Daplatapus's upgrade

daplatapus · #1 06-16-2014, 02:09 AM

Well, I had the afternoon to work on the tank! I finalized my rock work and got the face frames on the cabinet and the trim!!!!!! WOOHOOO! and DAMN, it looks good if I do say so myself. Now, I'm getting eager to see water in it.
So, without further ado..... here's how it sits as of tonight.

DAVE · #2 06-16-2014, 02:12 AM

That looks awesome. You did a hell of a job

FishingGoalie · #3 06-16-2014, 02:15 AM

Thats soooo sweet

daplatapus · #4 07-09-2014, 07:58 PM

Tiny update, built a shelving unit downstairs under the tank to give at least a wee bit of assistance to the floor joists. An engineer buddy of mine ran the numbers and said I was good, but over built rarely hurts anybody

Got a pleasant surprise yesterday. I ordered one of these last week:
http://www.lockewell.com/index.php?m...roducts_id=161

My self discipline is severely lacking and water changes have not exactly been regular, so after reading a bunch on RC about daily water changes I decided to buy one of these pumps and control it with the Apex.
Anyway, I get a call from UPS asking if I have a customs broker or if I want them to do it. I've never been asked that before by UPS! Thankfully I've ordered a bunch of tools and equipment out of the states before and have an account set up with Summit custom's brokers in Van so that should save me a bit of money. Anyway, just surprised they called first rather than give me the bill at my door. They must be getting a lot of Canadians complain.

daplatapus · #5 07-13-2014, 04:37 PM

Pump got delivered on Friday. I can't wait to get it set up.

asylumdown · #6 07-13-2014, 05:01 PM

That thing is amazing! How is it going to work? If it's going to do automated changes for you every day, won't you still need to be super on top of making sure you've got a reservoir of mixed salt water on hand? How do you control it?

daplatapus · #7 07-13-2014, 08:14 PM

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to hooking it up and knowing I'm actually getting water changes done

I always have 30 gal of SW mixed and 30 gal of FW for top up in Brute cans. Because the pump has 2 heads and 1 motor, it takes out exactly the same as it puts back in. So my plan is to set the intake of the one head in the first chamber of my sump, where my drains are and the discharge in the drain. The other head will take water from my 30 gal SW can and will pump it into my final return chamber of the sump.
My initial plan is to change 1% a day for a total of 30% a month. There's a thread on RC that shows that accounting for pumping out new water with the old, you still end up changing about 28% volume. This particular pump is rated for 100 gpd change so I'll just do the math and control it via my Apex on one of the plugs on the EB8.
For starters, I'll just do it in a tub of normal water to make sure I have the water volumes right.
I will have to watch my SW reservoir vary carefully to make sure it doesn't empty, but the pump is actually rated to run dry so it won't hurt anything if it does, I just won't be doing any more water changes. My goal is to find a couple 60 gal containers so I have a bit more forgiveness.