building a 1000 gal concrete block monster tank

wizzin

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headlessblade;705639; said:
nice post great project!, i was just wondering, if you had plastered the wall with cement 1/4" or 1/2" thick, would/could that be as good as LRB? and make the sharp inner corners curved with the using a pvc...
I'd be more concerned with the 1/2" thick concrete failing. I understand your point though. the LRB is actually so cheap that I might as well use it there. I figured if I used silicone in place of LRB, it would've cost 4x as much.

the reason i'd go with a different design on ur filtration system is. all the dirt getting filtered needs to go thru the pump first if u go your way. over time that can burn out unless you have a pump designed to push dirty water. either way there's gonna be a problem if ur pump fails wether it be a different designed "overflow" with 3 trash cans. or going the way you are right now. but if ur pump fails the way your going to do it, ur media will all dry out and everything beneficial will be dead. if you do the "overflow" design, if ur pump fails then ur media stays wet and alive atleast. iono man, just a thought. i love the progress on this thing, makes me wanna move my 400gal and build something bigger.
I know about increased pump wear. I've thought about this. I'm going to build a box around the pump inside the tank just like in ponds. It'll be an egg crate with filter media around it. One other thing, and this is only because you haven't seen the detail of the filter design, is that it's an up flow filter, so the water outlets are at the tops of the boxes. If the pump fails, the boxes will remain full of water. Look around for an upflow pond filter design. it'll tell the story.
 

Hartzell

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wizzin;671008;671008 said:
nuther little update. I'm getting ready to mix the concrete to fill the cores accross the bottom so I figured I better take pics of the assembly before it gets sealed forever. To explain the "BABABA" on the second pic, the "A" bolts are to bolt the two pieces of wood together. The "B" bolts are to anchor the entire wood assembly to the concrete cores. I discovered that it's quite impossible to cleanly bend a 1/2" threaded stainless steel rod :grinno:. So the solution was to add a washer and bolt (they're stainless steel) to the bottom of every other bolt, so that when the concrete is cured, those bolts can be tightened down, essentially clamping the entire assembly down to the concrete. The first pic is just what the assembly will look like in place. The spaceing is 7" and 9" based on the blocks below.




Wizzin, do you mean "...the solution was to add a washer and a NUT..." instead of bolt? I'm also planning to build one someday, and your design is awesome!
 

wizzin

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zennzzo;706283; said:
Wizzin,
Is that 2" PVC you're plumbed with?
Lookin foward to seein' your filtration system...:thumbsup:
Yeah, the overflow is 2". it's only for overflowing the 35 gallons per day of fresh R.O. water though. It's a literal overflow.

Hartzell;706286; said:
Wizzin, do you mean "...the solution was to add a washer and a NUT..." instead of bolt? I'm also planning to build one someday, and your design is awesome!
Yes, I have this little complex about calling nuts, bolts. My mechanic friends get a kick out of it :D so it goes: nut, washer, 2x4, 2x8, concrete, washer, nut on the bolt.
 

nativelover

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NICE WORK:thumbsup:

sont you think you should have installed adrain somewhere in the bottom??? just incase something goes wrong and you need to flush it out?
 

cbfreder

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nativelover;706335; said:
NICE WORK:thumbsup:

sont you think you should have installed adrain somewhere in the bottom??? just incase something goes wrong and you need to flush it out?
I'd see that as a point of failure. If there is an emergency, Whizzin could use a few hoses and siphon it out. Like us simple tankians.

Brandon
 

wizzin

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nativelover;706335; said:
NICE WORK:thumbsup:

sont you think you should have installed adrain somewhere in the bottom??? just incase something goes wrong and you need to flush it out?
I need to post a diagram of the filter/pump system. It's got a 2400gph sump pump to lift the water to the filters, and the filter has a drain on the bottom of it. If I need to drain it, I just open the drain on the mech filter and let the tank drain. Should take about 30 minutes to drain the entire tank. I would guess that even a 4" drain in the bottom wouldn't drain it much faster than that.

Not to start, but I will add a second 2400gph pump at some point as a backup. If I had to drain it, I could use the second pump to assist. There's also floor drains at 4 areas in the basement, so if it does fail, nothing would get ruined, and it would drain. After the tank is done, the carpet is coming out, and it's all vinyl flooring so easy cleanup.

I just pray I never have to execute any of these contingency plans. ;)
 

nativelover

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it was just somethin i noticed... you can never be too safe!

when will it be finished? end of march? hopefully sooner?!
 

wizzin

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nativelover;706421; said:
it was just somethin i noticed... you can never be too safe!

when will it be finished? end of march? hopefully sooner?!
Yeah, I understand, however, you have to consider the cost of installing a floor drain in this thing. It's got at least 10" of solid concrete under it, and this concrete is the nastiest stuff I've seen. I went through several concrete drill bits just drilling the 1/2" holes for the rebar. I would've had to rent a big mason saw and cut the nonsense out of the existing slab to trench out the drain for it. All that, or a sump pump. Which would you do?
 
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