Looking for advice

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by ClubReef

1) I'm getting an HRV to protect the house from humidity (as discussed in a previous thread). I've asked the installer to put one of the vents right into the enclosed canopy, is this a good idea? Will this promote too much evaporation since the fan will be sucking out air at a rapid pace? My goal is to take out as much moisture and heat at the source.

Probably should be OK to do this, in fact probably the more efficient scenario, since that's the major source of humidity, that would be venting the source, rather than letting it travel to other areas and then venting.

2) I'm getting a floor drain and water line installed next to the sump so I have a really robust setup...what's the easiest way for me to plan out the water change system? Can someone share their design? My goal is to do waterchanges without lifting a thing.

I'm thinking this will be a challenge without a tank room, but maybe in your scenario you can have some extra water storage in the basement or something, that you can then pump up to the tank.

Essentially, you want to mark on your sump somehow (Superfudge has a method where he has a stationary pipe, PVC, with notches on the inch or whatever, and a styrofoam float, that can tell you how much water your draining out of the sump. Or just mark levels with a Sharpie on the sump wall. Whatever works.) And then a water storage tank that can be pumped in to replace the water you drain out. As long as you have the means to measure the water going out, and know how much volume goes in, you can automate the water change with a pump or two and a valve or two. I'm probably not making any sense but trust me it makes perfect sense in my head We can talk more about this if you want, I can try to do a diagram or something..

3) What do I do with the ballasts? I don't want to keep them in the enclosed canopy for the fear of overheating but I don't want to leave them out because I want a very nice 3 way display (no fish room).

Interesting challenge.. Remember they will put out a LOT of heat so having them in the stand and not venting the stand will probably lead to heat build-up, which makes your chiller then work harder, which means more $$$ at the end of the month. But in the canopy means exposed to humidity ... although as long as they're enclosed, and in concert with the HRV venting, that might not be an issue.

What ballasts are you using? In some cases you can remote mount the ballasts (ie. mount them in the basement, so long as the ballast-to-lamp (BTL) distance is less than 15 feet or so). With pulse-start ballasts you need to replace the ignitor with a "long range" ignitor if the BTL length is more than a couple feet. With electronic ballasts this might not be an issue at all (I'm not sure, I don't know my way around electronic ballasts .. tried one once, fried it in 5 minutes, and it was unrepairable - circuit board encased in epoxy - there went $200 right into the toilet Bear in mind that Icecap electronic ballasts ARE repairable - so if you do go electronic one day, make sure that the manufacturer stands behind what they sell - Icecap does - the brand I used did not. Bitter pill/lesson learned/etc.)

Anyhow there may be some flexibility here depending on your situation.

4) I'm have 3 -15amp power circuits installed. Do I need switches to go with them? all 3 have 2 inline sockets, 1 is a foot from the ground and the other is a foot from the ceiling..good or bad idea?

I would go with switches, why not. Easier to have and not use, than to not-have-and-realize-you-should-have-in-the-first-place sort of thing.

Any other things I should do since I'm at the framing phase?

Take pictures and start the tank journal thread!