Reef Addicts - Blogs - drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/blog.php/36-drimo en Mon, 20 May 2013 03:15:15 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.reefaddicts.com/images/misc/rss.jpg Reef Addicts - Blogs - drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/blog.php/36-drimo My Saltwater Mixing Station (Part 2) http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/1417-My-Saltwater-Mixing-Station-(Part-2) Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:28:04 GMT Check out Part 1 (http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/1396-My-Saltwater-Mixing-Station-%28Part-1%29) in case you missed it. I wrapped up the... Check out Part 1 in case you missed it.

I wrapped up the plumbing for my water mixing station this weekend.

The first thing I did was install the Uniseal on the top barrel for storing RO/DI water. Installing the Uniseal was tough but I learned a trick is to either use warm soapy water or your favorite water based lubricant. I'll let you guess which one I used but it was a lot easier than just trying to jam the PVC through the Uniseal.

I put a ball valve on the outlet so I can open and close it at will. I am using vinyl tubing for now so I can direct where the output goes, whether it be the bottom barrel for mixing saltwater, or into my top off container.


Inside the barrel, I used a 90 degree elbow to siphon as much water as possible out of the bottom when the valve is opened.


I then did a size-fit for the plumbing on my mixing pump and installed two more Uniseals. As you can see, I can control the flow back into the mixing container, or direct the flow out another valve where I will attach a hose. The hose will be used to pump water up to my reef tank in the living room.


Here is a close-up the plumbing.


Finally, I employed the same 90 degree elbow trick on the outlet, as well as extending the input's piping towards the bottom of the barrel. The idea here is that the flow from the pump will disrupt any salt that is sitting on the bottom of the barrel and get it into the water for mixing.


I will post another update after I acquire the right kind of hose or tubing. I hope this helps others with their planning! ]]> drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/1417-My-Saltwater-Mixing-Station-(Part-2) My Saltwater Mixing Station (Part 1) http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/1396-My-Saltwater-Mixing-Station-(Part-1) Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:43:45 GMT I was recently inspired by a Reef Central thread, Salt Water Mixing Stations Let's See Them, to redo the way I mix saltwater. My goal was to make it easier to perform water changes by having a built in pump to send water upstairs to my tank rather than lugging buckets up and down the steps. Honestly that is my biggest deterrence to doing water changes, so if I can make them easier to perform, I will do them more frequently.

This is the design I wanted to make. It would allow me to easily add RO/DI water to the mixing barrel, mix the saltwater, and use a valve to pump the water upstairs using a hose.


The 55 gallon barrels were the first thing I acquired. I found a store in Hamilton, OH that sold them for $12. They had been used previously to hold what I believe to have been iced tea, so they would need a thorough cleaning. KGERBUS helped out with his pressure washer, but even at 3000 psi it did not help to remove some of the tannins. We found the best method to be Comet Cleanser and elbow grease. I rinsed the barrels several times using bleach and vinegar and my RO/DI waste water.


With 30mini's help, we came up with a solid design and cut list. I built a model using Google Sketchup.



Here is the material list for this design:
  • 4 pcs 32" long 2x4
  • 10 pcs 22" long 2x4
  • 2 pcs 10.25" long 2x4
  • 8 pcs 46.5" long 2x4
  • 2 pcs 1/2" plywood 32" x 25"
  • Pocket hole jig and screws


Another friend helped me assemble the stand. Here is all of the wood prior to assembly.


We used the pocket hole jig to join the pieces of wood together. It was one that I bought from Home Depot and I'm not entirely convinced it was designed for use with 2x4's because we ran into some situations where the screw broke the wood on the piece being joined, causing it to be unstable and able to pull apart by hand. So, we had to improvise reinforce a lot of the joints, particularly on the posts, which needed 7 screws. Maybe it was overkill, but I wanted to make sure this was very strong because I don't want 110 gallons spilling on my basement floor!




Here is the top part of the stand. It looks a bit crooked in the photo but we went back and corrected it.



Almost done...


Here is the finished stand!


The next step is to get the plumbing done. I will be using Uni-Seals from Marine Solutions to create the inlets and outlets because they adapt well to curved surfaces.

Regarding the hose for doing water changes, I have an old Python water changing system from my freshwater days that I was thinking of using. I like the flexibility of the vinyl tubing on that, so I'd like to get more. Problem is, the local hardware stores seem to have the really rigid vinyl tubing. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to use? ]]> drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/1396-My-Saltwater-Mixing-Station-(Part-1) MACNA 2010 App (Unofficial) http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/757-MACNA-2010-App-(Unofficial) Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:51:18 GMT MACNA 2010 will be my third MACNA. I have had a great time each year and I always learn something new at the presentations. My favorite thing about... MACNA 2010 will be my third MACNA. I have had a great time each year and I always learn something new at the presentations. My favorite thing about MACNA is the vast knowledge that is available by going to the talks, but it can be difficult to pick the presentations you want to go to. I created a free app for my webOS (Palm Pre or Palm Pixi) phone that will help to plan which talks to go to.

The "Unofficial MACNA 2010 Schedule" app will show a schedule of the presentations occurring each day and within each room. You can open the description of each presentation to also see a biography of the speaker. If you are interested in going to that presentation, simply check the box to highlight it on the schedule. Highlighted presentations are marked green on the schedule so you can quickly identify the ones you are planning to attend.

Click here if you would like to download the app. There is a form on the page to send the listing to your phone so you can download it easily.

]]> drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/757-MACNA-2010-App-(Unofficial) DIY Cooling Fans http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/672-DIY-Cooling-Fans Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:02:36 GMT I have been having an issue with heat build up and one easy way to deal with it (without getting a chiller) is to use fans. Fans on an aquarium help... I have been having an issue with heat build up and one easy way to deal with it (without getting a chiller) is to use fans. Fans on an aquarium help to increase evaporation, which cools the aquarium because some of the warm water is replaced with top off water. It does mean the top off water will be used more quickly, so if you go this route, be prepared to refill your top off reservoir more often.

I decided to use some old computer fans as a method for introducing cooler air on top of my tank and underneath my lights. The fans are 80mm case fans taken from some old systems. These fans run on 12v DC and my goal was to be able to plug them into my Aquacontroller 3 to regulate when they are enabled.

The first step was to wire the fans to run on AC. I found an old power converter that has an output of 12v DC and cut the ends off the wire. There were two wires, one solid black and one black-white on the power converter. My fans have two wires, one black and one red. A tutorial I found online at http://www.petfrd.com/forum/articles...rticle&artid=6 said to wire the black to black and the black-white to red wires, but I found that did not work correctly, so I wired the converter's black wire to the red wires and the converter's black-white wire to the black wires. I just used electrical tape to secure the wiring because I don't expect these old fans to last a long time so I can easily replace the fans. A more skilled person might solder the wires together. I also used cable wrap to make the wires easier to manage.



The next step was to attach the fans to my light system. I used zip ties and some cable mounts I found at the hardware store. The cable mounts are adhesive and will probably fall off in time, so I'll need to keep an eye on them.


Finally, I needed to configure my Aquacontroller 3 to turn on the fans when the temperature exceeds 80.5. My reef runs on average at 79 degrees, so I chose 80.5 for now based on the average temperature my reef gets to in the evening when it is the hottest, but I can easily adjust this. This was a fairly easy task of renaming an unused timer and setting the program commands.



And that's it! Pretty easy task!
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]]> drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/672-DIY-Cooling-Fans Reminder to change your RO/DI filters! http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/224-Reminder-to-change-your-RO-DI-filters! Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:16:16 GMT Over the last few weeks I've noticed some SPS bleaching in my tank. I've been pretty busy lately with a lot of projects at work, plus the birth of our first child, so the tank had to go on autopilot for a while. About the only thing I have been doing regularly for the past two months was replace top off water and feed the tank.

So tonight when I went to get more top off water, I checked the TDS. The TDS coming in was 373. The TDS coming out was 356. And then it all clicked.

I replaced the filters, dumped all the "RO/DI" water I had in my reservoir, and have started replenishing my water supply.

I feel so stupid for not checking this earlier because I am losing some of my favorite colonies in the tank! ]]> drimo http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/224-Reminder-to-change-your-RO-DI-filters!