Ultraviolet sterilization and ozone are both used only if I notice anything that I don’t like. Particulate removal is handled by filter socks used only during water changes and detritus "blow-off" sessions. It also houses a do-it-yourself self-cleaning squeegee type head to help me with the maintenance chores.Īpproximately 370 lbs.
Two Dart GG needlewheel pumps are used for recirculating, and the impellars and housings were modified to accept guttergaurd, which served as a sort of mesh used to create finer bubbles.Ī 100 liter/minute air pump is used to inject air to both pumps. The latest iteration was the most labor intense, but the most fun to create.Ī mold was built to the largest possible size I could comfortably fit into the skimmer area in the fish room, resulting in a size of 105 gallons, and was constructed of fiberglass and epoxies. Triple injectors were later employed,Īs well as some testing with a four Beckett injector version. This design also sucked the water out of the injector housing and kept it cleaner. This included constructing injectors that I could see when they became plugged (photo left). It has been changed numerous times in the last two years, starting with an old DIY skimmer that was originally changed to a dual-Beckett, and then some various testing with DIY injectors.
One of the most involved projects, and one that's never quite absolutely completed, is the skimmer. The DIY projects have been numerous and include: the mini sump (photos below), the main sump, both prior and current skimmers, reactors (both kalkwasser and CO 2), the canopy, the stand, the tank, several rock structures, the coral fragment tank (photos below) and various water reservoirs. I have built a good portion of the equipment involved in this setup, partly to have exactly what I wanted, but also because I truly believe that half of my hobby actually resides on the backside of the tank. The system’s main pump is a Dart, which also diverts a small amount of flow into the "mini-sump." Total tank turnover is about 18,000 gph or 32 times/hour not including the two Tunze wave boxes. A VorTech powerhead, as well as a prop-modified MaxiJet and two Tunze wave boxes, round out the rest of the circulation system. The latest and most efficient scenario for me has ended up being four Tunze 6100s, two attached to Wavy-Sea wavemaking devices and one attached to a Sea Swirl (photos below). As you can see from the original pics below, there was a significant amount of plumbing. While I did like this arrangement, it was a little awkward working around all the associated plumbing, and the pumps produced extra heat and electricity that didnt really need to be there. Water movement in this tank has been changed several times since its setup, with the original flow consisting of two Sequence 5800 pumps on closed-loops with Oceans Motions wavemakers. Photos of the PVC structures and rockwork when the tank was initially set up. This allowed me to create the open aquascape that I had hoped to see. During the fiberglass stages of the project, tabs were also mounted on the tank's walls and bottom to support parts of the structure and PVC framework. It is still young, having been filled with water for a little over two years, and more than a year of construction was involved with all aspects of the project prior to that. It’s an in-wall tank with its face and only one end viewable. The actual tank contains a total volume of about 565 gallons the system's total volume is approximately 1000 gallons. It measures 100" x 42" x 30" and has an 6" x 12" x 100" end-to-end overflow. This tank was built using plywood and epoxies.
But, I can show you my latest system, even if it isn’t the last! I've had so many marine systems along the way that I don’t think I could fit them all into this article. I can honestly say that the satisfaction, knowledge, enjoyment and friends that I’ve gained along this journey have made it worthwhile. I walked into a small marine section of a pet store pushing my newborn daughter in a stroller 16 years ago, but I don’t think I ever truly left.
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