RC 540 Gallon CA Community Build

ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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Got back from vacation late last night, the 200 micron filter socks had filled up completely, water just pouring out tbe top of em. Glad i let the pro's at Midwest customs build my sump or I would have flooded the room. 5 days and 4 socks are completely full--hmmm.

I cut the Herbie standpipes an inch shorter, and that helped ALOT. Now, the herbies drain everything, the emergency drains stay dry. Makes it just a touch quieter now, as i had a trickle going down 1 emergency drain before, adding a little sound.

I'm hoping i wont have to tweak the gate valve anymore.


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B

bonesb66

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My experience has ways been the same with filter socks.
They have to be stuck in the washing machine and obviously you have a second lot for changeover.
I've since ditched socks for jap matting due to maintainence


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ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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I didn't think of that. I got tbe 16 inch ones. I guess I'll order some 32 inch socks?


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ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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Aldiaz33--

So I installed the 3/4 inch manifold, with 3 3/4 inch loc-line outlets on each side of the tank. I used 3/4 inch PVC, 3 T's. Each T has a 3/4 pipeXloc-line fitting, and then 4 loc-line sections and a loc-line nozzle.

The last one is an elbow instead of a T.

I should have just used 2 loc-line nozzles instead of 3. If I had it to do over again, I'd just use one of those loc-line Y's and a check valve.

Keep in mind, I have 2 2400 GPH pumps, so 3 nozzles is too much for 2400 gallons. I think on your big tank you have 1 pump?


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ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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Oh! And I just press fit all this, didn't glue it, and it stays together. That's convenient.


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aldiaz33

aldiaz33

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I second the idea of upgrading to the 32" socks. I use them and although they sit a bit horizontal in the sump, they double the time it takes for the 16" socks to clog. I just blast mine with a garden hose on the jet setting...it's amazing how much crap a 32" sock will hold.

My apologies if my comment prompted you to go with more nozzles than you would have otherwise used. You are correct that I'm only using one pump on my setup...it's the Laguna Max-Flo 4200 (it's an older version from 2011). I think I have about 9' of head in my system, so I'm getting around 2,000GPH, which is pretty low turnover by most everyone's standards. That's why I didn't want to restrict flow any further using loc-line on my setup. I also used 2" plumbing (I know that's overkill, but I originally had a Reeflo Hammerhead pushing around 5,000GPH).

Are you using check valves? I opted to not use them since they can restrict flow and my sump has plenty of capacity when my pumps are off. I don't like the idea of relying on the check valve to work to prevent a flood...I just don't trust them. A concern with locline would be if a big fish knocks the nozzle(s) down into the water column and you have a power outage it could overwhelm your sump. Since you have multiple nozzles, that shouldn't be an issue. Anyways, just throwing out different thoughts....sorry for the rambling.

Your whole setup looks pro...nice work!
 
ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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Thanks, Al! I put 2 swing checks in each return line. One on each line is the clear swing check so I can see the flapper. No worries on the nozzles, I had no idea what to run, so I guessed. I didn't glue anything, so I can change it whenever I want. I was gonna take one out and bring it down to 2 on each side, but the way it is now it collects all the solids in 2 neat little piles. So, I'm gonna leave it.

All the driftwood finally sunk, water's still a little red, though. I'm gonna do a big WC and add sand this week.
 
ElectricBlueSeanBurch

ElectricBlueSeanBurch

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Glad it is all coming together. When you get a chance can you take a ton of pics of the tank from different angles. The tank I'm getting soon is almost exactly the same size and I like seeing real world pictures. Mainly side profiles please sir...

P.s. Merry Christmas!
 
ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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Added 3/4 of tbe sand to the tank today. Big WC took out most of the wood stained water. That made the tank look much better, and now the lighting is a lot better too with clearer water.

Now I can see that new Jag I got last week has blue in his dorsal fin which is a surprise. He's about 6-8 inches and not coming near a cell phone.

Some pics of tbe tank now from tbe side.




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