Glb's 40g upgrade!

BlueDevil · Jun 4, 2016

Good to see you got it to work ok! You're going to love the check valve. The best piece of plumbing along with unions!

glb · Jun 4, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Good to see you got it to work ok! You're going to love the check valve. The best piece of plumbing along with unions!

So if I want to take it out to clean, how am I going to keep the water above it from going everywhere? There's a union above it I can remove, but the pipe will be full of water that got caught when the pump turns off and the valve closes. I haven't figured this out yet.

BlueDevil · Jun 29, 2016

Hey there! Was wondering where you were at with this build since I had not seen any updates in a while. Hows everything coming along?

glb · Jun 29, 2016

It's on hold because, well, life. Lol. Next step is adding sand and rock and then it's off to the races. Thanks for checking in!

BlueDevil · Jun 29, 2016

glb said:
It's on hold because, well, life. Lol. Next step is adding sand and rock and then it's off to the races. Thanks for checking in!

Oh I know how that goes! Looking forward to see it live and running

glb · Jun 30, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Oh I know how that goes! Looking forward to see it live and running

Thanks! Quick question. Can I go ahead and fill it with RODI water now even if the startup is a month or two away? It's going take a while to make 50g. If I cover it, will the water maintain its quality?

glb · Jun 30, 2016

BlueDevil said:
Good to see you got it to work ok! You're going to love the check valve. The best piece of plumbing along with unions!

Yes! I love the 'thunk' sound it makes when the pump goes off.

BlueDevil · Jun 30, 2016

glb said:
Thanks! Quick question. Can I go ahead and fill it with RODI water now even if the startup is a month or two away? It's going take a while to make 50g. If I cover it, will the water maintain its quality?

I see no reason why you cannot add RODI water now. Just make sure you have a PH in there for some water movement. There are lots of people who run their systems without doing water changes (I wouldn't think of going that route personally) so as long as you have some movement in there to where the water is not stagnant you will be fine. Are you going to add salt later before you fire it up for good?

glb said:
Yes! I love the 'thunk' sound it makes when the pump goes off.

Yeah, that is my favorite sound as well

Instant siphon stop! Btw - did you ever figure out how to clean the valve? I saw your earlier post and was hoping someone who knew how to do it would chime in. I'm sure I'll have to cross that bridge as some point as well.

glb · Jun 30, 2016

BlueDevil said:
I see no reason why you cannot add RODI water now. Just make sure you have a PH in there for some water movement. There are lots of people who run their systems without doing water changes (I wouldn't think of going that route personally) so as long as you have some movement in there to where the water is not stagnant you will be fine. Are you going to add salt later before you fire it up for good?

Yeah, that is my favorite sound as well Instant siphon stop! Btw - did you ever figure out how to clean the valve? I saw your earlier post and was hoping someone who knew how to do it would chime in. I'm sure I'll have to cross that bridge as some point as well.

I'll just put a powerhead in there and cover it. I do plan to add salt but not until I have the rocks and sand and am ready to go.

As far as the check valve, I figured it out. When you start to unscrew it, the rest of the water drains.

redfishbluefish · Jun 30, 2016

I hate to be the one to tell you, but check valves and saltwater don't like each other....that check valve will fail at the most inappropriate time. Please make sure you have the excess volume in your sump to take the back flow.

BlueDevil · Jun 30, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
I hate to be the one to tell you, but check valves and saltwater don't like each other....that check valve will fail at the most inappropriate time. Please make sure you have the excess volume in your sump to take the back flow.

What type of check valves do/did you use? I've heard pretty solid things about it. Now they sure do need to be cleaned out every so often as is the case with all equipment. But I agree with you on the worst case scenario. That is one thing everyone should plan for in this hobby - safe guarding (as far as possible) against catastrophes.

redfishbluefish · Jun 30, 2016

I use NONE! They scale up with precipitate and fail. I can't guarantee much, but I'll guarantee that will happen.

Last time I used them was on freshwater tanks, and those "failed" as well.

BlueDevil · Jun 30, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
I use NONE! They scale up with precipitate and fail. I can't guarantee much, but I'll guarantee that will happen.

Last time I used them was on freshwater tanks, and those "failed" as well.

If scaling is the only reason for failure I don't see how diligent maintenance will not prevent failure? It's not like scaling happens very quickly.

redfishbluefish · Jun 30, 2016

I did leave out all the little encrusting animals....and small snails, like ceriths.

BlueDevil · Jun 30, 2016

I don't want to get into a long debate in Glb's thread on this issue. You obviously have had a bad experience with the check valve. There have been just as many folks who have found the BRS valves to be a good quality component and have run well for them. So, like with anything in this hobby, what works for some might not work for others. Best we can do is keep failure in mind and make the necessary accommodations for it, as I agreed with you on. But to completely slam the valves as pointless pieces of equipment is not very fair either. If that logic were applied across the board we would have to get rid of lots of equipment cos everything had the potential to fail and wreck havoc in the tank.

redfishbluefish · Jun 30, 2016

Actually I look at check valves like I look at heaters. All heaters will fail....that's a given......either by being stuck ON or not working at all. The "problem" failure is being stuck ON. You can avoid this by using a controller to control the heaters. Check valves are similar....they will fail....I only ask that when they fail you have the volume in your sump to handle the excess volume of water that will flush into your sump. Otherwise, you're looking at a flood.

If you wish to gamble with check valves or heaters,....go for it.....some like living on the edge....I don't.

When I bred Tiger Barbs (fresh water) I lost an entire tank (300 plus fish) from a heater being stuck ON....it won't happen again with me. I also had two floods from failed valves....one overflowing on electrical outlets...that's not happening either. So if you're comfortable with failure, go for it!

glb · Jul 1, 2016

This check valve doesnt have a spring. And it opens easily to be cleaned. My overflow box has a lid and the return pump has a cover over the intake to keep critters out. The return nozzle is set so it's above the bottom of the teeth on the overflow. And I have enough space in the sump to catch extra water. With that much redundancy, I think I'm good. No need to tell me or Blue Devil we're living on the edge or comfortable with failure.

glb · Dec 5, 2016

Hello everyone! After a long delay (life, lol), I'm finally ready to get this tank up and running! The dry rock and aragonite sand are on their way from Marco Rocks. I've never started a tank with dry rock, only live, so any advice is welcome! Marco rocks are cleaned to be free of organic material and phosphates. They are mined from quarries, not taken from the ocean. The directions say the rocks and sand need to be rinsed for dust, but otherwise are ready for the tank. I'm very excited! I guess my next step is to clean the tank and sump with some vinegar since they've been sitting for a while. Then I'll start making RODI.