Tomoko's New 180

[H@rry]

I'm use sch 40. You're trying to make it harder than it needs to be. A hacksaw will cut through it in just a few seconds. It doesn't have to be an absolutely straight cut.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I found out that Lowe's carry 1-1/2 inch pipes only in schedule 40. I will use the miter box and a hacksaw to cut the stuff. I have a vice, too. When I made the modified Stockton standpipe for 29 with 1 inch and 3/4 inch PVC, it was easy since I could use my ratchet pvc pipe cutter. A saw just slips and slides over the PVC pipe when I try to use it .

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Okay, a 1-1/2 inch durso standpipe and 1 inch return pipe in the left overflow are cut and fitted. The overflow boxes are rather small for all of the fittings, but I managed to fit the durso standpipe and the return in the box by turning the tee on the durso by 45 degrees. The tee is practically touching the return pipe.

H@rry - do I use the rectorseal on the threads for the standpipes and the threads for hose barbs, too?

Tomoko

 

[H@rry]

I used it on all my threaded fittings after a couple of them leaked with Teflon tape. None of the joints I used RectorSeal on have leaked a drop.

BTW, I saw a thread one time where somebody had to cut down the pipe fitting for the Durso to get them to fit in a tight overflow. I think they sawed some off the tee on the main shaft and the elbow and just glued the butt joints together. It wouldn't matter very much if it had a slight leak (I don't think).

The main problem I had with mine was that the eurobracing covered up so much of the top of the overflow that I couldn't get my arm down in it. Also the hole in the tank bottom was so close to the edge of the tank that a straight pipe would be under the eurobracing. I had to use spaflex to get around it. I guess I could have used a couple of 45s but I like to do things as simple as possible.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Thanks, I will use the Rectorseals on all threads, then.

The overflow box is probably too small to fit even a sawed off tee and elbow without turning it 45 degrees. There is just a small gap between the 1 inch pipe and 1-1/2 inch pipe without any fittings. I am not complaining since I have managed to fit Durso standpipes in there. However, if anyone is going to order a new tank from Ocea in the near future, he/she should request for a bit larger overflow box.

 

[gnoles]

OK, I've heard enough... what does the reactorseal package look like and where can I find it?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

It's this stuff:

http://www.rectorseal.com/index.php?site_id=1&product_id=213

It's a pipe thread sealant. I bought one in a small tube at Home Depot per H@rry's recommendation.

 

[8BALL_99]

I use the same stuff

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here's the picture of hose barb inserts installed with Rectorseal T plus 2 .

I decided to put 3/4 inch barb insert on my return side rather than 1 inch. The large tube on the drain side is a 1-1/2 inch pool vacuum hose.

See how crowded the overflow box is:

Here's a picture of all three Lumen Bright reflectors mounted in the canopy:

I am waiting on Ice cap ballasts and Eheim 1262 now.

Tomoko

 

[Poseidon]

Oh boy! It is getting CLOSER!

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I am patiently waiting for the pump and ballasts to arrive.

I plan to test all the connections and the pump performance with just fresh water. I hope that this will also help to clean the dust and stuff collecting in it.

I have to come up with a plan for the livestock transfer. I need to get some extra buckets and containers to hold the rocks and livestock. I need to make some salt water. I need to clean the old sand in my 120 after moving the livestock. I hope that I can catch the high fin gobies and its host pistol shrimp. What else? Am I forgetting some important step?

I am getting butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

H@rry, do you have any procedure written for swaping/moving tanks, too?

 

[H@rry]

The way I had planned to do it was to fill my tubs with water from the old tank and transfer all the livestock. This was going to be the "holding pens" for an hour or so while I scooped all the sand out of the old tank and transferred it to the new tanks. The sand was so dirty that after I put it in the new tanks you couldn't see more than an inch or so. At this point I realized that I couldn't see what I was doing so I decided to wait until the next day to put the rock and livestock in. It all sat in the tubs overnight. The next day it was a lot better but you still couldn't see all the way to the back glass. At this point I got all the buckets I could find and pumped water out of the first tank into the buckets. I got it down to about 6 or 8 inches deep. I then put the rock and corals that was going in that tank in it. I then pumped water out of the next tank into the one I had just populated and repeated the process until all the tanks had been populated. At this point I put the water from the buckets back in. I had about 12 - 15 gallons of water left over.

I did lose some acros to RTN and I'm not sure why. I didn't use any PHs in the tubs overnight. The strange thing is that I had a couple of pieces that broke in the movement and one piece would do fine while the other RTNed. They got pretty cool in the tubs but at that point I was in no mood to do any acclimating! I know the alk was a little low but the salinity was right on. Go figure? All in all we were satisfied when it was over. M@ry Ruth got a lot of new "shelf coral".

Have you got SW in the tank yet? I'd go ahead and do that so you can get the temp and salinity right. It took me almost a week to make enough water to fill mine. If the pump is a holdup let me know, I think I've got a pump you can borrow until yours comes.

 

[gnoles]

I didn't have near the setup you folks did, but I had about six plastic bins setup to hold the water and all the rock. I moved it all in about 6 hours, but I replaced the sand and had a cycle to deal with. I cheated though, I had 100 gallons of saltwater mixed and ready to go... after 20 trips or so with a bucket (I know, buy a spare pump) I was in business.

The only coral I had at the time was about six zoa polyps, I immediately forgot to take them out of the bin and emptied it outside. Three hours later, "hey where's my coral" (note that it's singular). I go outside and find them in about 70 degrees of no water near 'em. I acclimated them for a few mintues and tossed it into the tank. Come to think of it, they have colored up more than anything in the tank!

I'd volunteer to help move everything, but you probably would like stuff to stay underwater.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Thank you very much, Harry and Gary. I hope that my pump will be here soon. It's already in transit, so I should have it within a few days, I hope.
I will start making water shortly. I am afraid that it will take a little while to make enough water to fill the tank. Luckily, I have only one 180 to fill .

 

[8BALL_99]

It shouldn't take you long this time of year. Warmer water =faster ro/di. I say a 2 days.. Your not going to want to fill it 100% with new water anyway.

I drained the water into a couple large holding tanks, Then moved the live rock and livestock in those. Scraped all the sand out and rinsed it with tank water. Then stick the rinsed sand in the new tank and add your new saltwater to the tank. I mixed my new water with the water in my holding tanks by circulating it for a while then I moved rock and livestock over while I pumped out the holding tanks. HTH!

 

[H@rry]

????????????????????? - You know, the folks "on this side" are interested as well!!!!

????????????????

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I got two large containers on loan from Coral Reef Aquatics today. I will be making some salt water soon.

In the mean time, I am finishing up plumbing and working on lighting, too.

Ice Cap ballasts that I bought from Marine Depot came with one foot lamp cords with female disconnect plugs. I ended up ordering Ice Cap male disconnect plugs yesterday. I hope they will be here sometime this coming week. H@rry advised me not to cut and splice another cord on the ballast since that might void the warranty - a very good point.

I also decided to lengthen my lamp cords since they are not long enough to reach two of my ballasts. Rather than splicing another section of electrical cord to each of the lamp cords, I decided to replace the entire lamp cord on each lamp. Luckily, the connections to the socket on a Lumen Bright reflector are so simple - no soldering required. All I need is the cord and some ring tongue connectors.

Here's one dillema. All my ballasts seem to have 18 gauge 3 conductor AWG cables. I can get this type cable cheaply at Home Depot (something like 45 cents per foot.) On the other hand, a Lumen Bright lamp cord is 16 gauge 3 conductor AWG, which is better than 18 gauge one (the schedule for wires is odd - it sounds backward to me.) I don't mind using the same 18 gauge cable on lamp side, but Reilly wants to replace the cable with the same 16 gauge cable. It makes sense to match what I have except for one problem. I have to wait till Monday to go to the shop that carry 16 gauge cables. Both Home Depot and Lowes don't carry 16 gauge 3 conductor AWG cables.

Well, since I am waiting on disconnect plugs, I can wait on cables. A lot of waiting going on here rather than a bunch of trips to HD.

I will take more pictures as I make some more progress.

 

[H@rry]

I'm not sure what you're asking about the cable size but I made my own out of extension cords. Go to Dollar General or Big Lots and find an extension cord and cut it up. It's a lot cheaper than buying cord by the foot. That might not be what you're talking about though.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Well, I learned a lot in a short time about electrical cables. Not all cables are made equal even with the same gauge and conductors due to different insulation materials, temperature rating, etc.

With that said, I found that a 16/3 orange extension cord happens to be good enough for our purpose. I found out that there are a few different types of "ordinary looking" orange extension cords (with different gauge wires and ratings.)

Whoever designed the reflectors might have over engineered the cord part of it, or the manufacturer might have used the least expensive material that were available to them. Reilly is still grumbling about the idea of using an orange extension cord since its rating is less than the original lamp cord, which has a better temperature rating and resistance to corrosive environment.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Today I got all light bulbs working and the tank plumbed up.

Here's the picture of the tank with a black vinyl background:

With all three lamps working:

We drilled a big enough hole to accomodate all three lamp cords:

I did not have to lengthen the lamp cords after all. This solved the problem of using the cable with the insulation that is not rated high enoubh for the ballast and saltwater environment. This was the sticking point for Reilly. (Engineers tend to complicate thigs sometimes as you might have noticed...)

I managed to make do with the 8 foot lamp cords that came with the reflectors by changing the way I take down the reflector for cleaning. My socket assembly will have to be secured to the hook on the canopy so it won't try to dive into the tank :eek2:.

First lamp fired. This is a combination of a 250W XM20K lamp and a Reef Fanatic ballast.

With canopy open:

With canopy closed: