Controlled Plenum Wasting

As I had posted earlier, I'll be using 6-3/8" acrylic tubes, in a fan configuration, inside the structure of the plenum.

This is the adapter I have conjured up to join the six 3/8" tubes into a 1/2" PVC pipe that will go over the back of the tank down underneath with a ball valve at the end. This will allow the siphon to be maintained and therefore I will be able to drain under the plenum with minimal effort. ;D

Let me know of any other progress out ther in 3reef land.

 

So thats how your doing it... Silly me I thought you were siliconing the smaller tubes into a larger tube. It's looking good. I do need to ask, what's that metal piece at the end and are you afraid it will rust?


phil

 

It is actually stainless steel...I had a part leftover from the skimmer I built. The stainless shouldn't rust but I am going to coat it with epoxy paint anyway. The inside threads ar PVC!! I think the piece was for integrating iron pipe to PVC and the stainless part is a reinforcement to the female threads.

Actually, if it did rust the PVC would still be there anyway, so I am not too overly concerned!! [smiley=sleeping.gif]

I should have the array together this week and I will post some shots before and after I put in the plenum. I just got the skimmer finished, am working on the weir. got the stand pretty much finished and the sump/fuge is in place. ;D

 

Interesting thought....keep us up to date.

 

I just about got all of my piping and joints today. However, coming home from HD, the brakes went out in my car. Thank goodness I made it home safe without hitting anything or anybody! Looks like I'm working on the car instead of my cpw. :'(


phil

 

That's a nasty turn of events....are you going to do the work yourself...(I am able, but I avoid it as much as possible, reminds me too much of when I was young and spry!!) or farming it out to the local auto guy? 8)

 

Yea, as of matter of fact I'm done with it. Since I've done this before on other cars, it wasn't a problem. I hear you Drew, I don't like work on cars, but I rather do it myself than pay for someone else to do it. This way I'll know it's done right. ;D Now maybe I can do some work on my cpw, if the wife lets me. [smiley=LolLolLolLol.gif]


phil

 

Good job!!! I've rebuilt whole brake systems...not fun, pads and such are a piece of cake. I've got an old Pathfinder. It's so far off the ground that it makes things a lot easier. I can change the clutch cylinder without a jack!!! ;D

I'll be doing the same, my wife is at work...my house...my tools...my schedule...at least until she gets home!!! [smiley=biglaugh.gif]

 

Ok, here we go. This is the prototype cpw I came up with. Basically it's 56" long and 16" wide and using 3/4" pvc piping. Building it was the easy part, the hard part came when I drilled 600 7/64" holes in it with a spacing about 1" apart from each other.

Overall, I'm very happy with the way it fits into the aquarium, however the performance needs to be addressed a little bit. In my gun-honess (is this a word?) during the drilling stage, I forgot that water flows in the path of lest resistance. When I hooked up the water hose to it, the water flowed mainly out of the back pipe. You see all the pipes have the same size hole and the same spacing. So, when the water flowed, it came out the back pipe mainly. As the water flowed to the front pipes, the flow continued to get weaker and weaker until there was but a trickle through the front pipe.

I think I'm going to try spacing the holes in the back further apart, as I work my way up to the front, the holes will either get a little bigger or the spacing will get closer. Hopefully, this will give me the desired water flow. As always, any ideas or comments are greatly appreciated.



phil

 

And here's a picture of it in the tank.


phil