Project New Reef by Achilles Tang

[Achilles Tang]

Yeah... the ball valves are coming in Monday!

I am gonna take leave and work on my plumping! Anyone with PVC experience willing to help me?

[Hon]

I got I got ....experience in always making the wrong joining...ha.h.a.h

Suggestion:

1. Plan your piping properly.

2. Cut piping to your desired size and lenght.

3. Place them altogether and confirm.

4. Disconnect each joint one-by-one to apply glue.

I never follow those steps above, so ended up with a lot of wrong PVC plumping....

[Hon]

BTW achilles ... is this what you looking for ??

[spiff]

get a special pvc cutter.....hack saws r a pain in the butt

[Achilles Tang]

Thanks guys... I got a PVC pipe cutter. It's cheap and it's a really cool tool!

I didn't know a 3-way valve costs like $50+!!!

[Hon]

Valve price aren't cheap. Some can go up to as high as 100+

If you ever think of getting a solenoid 3-way valve, you be looking at $400-600 price list manz... At first I thought of that to simulate high/low tide.

Now I give that thought a pass....

[Jeremy]

Bro Achilles

C U tonight K:)

cheers

[Phang]

The 1" true union PVC ball valve is out of stock. Still waiting for the supplier to find it.

Hi All,

Just curious...

Been reading these threads about ball valve, true union valves... solenoid 3 way valves........

Maybe someone can help place a list of this valve and what they do in piping layouts....

will help alot when I set up my main tank.....

Thanks...

[chanbi]

I learnt my lesson previously when i do up my piping. I thought it is not a good idea to "glue" all the pieces together in case i need to change in the future (and afraid that the glue can be toxic). And u know what? A joint give way and water spurge everywhere. So lesson learnt is must "glue" all the joints (and it is not that difficult to separate them if really necessary). And what glue to use? So far the Japan glue (for piping and orange in colour) seem safe..

[robe]

Hi Ach,

Did you tried Hai Cheong Plastic at Kallang they have true union ball valves and they sell them quite cheap probably around $5 for a 1 1/4" size.

[Achilles Tang]

Yes, they are where I get my pvc stuff from. Going to pick up my stuff tomorrow.

? I dun think the true-union ball valves are that cheap. Depends on brand. Mine must fit schedule 80 pipes.

[robe]

Why are you using sched 80 pipes you can use the ordinary PVC pipes. Sched 80 are for high pressure use as they can stand over 200 psi of pressure. That means you need to get Spears valves. You can actually buy them also from Eriks if you are looking for them. Eriks distributes Georg fischer as well as Spears.

[Achilles Tang]

That's because only schedule 80 pipes are the only pipe diameters that can fit the bulkheads and check valves that I have purchased from the US.

They don't sell schedule 40 pipes in Singapore so I have to settle for the more expensive Schedule 80.

I know abt Eriks... I did ask them for a quote.. but ex!

[robe]

Watch out for check valves as after some time some small creature or growth can prevent it from closing properly. Need to maintain them once evry few months to make sure they close. Ball checks are better than flap check valves but head loss in ball checks are higher.

[Achilles Tang]

Precisely why I didn't go for ball checks... (haha... sounds funny when I re-read this line!)

I bought a transparent true-union swing checkvalve from the States. It is see-through so if anything gets stuck, I can easily dismantle and wash the checkvalve and put it back coz of the true unions.

Flap closed when the water flows back into sump.

Flap open when the pump is on, pushing water from sump into the tank (here using my finger to simulate the water pressure)

The flap is made of rubber and the plastic cap covers the pipe opening inside the check valve.

[Achilles Tang]

My house is a mess!

I have 15 bags of #1 sand and 2 boxes of salt sitting in my hall... and my wifey aint too pleased about that!

Am aiming to do the water test this weekend once my plumbing is ready (hopefully by Friday!)

[tigershark]

your wife only "seem" not so happy?? u are quite lucky then.... my wife warn me that if i add anymore fishtank in the house, she will feed my fish with detergent.....

[robe]

AT,

swing check valves has a very high likelihood of not seating properly actually than ball valves. The swivel joint is one potential problem spot also. Mechanical linkages tend to get stuck as well. You probably need a monthly or bi monthly cleaning for that especially if you have a good growth of small tubeworms in your sump.

[Achilles Tang]

Robe... I haven't seen anything like this in the market.

Like I said... the joint is just a rubber flap. It bends easily.... so no probs with it being stuck.... like a metal hinge etc.

It is attached to a plastic cap with an external rubber O-ring... when there is no water pushing the flap, it flops down and covers the internal pipe securely with the O-ring.

I purposely got one that's transparent so in the event when my pump fails/stops.... there is no backflow into the sump as I can see if anything is blocking the valve and that immediate action to clean it by removing it via the true union joint.

Anyway, thanks for the headup, Robe.

Hey, you seem to have inspired Rrrobt in DIYing his own skimmer! He was scatching his head very hard when I saw him ordering the pvc parts!

Any plans to DIY a Nilsen reactor? Hint! I did ask you in the DIY section!

[robe]

AT,

Nope no plans for a Nilsen reactor as my evap rate is too low. Cannot add much freshwater or kalwasser. NIlsen reactor will require a ph controller to contol CO2 injection for managing the tanks ph. I prefer not to rely on controllers.

Rrrbot cannot wait to start his tank.... he he My DIY skimmer skims almost half a cup of foul smelling dark gunk daily and it costed me around $100 to make w/out the pump and it performed much much better than my old RSB. Whereas the RSB barely skims anything out of the water after a while my DIY is foaming all day long.

Beckett skimmers are the way to go for high capacity skimming!

[Seawater]

HI Robe,

Where do u get the beckett and what size pump do u need? Care to share? Thanks.

[Achilles Tang]

Robe, even Rrrobt is inspired by your DIY skimmer!

Why don't you create a thread in the DIY forum that explains your DIY skimmer?

I am sure a lot of people would be extremely keen to learn how it's done locally. I mean with our pvc parts, prices and all...

[Achilles Tang]

Mermaid!!!!

My wife snorkelling as she helped me clean the inside of my tank!

[Jeremy]

Wah...Mrs chua cleaning or playing with water:)

[kelstorm]

AT, is your wife a diver? if so, u can save $$$ diving trips already as u have a reef tank at home.. hehehe..