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Felicia's 40B Predator Reef

Nav said:
Its a Truvu Platinum Series Refugium 75 (meant for 75 gal DT) but I guess water volume is only 10-12 gallons.

http://www.truvuaquariums.com/mwdpsrf75.html
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Sumps always have much lower water levels than you'd think because you rarely have them very full. I calculated the water volume in mine and its only ~8 gallons. 4 gallons on the end is the ATO reservoir and then I am keeping the water height at 7", so its just barely over half full. I'm just loving how everything is more spread out so there's space for me to easily get to each piece of equipment for maintenance or to fix problems.
 
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Are those pumps ul listed, I know their powerheads aren't?
Feed button is indeed cool, will your water height in skimmer section not go up if you turn off the return?
 
Well, my bet is your 40 G main tank is not really 40G either.
They usually advertise the total based on the outside dimensions, which is
even larger than filling it to the brim.
Measure the inside of the glass, and to water level. My guess : really around 32G.

40G / 8G = A bit low at 5:1, but should be fine. Especially if it is really 32:8.
I went 2:1, and regret going way overboard like that.
 
Coral reefer said:
Are those pumps ul listed, I know their powerheads aren't?
Feed button is indeed cool, will your water height in skimmer section not go up if you turn off the return?
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I honestly don't know. I've had one of their powerheads running for quite a while now and I've never had any issues, so I didn't really worry about it.

Unfortunately, yes the water height will rise when the return pump is off because the water will drain down to the bottom of the overflow teeth. I wish that wouldn't happen, but I can't think of any reasonable way to prevent that. I probably will end up putting a float switch on the skimmer so that it shuts itself off when the water level rises.
 
rygh said:
Well, my bet is your 40 G main tank is not really 40G either.
They usually advertise the total based on the outside dimensions, which is
even larger than filling it to the brim.
Measure the inside of the glass, and to water level. My guess : really around 32G.

40G / 8G = A bit low at 5:1, but should be fine. Especially if it is really 32:8.
I went 2:1, and regret going way overboard like that.
Click to expand...
Very true. I figure you lose so much water to displacement from rock and sand too, so your display volume is always quite a bit less than what they say is the tank volume. I figure the sump is sufficient. I could have gotten more water volume out of it if I'd removed the ATO reservoir, but its just so convenient to have the ATO reservoir as part of the sump. Also, I didn't want to fill it to high because I didn't want to worry about overflow from water draining down from the display when the return pump is off.
 
I started on the tank transfer on Saturday morning and that ended up eating my entire weekend. Nothing was going as planned and everything was taking much longer than expected. Luckily, things ran smoother on Sunday and the tank is wet! I still have a ton to do on it, so I'm working on it a bunch today as well.

Anyways, here's where its at:

Tank is on stand with sand and water!

All plumbing is running except a problem with my gate valve on the drain. I ordered a gate valve from BRS that we realized was defective when we went to do the install. So we made a run to ACE and got a new one and got it all installed. Then I went to adjust the flow and realized that if you start to close the valve, water starts leaking out around the stem of the knob you use to turn the valve. Another defective gate valve! Ugh! Luckily, we could only find a threaded one at ACE, so it will be easy for me to unscrew and replace without cutting any plumbing. I just have to go locate a new one that actually works!

Other than that one issue, the plumbing is working beautifully. We did our water test and other than the faulty gate valve, we didn't have a single leak to fix! The flow through the sump looks great and there is so much space now!

I still have a TON of work ahead of me. First I need to find a new gate valve and get that installed. I need to move the hanging hooks for my light because the light is no longer centered on this deeper tank. I need to finish hooking up equipment (MP10's, ATO, dosing pump) and organize the cords and other equipment inside the stand. I need to make a new lid for this tank. Tonight I need to transfer all the rock and inhabitants into the new tank. I also have lots of clean up to do since I still have the old tank in the house and then there's equipment I won't be using that needs to be cleaned up and sold. Goodness! So much work, but I am glad the plumbing is mostly done. Everything looks so clean and sleek! Excited for a much easier to maintain system.

Here's a quick photo update for now
smile.png


Its wet!




Drain plumbing


Return plumbing


Full view of the sump


Skimmer chamber


Refugium with rubble rock. Chaeto will be going in later today.


Return pump chamber


Return plumbing
 
Enderturtle said:
Tank set up looks very clean! Nice job! Was drilling a glass tank hard?

What's that last empty chamber for?
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Thank you! Drilling really wasn't difficult at all. I was super nervous, but I just watched a bunch of youtube videos and was careful and took my time and I didn't have any issues at all!

The empty chamber on the right is my freshwater reservoir for the auto-top off. One of the many things I need to get hooked up today!
 
wpeterson said:
Nice work! The plumbing looks great.

Is the T off the return line going to power a reactor? What are you doing there?
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Thank you! I have a new appreciation for plumbing. Its harder than it looks!

Yes, the T on the return line powers my BRS media reactor that is mounted on the wall behind the sump. You can see it behind the return line on the right side. This way I don't need a separate pump for the reactor.
 
+1 with coral reefers point-out. That tube definitely looked pinched. Might want to look into additional 90 degree elbow fittings/other fittings and or cutting that tube shorter.
 
rygh said:
Wow, so nice and clean and orderly!
And a cute floral print in the sump stand base .... :rolleyes:
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Thanks! Let's hope it stays that orderly once I get the rest of the equipment in there. I have some serious cord and tubing organizing to do!

The floral print is drawer liner for like kitchen drawers. I thought it might help a bit with not tearing up the bottom of the stand. Plus its pretty!
 
Coral reefer said:
Looks like tube to reactor is pinche and or a little kinked? Be careful with that otherwise flow rate will fluctuate.
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I actually bent it that way with my hair dryer in order to get the tubing where I wanted it to go, so its a permanent bend. I decided though that I'm not loving the BRS reactor for a lot of reasons, so I actually ordered a Two Little Fishies reactor today. So anyways, the BRS reactor and that bent tubing will be replaced soon.
 
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