Mjames4 Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Now the fun begins. As soon as I removed it from the box, I got my Dremel Tool out and began cutting holes in the back of the hood. This is to allow for two 5/8” U-Tubes. These tubes are going to be used for feeding the chiller and refugium that are going to reside under the stand that my cube rests upon. Just today I was able to complete the construction of a lexan 5 gallon fuge (Thanks to my job! ). The fuge will house a deep sand bed as well as some cheato that I just recently purchased from littlereefer_1. I made the fuge big enough to also house a mini Protein Skimmer (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...=1&N=2004&Nty=1 ) that I should be receiving soon. I will keep you posted on how things go and try to get some photos posted as well if anyone is interested. I must say again the Chris at Nanocustoms.com is 1st class. The packaging this guy does on the tanks and hoods for shipping is incredible. Of course the tank is a little stired up right now, but the colors coming from my corals through all that look great, can’t wait till it settles! Mark Link to comment
nanocustoms.com Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Glad it survived. Fedex has been Great overall, but last week we lost 2. Glad you are a happy camper... Thanks, Chris Link to comment
SurfOnH20 Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 James get on it and give us those photos dude !! cant wait to see those photos. i am thinking of doing the same but need to see how it's done..You are the master now show us the way..!! Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 9, 2005 Author Share Posted April 9, 2005 Here is a quick view of the u-tubes installed..... Link to comment
embryoguy Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 very nice work! nice modification while still maintaining the symplicity of the nano cube. Link to comment
shao-lin nano Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 lookin smooth, how about some shots of what's under the hood and the hookup to the fuge and cooler? And do the u tubes get in the way of opening the hood? Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 9, 2005 Author Share Posted April 9, 2005 No, the tubes do not cause any problems opening or closing the hood. I cut U shaped slots slightly larger than the tubes to provide clearance when opening and closing. I won't have time to install the chiller and fuge until the 1st part of next week and I have a couple of motorcycle runs scheduled for the weekend, but I will take some pics during the install and after it's complete. As far as whats under the hood, all I did was connect a short piece of 5/8" tubing to the u tubes that extend down about half way into the sump. Mark Link to comment
SurfOnH20 Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Looking good so far. kept us posted on the final setup... Link to comment
Sinistard Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 Looks good. What is you plan for getting the water out of and back into the tank. Is it just going to be a syphon out and pump back in? Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Sinistard Yes, It will be syphon out and pump return. I forgot to also mention that in order for the tubes to clear, you need to notch out the inside black rails, the ones that surround the tank. Otherwise it pushes the tubes to far inside the hood....if that makes any sense. I will try to post a photo showing what I mean. Mark Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Here is a photo I hope shows what I am trying to explain... Link to comment
Sinistard Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 With syphon out and pump in are you worried about overflowing the main tank if you lose syphon for some reason? Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Well....I'm open to other suggestions...anybody have any good ideas? Link to comment
Sinistard Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 I was thinking about doing something like what you did, I thought about using a float in the tank to turn off the return pump if the water level got to high. I'm not sure how well this would work, you should probably wait for other opinions. Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 Here is a quick photo of the fuge...tried hooking everything up tonight but found a small leak and can't seem to figure out how to get the syphon going...oh well there is always tomorrow. Link to comment
SurfOnH20 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 James, I think a fix for your tank would be placing an adjustment valve on the intake part. With this you can control the flow rate into the fuge and and adjust to the flow of the pump. Meaning allow only enough water with rate of pump..Does it make sense ? let me know.. Pat Link to comment
Tigahboy Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 I don't understand how your overflow works. just a U-tube? relying on siphon only is not a good idea. Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 Tigahboy Yeah I'm learning that. Took everything back apart and I'm now trying to think this through. I also want to put valves in-line on the input and output lines so that I can remove everything in case I need to work on the fuge or chiller. The current layout has it leaving the tank and into the fuge, then from the fuge to the chiller and from the chiller back up to the tank. Seems like I will need a small pump to pull from the tank to the fuge (in the fuge sump). Where I am struggling is trying to get it from the fuge back into the tank. I tried put a Rio 400 in the sump at the tank (to pull it from the fuge, throught he chiller and back up) but it appears that the pump does not have enough power to pull it all that way. The rason I was using such a small pump was because the chiller calls for a small pump (it is a thermoelectric) so as to maintain a longer contact on the plates (move it to fast and it won't cool). Mark Link to comment
mdt178 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 The Rio will not have enough power. You will need a pump (like a Mag3) instead of a powerhead (like a Rio400 or MJ). Of course that means the pump will be in the sump. I think in your case a Mag2 return pump with a couple of elbows, a ball valve will push 160 gph at 3 feet. You can put a small MJ606 in the tank to push around the same amount to the sump. Good luck. Link to comment
Mjames4 Posted April 11, 2005 Author Share Posted April 11, 2005 mdt178 Thanks for the ideas! Yeah I learned very quick that the Rio would not work. no where near the head pressure I needed. It's funny you should mention the 2 pump idea. I have sat here (at work..lol) working this over in my head, and I'm not sure 2 pumps is the way to go...You know...one pump out pumping the other kinda' thing. I think I may move back to my original idea of syphoning to the fuge and one pump to return (a Mag I think). I think I can control the over syphon issue by placing the u-tube just below the surface, that way it will only syphon until it reaches that point then stop, and not have 12 gallons of water on my floor. Dunno.....it's a challange but I'll get it figured out...I hope! Mark Link to comment
Chronicles Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Not sure if anyone said this yet, but have a pump run the water from the fuge to the chiller and back into the fuge. Then have another pump push it back up to the cube. So the water doesn't get too cold, have the intake for the pump next to where the water comes down from the cube, and put the exit near where your intake of the return pump is(use baffles) Link to comment
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