Lagoon gets an upgrade: IM NUVO EXT 100

[alpenreef]

Haha omg, I was following this when you first started and just checked back. It‘s still not wet? What!
I know I am an exceptionally impatient person, but come on
Here is my thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/newbie-170-im-build-austrian-in-usa.1035356/

 

[sugar]

Haha omg, I was following this when you first started and just checked back. It‘s still not wet? What!
I know I am an exceptionally impatient person, but come on
Here is my thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/newbie-170-im-build-austrian-in-usa.1035356/

If that's how you feel, imagine how I feel!!!!!!!!

My boyfriend is off with some buddies salmon fishing this weekend and I need an extra set of hands. Maybe I will have an update Sunday!

In the meantime, I am going to be looking at a booster pump for my 90 GPD RODI. It's a 4-stage but with my pressure (30-40 PSI) I am really only ever getting 1 gallon per hour. Not gonna be enough!!

I reached out to SpectraPure for ideas to upgrade my unit but they said I need to get that pressure up before doing much else right now!

I am off to check out your build thread right now!

 

[alpenreef]

If that's how you feel, imagine how I feel!!!!!!!!

My boyfriend is off with some buddies salmon fishing this weekend and I need an extra set of hands. Maybe I will have an update Sunday!

In the meantime, I am going to be looking at a booster pump for my 90 GPD RODI. It's a 4-stage but with my pressure (30-40 PSI) I am really only ever getting 1 gallon per hour. Not gonna be enough!!

I reached out to SpectraPure for ideas to upgrade my unit but they said I need to get that pressure up before doing much else right now!

I am off to check out your build thread right now!

good luck finishing your build soon! Nothing wrong with taking your time.
A booster pump should work.

 

[sugar]

Still chugging along

So far, we've checked if the stand is square and it is.

We then decided we need to try shimming the tank. We did our best, but we ended up chasing our tails because we were chasing perfection. The more we went around and tried to "perfect" the shimming, we would create greater gaps. We just had to call it after starting over and getting to a point that is acceptable. Will I still worry? Always.

It's not... PERFECTLY level. See pics below (it was filled with water for these last set of level checks). Taking measurements of the water line to the top of the glass, the biggest gap is between 15/16" and 1/8" from the left end to the right end. The front measures almost perfectly straight across (to my eyes) but is 15/16" off from the left and the right.

I might be getting too obsessive now and need to step back and chill.

Front (water line 1-15/16"):


Right end (water line 1-7/8" across):


Left end (water line 2" exactly):


Here's what we had to do for shimming:



It's not pretty, but we did our best to ensure any gap that could fit a shim would have a shim for support. A lot of the base was not totally touching the ground.

I lined the bottom of the stand with pond liner and secured with black duct tape:



And now we're ready to fill!

 

[sugar]

Right now, the tank is filled with tap water for leak checks. It does, indeed, have a leak. Lol.

I had her running and it took a while to get it dialed in. I've never worked with a sump, so I'm still not sure if I have it right. It was super splashy and noisy to start, splashing in the overflow and down in the sump where the water entered the first chamber. I managed to get it pretty silent except for a little trickle sound where the water enters the sump... not bad at all, I could live with it.

I'm just not 100% sure if my levels are right. I took photos of the overflow and the sump.

I did have the return pump on and off to see how the water moved from tank to sump and no apparent issues! These photos are all while running.









I'm using Innovative Marine's RFS-39 sump. I'll keep checking threads and videos but just not sure what my normal running level is supposed to be in the sump? I don't have the skimmer in yet obviously but with the first look, the water level looks too high. But, I think I need it this high at least in the first chamber where the water enters (far left) to reduce splashing?

I had to learn a lot! So, this is a bean animal overflow. The leftmost drain in the overflow (shortest) is the primary drain, the middle is the secondary, and the right/tallest is the emergency drain.

Do I want the water level right up to but not entering the secondary drain? I've got to hit the books.

The leak is coming from the primary drain fitting from the overflow but I can't identify it exactly. It stopped dripping down the pipe when I shut the pump off and the water level in the overflow dropped (but still about 1.5" of water left in the overflow box).

More detective work tomorrow.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Still chugging along

So far, we've checked if the stand is square and it is.

We then decided we need to try shimming the tank. We did our best, but we ended up chasing our tails because we were chasing perfection. The more we went around and tried to "perfect" the shimming, we would create greater gaps. We just had to call it after starting over and getting to a point that is acceptable. Will I still worry? Always.

It's not... PERFECTLY level. See pics below (it was filled with water for these last set of level checks). Taking measurements of the water line to the top of the glass, the biggest gap is between 15/16" and 1/8" from the left end to the right end. The front measures almost perfectly straight across (to my eyes) but is 15/16" off from the left and the right.

I might be getting too obsessive now and need to step back and chill.

Front (water line 1-15/16"):


Right end (water line 1-7/8" across):


Left end (water line 2" exactly):


Here's what we had to do for shimming:



It's not pretty, but we did our best to ensure any gap that could fit a shim would have a shim for support. A lot of the base was not totally touching the ground.

I lined the bottom of the stand with pond liner and secured with black duct tape:



And now we're ready to fill!

looks good to me. gonna need some baby locks on those doors though.

 

[sugar]

looks good to me. gonna need some baby locks on those doors though.

Means a lot if it looks good to you! I like the quality of your work, that I've seen so far!

Many child locks will be in order!! If you think I worry too much about this tank, oh man...

 

[sugar]

After the leak gets sorted, and as long as we stay steady and level, one of the next tasks will be to get the light fixture mounted.

No big rush for it, but it (along with a ton of other stuff!) is sitting in boxes and taking up space. Wondering how high from the tank I'll want to mount the fixture!

I also have an IKEA cabinet that I hope will serve well to keep my controllers and maybe other supplies handy.

The next step actually is to purchase a booster pump for my RODI, or it'll be next year until I can get it filled with the water pressure I currently have to work with!

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Means a lot if it looks good to you! I like the quality of your work, that I've seen so far!

Many child locks will be in order!! If you think I worry too much about this tank, oh man...

your sump is a bit high in water. How much higher does it get when you shut the pump off when the pipes drain back in? Will depend on if you want to run a fuge too. Mine runs at 8 and allows it to drain to 10 when the pump turns off. the flow in the back you'll have to adjust a bit between water changes and as socks fill. it's usually just slight. But yes, raise it till you don't hear the rush of water in the drain but keep it lower than the second overflow pipe. I keep the return nozzles up close to the surface to minimize the amount of water that would siphon back in. two faced at the surface for disruption and 2 facing down wards to create flow around the tank. My water change that's easy is 10 gallons so what I am now accustomed to is to raise the return nozzles above the surface then shut the pump off (along with skimmer and ATO). then I have a mark on the tank where 10 gallons is so I just pump it out to there and dump the new water in. Then just turn everything back on and lower the return nozzles again. This way I don't have to adjust the ATO or anything. At most just a slight tweak to the drain. Takes me probably a total of 5 minutes.

 

[sugar]

your sump is a bit high in water. How much higher does it get when you shut the pump off when the pipes drain back in? Will depend on if you want to run a fuge too. Mine runs at 8 and allows it to drain to 10 when the pump turns off. the flow in the back you'll have to adjust a bit between water changes and as socks fill. it's usually just slight. But yes, raise it till you don't hear the rush of water in the drain but keep it lower than the second overflow pipe. I keep the return nozzles up close to the surface to minimize the amount of water that would siphon back in. two faced at the surface for disruption and 2 facing down wards to create flow around the tank. My water change that's easy is 10 gallons so what I am now accustomed to is to raise the return nozzles above the surface then shut the pump off (along with skimmer and ATO). then I have a mark on the tank where 10 gallons is so I just pump it out to there and dump the new water in. Then just turn everything back on and lower the return nozzles again. This way I don't have to adjust the ATO or anything. At most just a slight tweak to the drain. Takes me probably a total of 5 minutes.

This is extremely helpful, thanks so much for replying!!

When the pump is shut off it definitely goes up at least one mark (so 10 to 11 or something). Maybe a bit more - I was watching for disasters mostly!

As long as I'm not too far off or doing anything critically wrong yet, I can focus on dialing it in a bit better!

I've actually been wondering about maintenance and water changes. You say 10 gallons? How often? I'm considering 10 gallon weekly, or a bit more volume biweekly. I saw a BRS video that looked at the effect of different water change volumes over different intervals to get the same effect, which was kind of neat.

Anyway back to sump water, I'll have to play again when I have the media cups and media, filter pad, skimmer, all that stuff in. I do plan on having a refugium at some point!

 

[sugar]

Looking at ordering this kit. It says SpectraPure but it's really just the Aquatec 8800 booster pump.

I don't have an automatic shutoff or anything so probably won't need the upgraded kit with the pressure switches (for another $40). For now anyways.

I have a 90GPD RODI unit and hopefully this will last me a while, and will still work if I plan to add on another membrane or upgrade RODI units altogether...

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

This is extremely helpful, thanks so much for replying!!

When the pump is shut off it definitely goes up at least one mark (so 10 to 11 or something). Maybe a bit more - I was watching for disasters mostly!

As long as I'm not too far off or doing anything critically wrong yet, I can focus on dialing it in a bit better!

I've actually been wondering about maintenance and water changes. You say 10 gallons? How often? I'm considering 10 gallon weekly, or a bit more volume biweekly. I saw a BRS video that looked at the effect of different water change volumes over different intervals to get the same effect, which was kind of neat.

Anyway back to sump water, I'll have to play again when I have the media cups and media, filter pad, skimmer, all that stuff in. I do plan on having a refugium at some point!

I do 10 gallons every week. She eats a lot and don’t want to risk a spike. I have about 1 gallon lost to evaporation per day.