Son of Kahuna (56K!)

[blueguppygirl]

One word...WOW!

All others elude me at this point.

[kzr750r1]

Good job on the big lift guys. Love the new HW plan. I look forward to the WC and dosing solutions. Great plan on the extra heaters/UVS. Also nice to hear you're trying the venturi. The greenies faired very well and discus will love their new space. All good Steve... Bet it was refreshing to tear down the trash cans. Thanks for sharing. Looks great.

[scolley]

Thanks a 'mil folks! This really was a case of massive up front work to save time later. And it was anything but a case of just building a stand, and then figuring out where everything went. I knew where every single thing went (within an inch or so) before it went in.

In fact, the major plumbing loop was working a week or two before I even had the stand assembled. I measured everything and had diagrams showing exactly where everything went. I had to. There's just too much crap in there to not have a solid plan for where it all goes - and a plan for how it's gonna be accessed and maintained. There are some compromises though.

For instance, the UV bulb cannot be changed without removing the Aquaclear filter. But since I have True Unions on the filter, and bypass valves to route water around the filter it's not too hard - turn a couple of ball valves, unscrew the filter true unions, and unbolt the filter (yes - it's bolted to the stand floor). Then reverse that after I've changed the UV light. I don't have to do that but every year or so anyway, so it seemed a reasonable compromse.

Oh yeah... I forgot to mention something rather important IMO. I copied something I did on the original Kahuna stand...

With all these electronics, the possibility of a leak causing an electrical problem is rather high. So I did a couple of things to help avoid that. As with common practice, I mounted all the electronics up on the sides (or doors) to get them off the stand floor.

But I also took some garage door weather stripping and mounted it around the inside top lip of the stand. And then sealed it to the stand with silicone. It's mounted at an angle so that if water leaks under the top of the tank, when it tries to run down the inside of the stand over the electronics, it will hit the garage door weather striping which channels it away to the middle of the stand - where I don't really care if it gets wet. Or maybe I should say that it's a problem, but at least the electronics don't get toasted.

Also you'll note, I got a water tight plastic box for the Aquacontroller. I drilled holes in the bottom to accommodate the the wiring for it. But that is another small, but IMO important precaution. There's just no way I gonna risk getting that puppy wet! Too important - too expensive.

[Betowess]

OMG! I'm going to enjoy reading this thread! Way to go Stevie wonder.

[conduct]

Wow!!
I think by far this could be the most full automated planted tank on the forum.
To be able to adjust anything from not only the LAN but also out on the WAN is incredible.
What program do you use to accomplish these feats?
I am really interested incorporating my aquariums in with my network. Since I am always VPN, VNC or RDP to my home network from work.

I see the linksys wireless router/switch are you using it just for a Access Point? Then it is transmitting data to your main Access Point? I am just curious.
Also I was wondering if I could get a little more details on how the ferts are tied into the PVC and pumped.

[Raul-7]

Excellent setup Steve! Reefists would be envious of that plumbing setup!

[scolley]

Wow. I think I need to answer a few questions...

natx - the other discus tank bit the bullet. Go check the thread... pretty messy.

alexandre - my two Amazon Swords are in shallow pots with AS in them.

ikuzo - more pics later. For now, I've got three types of anubias; barteri, barteri v. nana, and barteri v. "round leaf".

conduct - The Aquacontroller III has the web server built in it. Go check 'em out at Neptune Systems. Way cool. And the Linksys wireless WAP54G is just being used as an access point client - transmitting to my main access point on anther floor of the house. I've got a single UTP patch cable between the ethernet port on the Aquacontroller and the single port in the back of the Linksys box.

Sorry on the fert stuff though. That's still not set up. I'm having to do ferts manually. Bummer. But that wasn't on the critical path. I'll have that up soon and will take pics and explain.

Raul-7 - I actually had to get a LOT of help from Reefers to do this! I spend a bunch of time over on ReefCentral. I learned a lot too. For starters, I learned the everyone's whining and moaning over 90 degree angles in plumbing is a bunch of whooey. 90 degree angles in PVC have an impact. But it's a small impact, and is one that I learned is easily calculated. So before I even had the system built, I knew what the flow rate was going to be, depending on which pump I bought.

There's a great spreadsheet out there that calculates it all for you - depending on the size of your pipe, number of unions, number of 90 degree elbow, etc. I had to modify it a bit though. It's setup for saltwater (go figure!), and the drag coefficients for fresh water are a bit different.

But the reefers were a BIG help with plumbing, and a BIG help selecting the right pump!

[Raul-7]

Originally Posted by scolley

Raul-7 - I actually had to get a LOT of help from Reefers to do this! I spend a bunch of time over on ReefCentral. I learned a lot too. For starters, I learned the everyone's whining and moaning over 90 degree angles in plumbing is a bunch of whooey. 90 degree angles in PVC have an impact. But it's a small impact, and is one that I learned is easily calculated. So before I even had the system built, I knew what the flow rate was going to be, depending on which pump I bought.

There's a great spreadsheet out there that calculates it all for you - depending on the size of your pipe, number of unions, number of 90 degree elbow, etc. I had to modify it a bit though. It's setup for saltwater (go figure!), and the drag coefficients for fresh water are a bit different.

But the reefers were a BIG help with plumbing, and a BIG help selecting the right pump!

I've spent a lot time there too. From researching external pumps to looking for the best automatic dosers. I actually fell upon your thread while looking at Poseidon and the Wahoo Sequence pumps.

What Ocean Clear canister are you using?

I love the effort and thought you put into this and I'm sure the Discus enjoy their new home. The triple heating element on the water changer is genius!

[scolley]

Originally Posted by Raul-7

I actually fell upon your thread while looking at Poseidon and the Wahoo Sequence pumps.

What Ocean Clear canister are you using?

If your read those threads you know I had a LOT to learn.

That Ocean Clear is a model 340 - the one with the mechanical and biological filtration.

As for the heater - no genius in that. Just necessity. But what a HUGE impact it had on my design. The Pentairs are the "double" size. The "singles" wouldn't hold heater that were big enough. Which is really too bad, because the doubles have to lay down - too tall to fit otherwise. And BOY, they do take up a lot of real estate in that stand. Deciding to get enough heating power to allow a fast infusion of cold water had - by FAR - a bigger impact on the design/layout of the stand - and impact on plumbing decisions - than any other factor.

And BTW - I LOVE this Poseidon pump. It DOES add heat (did you see that thread?). But not too much. And once you get the vibration issue tackled, it's a real sweetheart. Works like a champ, and silent as a stone.

[tacks]

Hi Steve tank looks great and well though out. good luck and cant wait to see some future pictures Ed

[Betowess]

I am enjoying reading this and trying to figure it out. One thing I particularly like is the bypass you have put into the Ocean clear filter. That is a great idea, so the flow goes on while you clean it.

Are those two RO filters for the auto water change on the back right by the inflow manifold?
What lights are you using? Are those Amano MH?

[natx]

[quote=scolley;424626]Wow. I think I need to answer a few questions...

natx - the other discus tank bit the bullet. Go check the thread... pretty messy.

Sorry to hear that, it was enjoyable as all of your threads and interesting layout. My own interest in home automation and willingness to learn about plumbing make all of you threads great reading. Looking forward to the day when I no longer lease an apartment and can invest in a long term setup like this.

[kzr750r1]

Nice part is when that yearly peak/cleaning happens each section can be removed in small chunks. Plus most of the sections can be cleaned with reguler long bottle brushes not some custom jobber. Keeping the other closed loop active as the main components are offline is another good call.
Not much you can do but stack systems with your requirements...Your just doing it right! You've left the options open to keep some flow going for your piggies.
Look forward to more updates.

[scolley]

Bob (betowess) - Here's a slightly later pic I took, while the top was still off. The inflow manifold still isn't hooked up, but you can see the fert pumps mounted to the right. And this gives a better look at the RO stuff for filling the tank.

Those RO units are merely 2 carbon matrix filters, in series, to strip the chlorine out of my water.

You can't see it in this shot but the house tap water comes in the far side of the farthest back filter, passes through it, and goes to the next filter, out that filter and to a solenoid (which you can see) and from that solenoid over to the bottom of my inflow manifold. See the blue tubing?

I've done it this way for a couple of reasons. First, the carbon block filters filter the water BEFORE it gets to the solenoid- don't want anything gunking up that solenoid. And second, I'm sending the water into the inflow manifold because any place in the line past the pump is pressurized - the house water pressure would be fighting against filtration system pressure. Bringing the water in here both allows it to come into a relatively low pressure spot, and gives that new water a pass by the heaters before it gets to the tank.

And I should mention - that RO tubing has one of those little flow restrictors used on RO flush valves. That keeps the in-flow rate very predictable - not changing with varying house water pressure. You can see one here .

In this shot you can just barely see the drain solenoid - it's a few inches under the fill solenoid. In the case of draining, I let system pressure work in my favor - so the drain is in-line AFTER the pump. If you go back and look at my first stand picture, you can see a bit of PVC that is capped off, just past the filter. That bit of capped off plumbing now has a barb connection, that goes to a hose that goes to the drain solenoid. And that drain solenoid, of course, has a line to my home's waste water plumbing. Simple. Right?

BTW - I'll be replacing that barbed hose with a threaded connection. That barbed connection snuck in there while I was hurrying to complete things. But I'll replace it. Bet on it.

Tacks - Thanks for stopping by Ed! But galls me to see "newbie" by your name though. I know better anyway!

kzr750r1 - I've never had a tank up long enough to need an annual plumbing cleaning. Knock on wood!

[Betowess]

OK, that is a better shot for sure. That two feet depth gives you a lot more wiggle room. Really nice plumbing layout for sure. Manifolds certainly seem the way to go on bigger tanks with bulkheads.

One thought here, since the gravity fed inflow is low pressure, couldn't you plumb your existing fert peristaltics in there, since you mentioned the pressure is too great on the outflow?