Dary's tank!

[Bdonaldson]

Replaced the area where the ol' mcr skimmer lived with a little cabinet to hold the Hanna testing equipment ,... A fair trade for the time being I guess View attachment 279641View attachment 279642


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Beautiful stand Dary. I love all the different doors with the equipment hidden in there. Did you build it yourself?

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[Dary421]

Beautiful stand Dary. I love all the different doors with the equipment hidden in there. Did you build it yourself?

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Yes I did ,..at first I just made the stand that the aquarium sits on then it just kinda went crazy from there with tie ons and add ons ,.... It looks better the farther you get away from it ,..say Oklahoma !


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[Dary421]

I'm with Doug, I don't think it matters that much. I tend to use what is cheap and that's Reef Crystals around here. Everybody has a favorite, but I don't think it matters in the end. If you have a densely populated coral reef, your going to be adding alk/cal/mg anyway. The advantage of sticking to one brand is that the additive amounts you use shouldn't change much. If there is a bit of clay precipitate, that stays in the barrel and I clean it out now and then.


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If the Alk in this " pro reef " mix was up to par with others than I wouldn't change but it's just soooooooooo low .... I'll try their regular salt the next time then prob back to the crystals


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[Sniperhank]

Have you tried Brightwell's salt Dary? I just switched from Kent, like it.

 

[Dary421]

No I haven't ..... I've heard a few good reviews tho,...I'll pin it up on the roulette wheel


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[Dary421]

Buying all the junk necessary for re plumbing the whole sump assembly ... I'm about 95 % sure of what I trying To do but it's that last 5% that scares the crap out of me ..., that's where you scratch your head and say to yourself what the #%£€ was I thinking !!!! I've got lumber in my van to build a stand to hold a container that holds just the protein skimmer and also the pwc water too , Omg , this is really going to be a project !!! I know that a trip to the grocery store for extra beer is in order !!!


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[Bdonaldson]

Buying all the junk necessary for re plumbing the whole sump assembly ... I'm about 95 % sure of what I trying To do but it's that last 5% that scares the crap out of me ..., that's where you scratch your head and say to yourself what the #%£€ was I thinking !!!! I've got lumber in my van to build a stand to hold a container that holds just the protein skimmer and also the pwc water too , Omg , this is really going to be a project !!! I know that a trip to the grocery store for extra View attachment 279940beer is in order !!!


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Sounds like you have it all under control Dary. The beer is a necessity for confidence building before during and after the projects we all take on. ;o)

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[mr_X]

I don't know if it's good, bad, or indifferent, but the Brightwell buckets were hot to the touch...and if you stuck your hand inside the bucket, it felt like it was a handwarmer.

 

[Dary421]

I think the Kent salt I was using was like that too,...really weird ,...almost a fire hazard lol... Wonder why that is ? I'm sure Greg will have an answer to that question when he logs in



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[Sniperhank]

Bright well is a synthetic salt and most likely the cause for the heat. Simply dumping salt into water makes a sizzle.


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[Gregcoyote]

Dissolving salt into water is mildly exothermic.

http://discoveryexpress.weebly.com/blog/exothermic-vs-endothermic-chemistrys-give-and-take


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[mr_X]

I'm talking about BEFORE any water was added. I mean you could feel the side of the buckets at the store and they were hot to the touch.

 

[Sniperhank]

Before?? That is very odd... Mine is not warm to the touch at all, before or after opening.

 

[Dary421]

I agree with doug ., some of this stuff is hot when you're scooping it out of the bucket


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[Gregcoyote]

IMO, the only way it could be generating heat is if some moisture is interacting with the salt. Dry salt produces no exothermic heat unless placed into solution. A bucket of salt that has sat for 4-6 months since packaged, should have no residual heat until moisture is introduced.

It's also the reason that salt which has hardened from moisture exposure is okay for a fish only system, but in a reef where you are balancing ionic levels of alk/cal/mg you might not want to use caked salt as the moisture has started a reaction in the salt.


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[mr_X]

I dunno...I have used some driveway heat that was hot to the touch too, right out of the bag.

 

[Gregcoyote]

It's reacting to atmospheric moisture. Calcium chloride gets pretty hot when exposed to water.


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[Dary421]

With a bit of optimistic caution I slowly started my skimmer relocation and re plumbing under the tank build ,....first I had to rebuild the little area that once held my 50 gal barrel containing what ever water I was mixing up for my pwc ( usually 15-20 gal) I had to build a small but sturdy little stand into that very tight and totally uneven little area that will now hold my brand new virtually indestructible little skimmer barrel and over the top of that a smaller 30 gal barrel that will hold my pwc water which will now be fitted with a bulkhead and and ball valve and will be operated via newton's gravity .
I'm still waiting on the arrival of a bulk Reef supply filter sock assembly and a couple of more bulkheads and ball valves before I can proceed anymore ,...next Monday is going to be the biggie when I cut the main aquarium drain and start all the plumbing ,hopefully I've done all my homework and figured out everything correctly ,..fingers crossed !!!


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[Sniperhank]

Can't wait to see it all put together. Plumbing is part of the fun.


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[Dary421]

Can't wait to see it all put together. Plumbing is part of the fun.


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Yes it is ,..BUT ,... You only get one shot at it before the glue dries ,... ( enter "nervous nelly" ) ..In actuality the way I've got it configured , I'll be able to bypass the whole skimmer section ( if necessary ) and return everything to the way it " was " by the mere closer of a single ball valve .
I'm actually trying to simplify things and trying to make everything kind of bullet proof at the same time ,... Fingers crossed and beer in the refrigerator !!!


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