Just a beautiful magenta body with orange legs. I went ahead and added a small Skunk Cleaner Shrimp as well.
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A couple pics and update of some livestock.
First fish as mentioned before was the Purple Firefish. I keep forgetting to snap a picture and unfortunately it has been a little more coy since adding him.
The captive bred Bengaii Cardinal has been doing great and I'm anxiously trying to get more fish in the system to bring out the Firefish, but whenever I've had the time to go to the LFS they either don't have the species I want or it is too old to add. I like adding young fish as I know some species don't live very long lives. I am also looking forward to my next dive to grab a nice photo synthetic gorgonian which I'm sure the Cardinal will appreciate.
I may have mentioned it but I have also added pods, two red legged hermits, two blue legged hermits, two trochus snails and two nassarius snails.
Today I went to the LFS to add another fish. Either a small Diamond Watchmen Goby or Blue Reef Chromis. No luck, but couldn't pass up on this Caribbean serpent star. Just a beautiful magenta body with orange legs. I went ahead and added a small Skunk Cleaner Shrimp as well.
I can see why you did not want to pass on it. Nice serpent star. (May I asked how much you pay for that if not too imposing?) I never had any luck in buying any of those with colors. Something close to it I had one time was a live rock hitch hiker (ugly whitish brownish black spiny starfish) that grew to enormous size until my tank crashed for no reason killing my beloved blue tang and all other things in the tank that was with me for some years. I missed out on something similar was the only time I have seen something with colors, was a green with white spots, and a blue with white spot serpent stars. Or was it orange? Left LFS but went back for it a day after and was gone.
(At the time I did not even know what a tank crash was. The water grew very milky gradually over a 36 hours period. I thought it was just a little cloudiness that was not too much of a concern until I got home and everyone was darting sideways in "milk". At that point it was too late since I was not prepared for something like this. After some time I was told that was a bacterial bloom? Eventually the water turned normal again not before everything had died in there. Should have transferred everything out when it first started. Never re-started the tank again until recently I am running out of space for my corals in my 35g)
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Bacterial blooms aren't uncommon and is a reason why I always have a UV steriler running on my system. Just like dead zones and fish kills that occur in the ocean, they can happen in our tanks. It's not the bacteria that kills everything, but the lack of oxygen in the water as the bacteria population explodes and metabolizes all of it quicker than being replaced.
In the absence of a UV sterilizer it's a good idea to have some mixed saltwater on hand as well to save your inhabitants. Though water changes will not solve a bacteria bloom, the extra water can provide a safe environment while you gain control of the tank.
This serpent is from here in Florida, more commonly found south of me. I'd rather not say how much I paid, but they can be found here for pretty inexpensive. I did pay a premium for this one as I felt the two tone coloration was a bit unusual and I factored in the cost of shipping vs. buying from my LFS. Of course I could just try and find one while diving, but there's no telling when I would find one this far north.
www.kpaquatics.com
In the absence of a UV sterilizer it's a good idea to have some mixed saltwater on hand as well to save your inhabitants. Though water changes will not solve a bacteria bloom, the extra water can provide a safe environment while you gain control of the tank.
This serpent is from here in Florida, more commonly found south of me. I'd rather not say how much I paid, but they can be found here for pretty inexpensive. I did pay a premium for this one as I felt the two tone coloration was a bit unusual and I factored in the cost of shipping vs. buying from my LFS. Of course I could just try and find one while diving, but there's no telling when I would find one this far north.
Serpent Sea Star
Serpent Starfish, Ophioderma cinereum, come in a variety of colors and sizes. Colors range from gray to purple to maroon. The average size we sell has a body size of about 0.5 inches.Those Starfish are very common starfish found throughout Florida and the Caribbean. They are a very hardy...
www.kpaquatics.com
Bacterial blooms aren't uncommon and is a reason why I always have a UV steriler running on my system. Just like dead zones and fish kills that occur in the ocean, they can happen in our tanks. It's not the bacteria that kills everything, but the lack of oxygen in the water as the bacteria population explodes and metabolizes all of it quicker than being replaced.
In the absence of a UV sterilizer it's a good idea to have some mixed saltwater on hand as well to save your inhabitants. Though water changes will not solve a bacteria bloom, the extra water can provide a safe environment while you gain control of the tank.
This serpent is from here in Florida, more commonly found south of me. I'd rather not say how much I paid, but they can be found here for pretty inexpensive. I did pay a premium for this one as I felt the two tone coloration was a bit unusual and I factored in the cost of shipping vs. buying from my LFS. Of course I could just try and find one while diving, but there's no telling when I would find one this far north.
Serpent Sea Star
Serpent Starfish, Ophioderma cinereum, come in a variety of colors and sizes. Colors range from gray to purple to maroon. The average size we sell has a body size of about 0.5 inches.Those Starfish are very common starfish found throughout Florida and the Caribbean. They are a very hardy...
I hope it will never have that problem again since my 35g and 55 g are now combined into one system through a common sump where I use one set of equipment for both tanks (Apex, Chiller with UV, return pump, Sump/Fuge, AWC, ATO, DIY Algae Scrubber, skimmer) to save on cost as well as for larger combined water volume.
At the time when it crashed, the two tanks were separate. 35g was Reef (1 clown fish) and the 55g was FOWLR and Invertebrates with return pump and 2 Koralias. THe sand bed was probably too deep.
It was dumb of me to change the water 10% thinking it was just a temporary condition. I was told later that act made the situation worst.
Will micron mechanical filtering using a Marineland H.O.T. Magnum help in bacterial bloom situations? I always wonder.
The serpant is from here! I wish I can dive. At least seeing what is down there in the water would be fun I think, other than staring at a tank. Thanks for the link.
P.S. $6.50? That is really cheap. The few LFS down here where I am in Miami that I frequent for my life stock always wants an arm and a leg for things especially when they look a bit unique. They wanted some $50 each ( if I don't remember wrong) for the two serpants I mentioned in the previous post. That was 3-4 years ago. Maybe they were unique.
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So, for years I've been searching and tinkering with a way to automatically hatch and deliver artemia to provide a constant supply of live food to the tank with minimal user input, all within the confines of the system. Well, I finally have figured it out. If this prototype works well enough I'll probably try to crowdfund a finished product rather than the cobbled together parts you see here.
Without giving too much away, basically the container rotates one revolution per week submerging about one inch of the container which will be held to the glass with a magnet. I figured out a way to keep the artemia shells attached to the container yet the hatchlings can still easily swim away. Keeping the shells out of the system is always the biggest challenge when feeding artemia. Basically there will be a constant hatching of artemia throughout a week before the container needs to be removed, rinsed and refilled with new eggs.
Should this work as planned I can keep any finicky eater alive, like Anthias and Mandarins. I realize Mandarins are commonly captive bred and will often accept dry foods, but there's still no way a human who has a life can sustain one and eventually it will eliminate a pod population in this size tank.
Anyway, here's a couple pics of my contraption. I am verifying the rotation speed, hence the chalk mark. In the second picture I wired and waterproofed a single LED. Since artemia are attracted to light and the sump/cabinet is dark, I needed a way to get them to swim toward the return pump which of course will suck them up and put them in the display. Fish and corals should be happy.
Without giving too much away, basically the container rotates one revolution per week submerging about one inch of the container which will be held to the glass with a magnet. I figured out a way to keep the artemia shells attached to the container yet the hatchlings can still easily swim away. Keeping the shells out of the system is always the biggest challenge when feeding artemia. Basically there will be a constant hatching of artemia throughout a week before the container needs to be removed, rinsed and refilled with new eggs.
Should this work as planned I can keep any finicky eater alive, like Anthias and Mandarins. I realize Mandarins are commonly captive bred and will often accept dry foods, but there's still no way a human who has a life can sustain one and eventually it will eliminate a pod population in this size tank.
Anyway, here's a couple pics of my contraption. I am verifying the rotation speed, hence the chalk mark. In the second picture I wired and waterproofed a single LED. Since artemia are attracted to light and the sump/cabinet is dark, I needed a way to get them to swim toward the return pump which of course will suck them up and put them in the display. Fish and corals should be happy.
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I will also add I am absolutely loving the shadow box background with top and bottom lights. Through the Alexa app using routines I can create a really cool automatic sunrise and sunset effect. Also, I just discovered by keeping the bottom light lit white during the day it gives a very natural 3D appearance of sand continuing on behind the display. Coupled with the top light lit blue it looks awesome. If you've ever been diving you would know what this looks like. Just a suttle white reflection off the sand. Pretty cool. I need to do a time lapse of my lights so you all can see for yourself.
does that circular part turns? how is it coming along?So, for years I've been searching and tinkering with a way to automatically hatch and deliver artemia to provide a constant supply of live food to the tank with minimal user input, all within the confines of the system. Well, I finally have figured it out. If this prototype works well enough I'll probably try to crowdfund a finished product rather than the cobbled together parts you see here.
Without giving too much away, basically the container rotates one revolution per week submerging about one inch of the container which will be held to the glass with a magnet. I figured out a way to keep the artemia shells attached to the container yet the hatchlings can still easily swim away. Keeping the shells out of the system is always the biggest challenge when feeding artemia. Basically there will be a constant hatching of artemia throughout a week before the container needs to be removed, rinsed and refilled with new eggs.
Should this work as planned I can keep any finicky eater alive, like Anthias and Mandarins. I realize Mandarins are commonly captive bred and will often accept dry foods, but there's still no way a human who has a life can sustain one and eventually it will eliminate a pod population in this size tank.
Anyway, here's a couple pics of my contraption. I am verifying the rotation speed, hence the chalk mark. In the second picture I wired and waterproofed a single LED. Since artemia are attracted to light and the sump/cabinet is dark, I needed a way to get them to swim toward the return pump which of course will suck them up and put them in the display. Fish and corals should be happy.
Small update:
I am friends with Richard at Tampa Bay Saltwater. I've dove with him a few times and helped unload and harvest his Pukani and Walt Smith live rock. I came to a cross roads here with the tank. Some people like an absolute lab specimen ultra quarantined tank with only what you put in being the only thing in the system. Others like a bit of biodiversity and will take a little risk and seed their systems. For this build I decided to do the latter.
So this week I picked up a few choice pieces of wild Tampa Bay live rock. I did a prolonged observation of the rock in a container to search for any noticeable pests. I found one baby stone crab which I threw in the sump and nothing else. Of course the rock was crawling with pods, mini brittle stars, cerith snails, astrea snails, bivalves, worms, feather dusters, barnacles, tunicates, corals and sponges and so I'm pretty happy with the decision.
There's just something cool about having the entire eco system alive and seeing your sand bed and rocks creeping, crawling and moving with a bunch of life. It's certainly a gamble, but in the long run if I end up with a crab or undesirable species my rock work should make it fairly easy to manually catch and of course I can always deploy a trap.
Finally, I found a new source for my fish that made his business model to treat, quarantine and sell all fish from his home business, cheaper than my LFS or online distributors. I haven't asked if he wants me to share his business yet, but I plan to stock all of my fish through his home business. What a huge time saver. Consequently I picked up a beautiful adolescent Midas Blenny last night and he's staked out his spot at the top of the tall left rock structure and it appears it's going to be a great addition to the tank.
It's too late for photos, and I'm diving tomorrow and Thursday so perhaps I can get some pics uploaded Friday.
I am friends with Richard at Tampa Bay Saltwater. I've dove with him a few times and helped unload and harvest his Pukani and Walt Smith live rock. I came to a cross roads here with the tank. Some people like an absolute lab specimen ultra quarantined tank with only what you put in being the only thing in the system. Others like a bit of biodiversity and will take a little risk and seed their systems. For this build I decided to do the latter.
So this week I picked up a few choice pieces of wild Tampa Bay live rock. I did a prolonged observation of the rock in a container to search for any noticeable pests. I found one baby stone crab which I threw in the sump and nothing else. Of course the rock was crawling with pods, mini brittle stars, cerith snails, astrea snails, bivalves, worms, feather dusters, barnacles, tunicates, corals and sponges and so I'm pretty happy with the decision.
There's just something cool about having the entire eco system alive and seeing your sand bed and rocks creeping, crawling and moving with a bunch of life. It's certainly a gamble, but in the long run if I end up with a crab or undesirable species my rock work should make it fairly easy to manually catch and of course I can always deploy a trap.
Finally, I found a new source for my fish that made his business model to treat, quarantine and sell all fish from his home business, cheaper than my LFS or online distributors. I haven't asked if he wants me to share his business yet, but I plan to stock all of my fish through his home business. What a huge time saver. Consequently I picked up a beautiful adolescent Midas Blenny last night and he's staked out his spot at the top of the tall left rock structure and it appears it's going to be a great addition to the tank.
It's too late for photos, and I'm diving tomorrow and Thursday so perhaps I can get some pics uploaded Friday.
Not much to update as I'm patiently waiting for the tank to show signs of a little more maturity. The diatom stage was brief and hardly noticeable and I haven't really had much to show in the way of algae except for the normal glass algae film. I know the system can support SPS as there are hard coral hitchhikers doing well on the TBS rocks, but all of that can change pretty quick once I really start stocking with fish.
Anyway, at this point nutrient export appears to be on point. I will test the water tomorrow and see where we're at, but since I'm talking nutrient export I figured it would be a good opportunity to highlight a couple pieces of equipment I haven't described.
First, I built a triple reactor from water filter cartridges I bought for a few dollars off Amazon. Pretty simple and the installation basically speaks for itself. I made an acrylic stand and plumbed them all together coming off the return manifold. They are all valved at the top output. Right now I'm only tumbling GFO and running Carbon. The third reactor would be for pellets should the need arise. I've never had algae issues in the past as I firmly believe in mechanical removal before nutrients can get too high. In the past that meant swapping filter socks every other day. Now with the filter roller I don't have to think about it but the same high level of export is taking place. So I doubt I'll need to use the pellet reactor but it's there just in case.
The second piece of equipment I wanted to highlight is my vacuum system. Again, going with the all in one theme here, I mounted a food grade diaphragm pump inside the stand. Another cheap $25 Amazon purchase. The beauty is diaphragm pumps don't need to be primed and some have a good GPH flow rate. I tied the pump into my drain system so should I need to vacuum and remove water I can do so with easy. This will make sump cleanouts and the occasional display cleanup very easy. But where this system really shines is by using a new fitting that I haven't seen used in our hobby before, but I suspect they will become pretty popular in the future. The fittings are called quick disconnects. Not to be confused with the John Guest quick connect fittings we're all probably familiar with. Rather than explain them, here's a video breakdown of how they work from the company I bought them from.
Now, how I have used them is to allow me to switch from dumping water down the drain to using a separate quick disconnect to attach and direct the water back into the filter roller. Thus, I can avoid loss of water but still remove the detritus from either the sump or display. It also allows me to use a couple different setups for the intake side. For example I picked up a fish tank vaccum system that has an integrated glass scraper. I also made another attachment using smaller diameter bent rigid thin wall tubing to help facilitate difficult to reach sump cleanout areas. Anyway, I thought this may be beneficial to some of you and you could find this system or your own variation helpful in your build. Remember, we're all just a bunch of water cleaners. That's the name of the game and so any tools that make the job easier should help toward a successful long term system.
Anyway, at this point nutrient export appears to be on point. I will test the water tomorrow and see where we're at, but since I'm talking nutrient export I figured it would be a good opportunity to highlight a couple pieces of equipment I haven't described.
First, I built a triple reactor from water filter cartridges I bought for a few dollars off Amazon. Pretty simple and the installation basically speaks for itself. I made an acrylic stand and plumbed them all together coming off the return manifold. They are all valved at the top output. Right now I'm only tumbling GFO and running Carbon. The third reactor would be for pellets should the need arise. I've never had algae issues in the past as I firmly believe in mechanical removal before nutrients can get too high. In the past that meant swapping filter socks every other day. Now with the filter roller I don't have to think about it but the same high level of export is taking place. So I doubt I'll need to use the pellet reactor but it's there just in case.
The second piece of equipment I wanted to highlight is my vacuum system. Again, going with the all in one theme here, I mounted a food grade diaphragm pump inside the stand. Another cheap $25 Amazon purchase. The beauty is diaphragm pumps don't need to be primed and some have a good GPH flow rate. I tied the pump into my drain system so should I need to vacuum and remove water I can do so with easy. This will make sump cleanouts and the occasional display cleanup very easy. But where this system really shines is by using a new fitting that I haven't seen used in our hobby before, but I suspect they will become pretty popular in the future. The fittings are called quick disconnects. Not to be confused with the John Guest quick connect fittings we're all probably familiar with. Rather than explain them, here's a video breakdown of how they work from the company I bought them from.
Now, how I have used them is to allow me to switch from dumping water down the drain to using a separate quick disconnect to attach and direct the water back into the filter roller. Thus, I can avoid loss of water but still remove the detritus from either the sump or display. It also allows me to use a couple different setups for the intake side. For example I picked up a fish tank vaccum system that has an integrated glass scraper. I also made another attachment using smaller diameter bent rigid thin wall tubing to help facilitate difficult to reach sump cleanout areas. Anyway, I thought this may be beneficial to some of you and you could find this system or your own variation helpful in your build. Remember, we're all just a bunch of water cleaners. That's the name of the game and so any tools that make the job easier should help toward a successful long term system.
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Not much to update as I'm patiently waiting for the tank to show signs of a little more maturity. The diatom stage was brief and hardly noticeable and I haven't really had much to show in the way of algae except for the normal glass algae film. I know the system can support SPS as there are hard coral hitchhikers doing well on the TBS rocks, but all of that can change pretty quick once I really start stocking with fish.
Anyway, at this point nutrient export appears to be on point. I will test the water tomorrow and see where we're at, but since I'm talking nutrient export I figured it would be a good opportunity to highlight a couple pieces of equipment I haven't described.
First, I built a triple reactor from water filter cartridges I bought for a few dollars off Amazon. Pretty simple and the installation basically speaks for itself. I made an acrylic stand and plumbed them all together coming off the return manifold. They are all valved at the top output. Right now I'm only tumbling GFO and running Carbon. The third reactor would be for pellets should the need arise. I've never had algae issues in the past as I firmly believe in mechanical removal before nutrients can get too high. In the past that meant swapping filter socks every other day. Now with the filter roller I don't have to think about it but the same high level of export is taking place. So I doubt I'll need to use the pellet reactor but it's there just in case.
The second piece of equipment I wanted to highlight is my vacuum system. Again, going with the all in one theme here, I mounted a food grade diaphragm pump inside the stand. Another cheap $25 Amazon purchase. The beauty is diaphragm pumps don't need to be primed and some have a good GPH flow rate. I tied the pump into my drain system so should I need to vacuum and remove water I can do so with easy. This will make sump cleanouts and the occasional display cleanup very easy. But where this system really shines is by using a new fitting that I haven't seen used in our hobby before, but I suspect they will become pretty popular in the future. The fittings are called quick disconnects. Not to be confused with the John Guest quick connect fittings we're all probably familiar with. Rather than explain them, here's a video breakdown of how they work from the company I bought them from.
Now, how I have used them is to allow me to switch from dumping water down the drain to using a separate quick disconnect to attach and direct the water back into the filter roller. Thus, I can avoid loss of water but still remove the detritus from either the sump or display. It also allows me to use a couple different setups for the intake side. For example I picked up a fish tank vaccum system that has an integrated glass scraper. I also made another attachment using smaller diameter bent rigid thin wall tubing to help facilitate difficult to reach sump cleanout areas. Anyway, I thought this may be beneficial to some of you and you could find this system or your own variation helpful in your build. Remember, we're all just a bunch of water cleaners. That's the name of the game and so any tools that make the job easier should help toward a successful long term system.
Some questions:
What is that device with the transparent housing with a red botton? (Is that the food grade diaphragm pump ?)
Can you post a diagram of some sort of you DIY reators?
Where are the fittings called quick disconnects in the photo? Are the the blue units on top of you DIY reactors?
The Neptune return pump. How is the performance of it?
TheWB
Valuable Member
Not much to update as I'm patiently waiting for the tank to show signs of a little more maturity. The diatom stage was brief and hardly noticeable and I haven't really had much to show in the way of algae except for the normal glass algae film. I know the system can support SPS as there are hard coral hitchhikers doing well on the TBS rocks, but all of that can change pretty quick once I really start stocking with fish.
Anyway, at this point nutrient export appears to be on point. I will test the water tomorrow and see where we're at, but since I'm talking nutrient export I figured it would be a good opportunity to highlight a couple pieces of equipment I haven't described.
First, I built a triple reactor from water filter cartridges I bought for a few dollars off Amazon. Pretty simple and the installation basically speaks for itself. I made an acrylic stand and plumbed them all together coming off the return manifold. They are all valved at the top output. Right now I'm only tumbling GFO and running Carbon. The third reactor would be for pellets should the need arise. I've never had algae issues in the past as I firmly believe in mechanical removal before nutrients can get too high. In the past that meant swapping filter socks every other day. Now with the filter roller I don't have to think about it but the same high level of export is taking place. So I doubt I'll need to use the pellet reactor but it's there just in case.
The second piece of equipment I wanted to highlight is my vacuum system. Again, going with the all in one theme here, I mounted a food grade diaphragm pump inside the stand. Another cheap $25 Amazon purchase. The beauty is diaphragm pumps don't need to be primed and some have a good GPH flow rate. I tied the pump into my drain system so should I need to vacuum and remove water I can do so with easy. This will make sump cleanouts and the occasional display cleanup very easy. But where this system really shines is by using a new fitting that I haven't seen used in our hobby before, but I suspect they will become pretty popular in the future. The fittings are called quick disconnects. Not to be confused with the John Guest quick connect fittings we're all probably familiar with. Rather than explain them, here's a video breakdown of how they work from the company I bought them from.
Now, how I have used them is to allow me to switch from dumping water down the drain to using a separate quick disconnect to attach and direct the water back into the filter roller. Thus, I can avoid loss of water but still remove the detritus from either the sump or display. It also allows me to use a couple different setups for the intake side. For example I picked up a fish tank vaccum system that has an integrated glass scraper. I also made another attachment using smaller diameter bent rigid thin wall tubing to help facilitate difficult to reach sump cleanout areas. Anyway, I thought this may be beneficial to some of you and you could find this system or your own variation helpful in your build. Remember, we're all just a bunch of water cleaners. That's the name of the game and so any tools that make the job easier should help toward a successful long term system.
Thanks for posting that video. I’m very interested in finding out more about the vacuum system you’ve done. Any chance you could post more details about how you’ve set that up?
Sure. So this is the pump. Looks like they up'ed the price a bit and added a coupon.
I used 3/8" id vinyl hose. The intake has a quick disconnect so I can attach whatever tool I want to use.
The output side goes down to the tee that connects to my drain system. That quick disconnect is a valved QDC so no skimmate will travel back. Though it's unlikely when connected to the pump. From that tee QDC I can disconnect it and add the water saving attachment to run to the filter roller. Be warned, diaphragm pumps are not quiet and aren't designed for indefinite use.
The two vacuum systems are as follows. I made was one from a piece of Lee's 3/8" Rigid tubing and bent with a heat gun. The other vacuum is pictured below.
The QDC fittings can be found here. https://www.freshwatersystems.com/collections/quick-disconnect-fittings
I used 3/8" id vinyl hose. The intake has a quick disconnect so I can attach whatever tool I want to use.
The output side goes down to the tee that connects to my drain system. That quick disconnect is a valved QDC so no skimmate will travel back. Though it's unlikely when connected to the pump. From that tee QDC I can disconnect it and add the water saving attachment to run to the filter roller. Be warned, diaphragm pumps are not quiet and aren't designed for indefinite use.
The two vacuum systems are as follows. I made was one from a piece of Lee's 3/8" Rigid tubing and bent with a heat gun. The other vacuum is pictured below.
The QDC fittings can be found here. https://www.freshwatersystems.com/collections/quick-disconnect-fittings
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The reactor housing's are just RO filter housings. You can plumb them however you like. On mine the tops have 1/4" male NPT couplings to 1/4" female elbow valves. I couldn't find male elbow valves.
The bottoms are simply converted to 1/2" PVC and plumbed in a series. I used a union at the connection point to the manifold.
I will add, if you use these housings for reactors you will need to pull off the fine filter material they provide and use a wider filter mesh. It's just too fine and clogs quickly. You probably have an old filter sponge laying around from a pump. That's what I used.
The bottoms are simply converted to 1/2" PVC and plumbed in a series. I used a union at the connection point to the manifold.
I will add, if you use these housings for reactors you will need to pull off the fine filter material they provide and use a wider filter mesh. It's just too fine and clogs quickly. You probably have an old filter sponge laying around from a pump. That's what I used.
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TheWB
Valuable Member
Sure. So this is the pump. Looks like they up'ed the price a bit and added a coupon.
I used 3/8" id vinyl hose. The intake has a quick disconnect so I can attach whatever tool I want to use.
The output side goes down to the tee that connects to my drain system. That quick disconnect is a valved QDC so no skimmate will travel back. Though it's unlikely when connected to the pump. From that tee QDC I can disconnect it and add the water saving attachment to run to the filter roller. Be warned, diaphragm pumps are not quite and aren't designed for indefinite use.
The two vacuum systems are as follows. I made was one from a piece of Lee's 3/8" Rigid tubing and bent with a heat gun. The other vacuum is this
The QDC fittings can be found here. https://www.freshwatersystems.com/collections/quick-disconnect-fittings
Thank you for walking me through your setup, it’s really cool. I have an AIO tank with hard to reach areas in the rear chamber and a vacuum system like you’ve developed will make my maintenance problems much easier to deal with, not to mention cleaning the sand bed if I want to do that too. If I’m imagining things correctly I think I could even reverse the connections and draw water out of the tank and drain through the plastic tube section which would act like a low power pressure washer. Well done sir, I appreciate it, you’ve given me a great starting point.
Here's a couple better shots of the DIY reactors. I used 1/2" bulkheads connected through the acrylic stand. They aren't glued, but I've found it easier to just unscrew the housing from the adapter. I'm sure it leaks a little, but does water really leak underwater? haha. The beauty of these housings are you can easily unscrew both sides to clean them out and refill them. I hated the high pressure reactors designed for utility service pressure that BRS and Spectrapure sell. Always a pain to take a part and clean.
Also, I picked up a small 1 micron filter sock so I can easily filter new media. No more wasting RO or tank water.
Also, I picked up a small 1 micron filter sock so I can easily filter new media. No more wasting RO or tank water.
Last edited:
TheWB
Valuable Member
Yes you do and I like em’No problem. It would definitely work as a pressure washer.
Like I said in the first post. I got some tricks up my sleeve with this build.
Here's a couple better shots of the DIY reactors. I used 1/2" bulkheads connected through the acrylic stand. They aren't glued, but I've found it easier to just unscrew the housing from the adapter. I'm sure it leaks a little, but does water really leak underwater? haha. The beauty of these housings are you can easily unscrew both sides to clean them out and refill them. I hated the high pressure reactors designed for utility service pressure that BRS and Spectrapure sell. Always a pain to take a part and clean.
Also, I picked up a small 1 micron filter sock so I can easily filter new media. No more wasting RO or tank water.
Thanks. The walk thru answers all my questions as well. Smart design and low cost.
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