almost ready to add water.. few last minute questions

[elzool]

Morning folks,

Have all the equipment, have everything plumbed and connected and now aside from a small dripping leak in my ro/di system, I'm ready.

Could you take a look at a few pictures and let me know what you think about a couple things?

This is in the front of the tank on the right side, it measures 1/8" x 1/8"and it looks like it's just a small spot on the tank where the silicone just never made it. Is this a problem?

This is a gap inbetween the stand and the tank. It's about 1/16" of an inch.
I have not shimmed the stand yet. It is on a tile floor.

These are the standpipes and the instructions state that the drainpipe should be 1/2 - 2" below the return. Unfortunately that's not how they are. The lfs states it should be ok, but I was hoping for additional input.

Does this all this look good? Does it look like I've missed anything?

I really hope it's almost time to add water.

Is it time?

 

[melosu58]

That last pic is the nicest I`ve ever seen under anyone`s tank ever. Nicely organized and neat. Good job.

 

[elzool]

That last pic is the nicest I`ve ever seen under anyone`s tank ever. Nicely organized and neat. Good job.

lmao

i can't wait to show this to my wife.

thank you very much

 

[ryguy]

I worry about the RO under there. Have you tested your RO to see how much waste water you will get? It's a lot. Do you have it hooked to a float valve with an auto shut-off on it? If so, sometimes the auto shut off won't shut off right away and keep the waste water a'runnin'.


Other advice would have been to set it up in a garage or outside for a trial fresh water run. You don't know if it's gonna leak and if all the pumps run properly until you try them, and it's not fun to find out that something doesn't jive when the tanks set up inside. not a good way to get the wife onboard.

Remember, if you run a freshwater trial run, that it will run a little quicker than SW.

Hope all works out....looks great so far.

I bet you are giddier than a school girl!

 

[elzool]

Giddy doesn't begin to describe it, I'm thinking about wearing a skirt and everything I'm just so happy I'm finally at this point.

I've already set it up outside and tested all the plumbing and pumps. Hadn't tested the ro as that was inside.

I have the ro waiting to be hooked to a float switch. I had a kent marine float valve but it was too big to fit in the sump. I am ordering a switch and solenoid from autotopoff.com. I had it going through a battery operated irrigation controller set to only come on once a day, but that leaked internally. I bought two more and they did the same thing. Nothing very large, just a few drops an hour, but even a few drops is too much. So I took that back and was thinking of hooking the autotopoff equipment up to an Intermatic DT27C timer. Have that set to only come on once a day and then hopefully it will take care of things. Having no power may do just the opposite and allow it to stay on... so I'll have to test it.

Remember, if you run a freshwater trial run, that it will run a little quicker than SW.

When you say quicker, what do you mean? the flow of water?

Whee, filled up 12 gallons so far... just another 63+ to go!

EDIT
Well,looks like i typed too soon.
I have a small leak on the return bulkhead at the tank.
that area filled with a wee bit of water

drip drip drip

took off the bulkhead and reseated it...
hopefully that does it

EDIT 4 hours later
shwew.... removed and reseated the bulkhead and four hours since doing that.... no leakage

thank goodness

now if i could just get my ro to flow faster and fill this tank up i'd be set

tds meter says 2 two?!?!
poop, now i have to throw it all out and start over again.

is it time to throw fish in there yet?

 

[Todd]

Hey, what kind of hose is that that is coming down from the tank to the sump(the blue one)? They look like some sort of vacuum hose. I have seen a couple photos of these and I am wondering how they attach to the bulkhead and where do you get them.

I have a 2 overflows on my tank and right now I am using spa hose with hose clamps. It works but I really don't like it.

 

[elzool]

WATER IS ABOUT TO FALL OVER THE OVERFLOW. Wheeeeeeeee
When do I turn the water off? How do I know how full to make it?


ahem

sorry Todd

I wish I knew what the hose is called but I don't. Two lfs I go to have them. It comes with the MegaFlow sump I bought. I have mine slid up over the bulkheads and have a hose clamp on around that.

That's what the instructions and the lfs said to do anyway. Hope it's right.

 

[ryguy]

Hey,

What I meant by freshwater running quicker is that when you dry run your tank, freshwater will circulate a bit faster than SW (cause it doesn't contain the same dissolved solids).

So, when you run SW, you won't get the same exact flow and therefore it will need tweaking again.

I would set your main water level just higher than the lip on the tank so you don't see the level when looking at the tank straight on.

Did you level your tank and stand?

 

[tecwzrd]

tds meter says 2 two?!?!
poop, now i have to throw it all out and start over again.

I hope you are joking. A reading of 2 is pretty good depending on what your tap readings are. Sure 0 is optimal but that doesn’t mean the ro/di isn’t doing its job. Most tap measures around 30-50 on the tds and well water can be 300+.

That said it’s still a good idea to run it for about 20 gal and discard before using on the tank anyways.

Congrats on getting it all setup, it looks great

 

[elzool]

AA, I MAY HAVE A PROBLEM!

Last night I realized it was late and I would just start adding sand and base rock in this AM. I turned the power off and the sump filled up a few inches and levelled off. I watched tv for an hour and then looked at the sump level again before I went in to bed. It had risen a little. I thought, ok, no big deal, I'll mark it on a post it note I have stuck to the side and check it again later.

Got up a couple hours later and it had risen a bit more, marked that.
Got up this morning and it had risen 3/8" In the two hours since I've been up, it's risen maybe 1/16".

I looked in the overflow and it's only half full. The only thing I can think of is that I don't have one of the standpipes seated properly and it's just dripping through there.

Any other Ideas?

I figured I'd just drain the sump and pull one of the standpipes out and let it all flow into the sump. Then pull the other standpipe and then reseat both of them. Then refill the overflow and see what happens.

Or is this 'normal'?

So, when you run SW, you won't get the same exact flow and therefore it will need tweaking again.

I would set your main water level just higher than the lip on the tank so you don't see the level when looking at the tank straight on.

Did you level your tank and stand?

Gotcha on the flow, I figured it would have something to do with FW versus SW, but wanted clarification, cause I'm inquisitive like that.

I leveled it all out beforehand and checked the waters level after it had some depth and it was still level.

I hope you are joking. A reading of 2 is pretty good depending on what your tap readings are. Sure 0 is optimal but that doesn’t mean the ro/di isn’t doing its job. Most tap measures around 30-50 on the tds and well water can be 300+.

Congrats on getting it all setup, it looks great

Thanks!
and yes, I was joking about the 2!
I threw out probably the first 15 gallons of the water and then put the hose into the tank to start filling.

Now if I can just figure out the 'leaking' I'll be set.

 

[Guest]

nice steup...

 

[elzool]

so i pumped water out of the sump into a new rubbermaid brute trashcan that I forgot to rinse out... turns out it was a dirty inside. looks like i'll be using that as rinse water for the can.

Filled the overflow back up now, will check it in a few hours and see if I'm still leaking.

nice steup...

Thank you very much. I really never knew how nice it would feel to hear that. I also never figured I'd finally be at this point.

 

[Guest]

looks like youve come a long way...good luck with your tank

 

[elzool]

looks like youve come a long way...good luck with your tank

thanks... i'm tired, can i have a nap before the fishs get here?

I just checked the level and in the two hours since I refilled the overflow I have no leakage.

gonna let it sit til' tomorrow and check again

 

[ryguy]

how are you planning on cycling your tank?

 

[elzool]

how are you planning on cycling your tank?

First I was going to use sea monkeys, but I heard that was cruel. Then I realized I didn't have any comic books to order them with so I decided I'd go the shrimp route.

I'm still waiting on my sump level to stop rising though. I filled up the tank last night to the level I wanted it at and marked the sump level. Got up this AM and it was higher again and the level in the overflow had dropped again. I now have called Oceanic and they directed me to write to their tech support person to see if they can figure this out.

I don't think the leak will matter whatsoever if everything was left running as the small amount would just keep getting recirculated. But the fact that it is leaking makes me shy away from just turning it all on until I know what the leak is.

I never knew how obsessive I could be until I started all of this.

Ok, so I knew, I just didn't let others know.

 

[ryguy]

It sounds like an easy fix though. It's leaking at the base of the standpipe inside the overflow, correct? Just use some aquarium safe silicon and apply a small bead around the base of the standpipe.

You'll be back to school-girl status in no time!

 

[tecwzrd]

First I was going to use sea monkeys, but I heard that was cruel. Then I realized I didn't have any comic books to order them with so I decided I'd go the shrimp route.

Best laugh I’ve had today Did you know sea monkeys are brine shrimp?

 

[elzool]

That's what I thought too, but as the directions state that I shouldn't permanently bond anything together, I didn't want to do that until I heard it from Oceanic.

 

[Brenden]

I never knew how obsessive I could be until I started all of this.

It only gets worse.

Is the standpipe threaded into the bulkhead?