Controlled Plenum Wasting

You may need to have the flow equaally distributed in each pipe, but with the end of each pipe sealed. There would be no flow shared with each pipe, if that makes any sense.

 

Thanks Craig. I can see another version of this this coming to mind. Abit fuzzy, but it's coming. [smiley=thumbs_up.gif]

The one I built today was basically a copy of one I saw on another forum. After running water through it and reading your post, the disadvantages of this design are quite clear.

You've had the same idea as Drew. A multi zone unit. This way you don't have to worry about the pipes competing with each other for water flow.


phil

 

Glad I didn't totally confuse you!

 

Here are some CPW pics with the plenum in and out of the tank, whilst I was constructing what I call the array.

 

Hey, that's looking pretty good. ;D Have you had a chance to run any water through it? I know when I did mine, the water flow wasn't what I expected. I had to many holes in the back pipe and it starved the front ones. Now I'm in the process of redesigning it. [smiley=thinking2.gif] From my tests, a setup like yours is more than likely the way to go. Just straight tubes without any bends in it to reduce the flow.

When my youngest daughter asked how come it failed, I told her that it wasn't a failure because now we know that the design posted on the "other site" didn't work as originally thought. Then I told her what I was trying to do and that very few people have tried this. To help her understand a little bit better, I told her to imagine this; you have one of those jaw breakers that change colors and have sour candy in the middle. Now the sour part is the goal (a working cpw) and each different layer of candy is the problem you have to solve to get to the sour stuff. Now when she heard this, she understood what I'm trying to do.

It maybe a hard road but sometimes our failures led us to our greatest victories. 8)



phil

 

dx7 that's a wild setup. One thing I like is that you haven't compromised the void or 'open space' of the plenum too much. I was going to mention this to Cannon when I saw Cannon's setup with the pipes that were pretty close together.

From what I've read, fwiw, the open space is actually a big part of the design. If you fill it up too much then you really aren't doing much more than you would if you had sand go all the way to the bottom.

 

should i be concerned about the plant waste on the bottom of my refuge.

 

Yeah, cannon, good analogy. I've tested on a limited basis. I still have a few minor leaks that I want to shore up before the full on test. It doesn't matter right now about the leaks, but in the future I do not want any of the fluid seeping back out into the watercolumn, so "no leaks" is essential.

Matt, the first thing I did when I started this whole project was research on the plenum construction. Per that research, free waterflow under the plenum is vital to the success of the plenum concept. The way I had it figured was that I was more comfortable with that concept because of my personal history of UGF use in freshwater tanks. I'm not necessarily a proponement of "go with what you know", but using what I am comfortable with as a starting point is probably a good idea. 8)

This will be an interesting experiment, if nothing else...didn't cost much either!!! [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Thanks for following along, and all of the suggestions and comraderie!! [smiley=thumbs_up1.gif]

Again, 3Reef Rules!!

As per the plant waste, as with any waste it will rot and eventually cause problems, so to be prudent (IMHO), I would remove it by a very light vacuuming, and try not to disturb the sand bed.

There was a thread somewhere in all of this CPW forum about scheduling a partial vacuuming of the sandbeds. In other words, pick a section of the tank (or refugium in your case hottie) and vacuum it every 3 months, and then pick another section and vacuum it the next 3 month period, (I am not sure about the timing of this yet and I will start a thread on it) and so on 'till you get back to the first section!! ;D

 

then do i add more water after i vaccum just like i would w/ my main tank. does plant waste ever get in your fuge.

 

Hottie,

Yes and yes...the waste can get everywhere and I would replace the water that I removed. Be very carefull about disturbing the sandbed...if the tank is, new it is not such a great concern..but established tanks can get completely messed up by allowing the bad stuff in the sand to get into the water column, and you don't want to hurt the critters in the bed!!!

Drew