chimera

Potentially, but the valve would be under immense pressure under normal operation (try over 3,500 litres per hour - not sure what that is in psi) so valve would have to be 100% reliable otherwise it pops off, water goes straight up and everywhere but in the tank!!! I was thinking more along the lines of controlling this via electronics. Eg: having a device that the Iwaki hooks into that has a builtin timer delay so the power doesnt get fed back to the device on/off/on/off etc (thus has other benefits) Only problem with that is another area of potential failure to add to the puzzle. Simple fact is I dont trust power companies around here! We've had about 8 power cuts in the last 6 months. Yes, thats RED BEACH, if anyone works for power company delivering to this region, you need your :evil: :evil: :evil: cut. here's a photo of the back of the sea-swirl. it has a small 6mm or so hole drilled in the outlet into the tank (other side), just below the water line (which stops more water than is needed from back syphoning) water takes the path of least resistance so if it were done like a reverse-durso at the back, the water pressure would be greatest on the valve rather than heading around the 90 degree bend.

every 2 weeks?! thats twice as often as i do sometimes even every 6 weeks :-? got mine from jansens.

not possible and too complex (not to mention expensive). the pumps would have to be carefully rated to match and you'd never get it right! an interesting little dilema to say the least!

just edited my reply above re: s-bend. as i say, it must be above main tank water line otherwise it wont work. this will stop any reverse syphoning - you could even have a valve (similar to durso standpipe) at the top of the s-bend so air can suck in but no water can get out. still not a viable solution! im surprised sea-swirl guys dont adopt a valve like the above into their units.

not with a $600 pump, not willing to take that risk! it sat in limbo for about a minute, if it didnt sort itself out by then, i dont think it would at all. i didnt want to leave it any longer than that to test it as I could feel the pump casing starting to heat up (yes, even in under a minute!) i dont mind testing if anyone wants to loan me their one!!! problem with anti-back flow valves is they restrict forward flow and also need cleaning regularly. for me, less maintenance = best! the s-bend needs to be above the main tank water line. a possibility but more bends = less flow rate.

very interesting.... i had just finished filling up a 20 litre bucket with RODI water and took it into the sump room. i wanted to top up the sump a little with RODI water but the bucket was fill/heavy and I slipped spilling a bit of water down the back of the sump. the iwaki pump came with a reasonably short plug so i used a small extension lead in the meantime to reach the powerpoint. the water got into the extension lead and iwaki plug socket and tripped the RCD, all power in the room went out. cool, so the RCD works at least. by this time the top inch or so of the main tank reverse syphoned back into the sump (as per normal) then stopped. i dried the plugs and flicked the RCD back on and all was back to normal. so what you say? well, it got me thinking so I did some tests. i manually powered off the iwaki to simulate a power failure. as the water was back syphoning (and bubbles were coming out of the sump) i turned the power back on (this time, as the tank was reverse syphoning rather than when it had finished) now is my concern, the iwaki powered up but it was fighting against the air bubbles coming back down the pipe. i am guessing here that there were air bubbles trapped between the impellors - sort of like the effects of cavitation. to my concern, the iwaki was struggling against this and the water level in the sump neither went up nor down and the iwaki did not sound normal. in fact, you could hear it struggling. i switched it off then back on immediately, same problem. i switched it off and left it for about 20 seconds (until i saw a few more bubbles appear) then turned it on and it whirred up and was back to normal. now this is a little concerning for me, if i go away for a long weekend and the power goes off and on again within say, 20 seconds or so (as the water is back syphoning, then it hits the top of the outlet of the sea-swirl and starts sucking bubbles down) then when the power comes back on, the iwaki is likely to do the same thing. it will struggle against pushing the air-bubbles back up and i would imagine eventually burnout the motor if left in this state too long. i suggest anyone else with a similar setup to mine test this for themselves and post here, I'd be interested in your results. Any thoughts on this? ideas to resolve? (other than a big-mutha UPS!)

some pic's for those interested, some a tad boring but an update nonetheless!... hung a new door on the room. this has dramatically reduced cold drafts therefore stops the heaters cycling on/off (and saves power!) Still have to put a ceiling in though An easy task later on in the month. Here's the brand new Iwaki MD-55RLT hooked up (it's slightly larger than the 40RXT) and finally a pic of my new Tunze 7077/2 CO2 regulator on a (rented) BOC CO2 bottle. Pity their smallest size is around 7 kg :-? Should last me 1 or 2 years. Will have this hooked up to the Calcium reactor by end of the week (assuming I have time to get some tubing for CO2 this week)

just like they said the titanic was unsinkable too....

exactly, a closed loop should never leak - but who's to say it wont? its the pumps i dont trust, not my plumbing. whereever there is possibility of failure, i want to cover my arse. especially when theres mega-$$$ invested.

sell (or give) her back to the fish shop, most will take them back especially if you're going to buy lots more!

cheers all. pies - yeah custom made timber could be an idea. however, a tray at the size i require I can get it under there (already measured it!) as i have room to the left of the tank at the back. already sent a couple of emails off to plastic suppliers/manufacturers for a price to have one custom made. so long as its cheap?! we'll see how tomorrow goes at payless plastics...!

where would i get a large plastic tray 400mm wide x 1500mm long (or 1400mm long if necessary) by about 100-500mm high? i want to put it under my tank with a drain back down to my sump downstairs incase of any small leaks in the closed loops. not an easy thing to search for on trademe nor look for on the web! im going to try payless plastics tomorrow but to save me searching, does anyone else have any good ideas?!

nice work bro! keep the pic's coming and keep us updated on progress. looking to take some more hints from your setup and apply them to mine (which is all on hold because of the money and time thing - holiday and house rennovations have taken priority lately!)

in the faq section it says its only suitable for up to about an 80 litre aquarium, pretty small.

except when you have mates who work at maf...

ok, ok, here you go pies. any more posts like this and we will call you big pies...

best i go wholesale then huh layton

crap, so when i come over tonight to deliver your iwaki i'll have to listen to your sh#t for hours? best you be serving a cold beer or two then... i'll be keen on getting my water tested - just outta interest!

of course you are happy paying retail for freshwater because its not nearly as expensive as marine... i never had that issue either with my freshwater tank.

likewise, i have reserved and incorporated 3 companies that i manage. its not hard to do - hence why i said it's "reserved at least" - meaning at least he made a start. i dont believe nick made any comment about actively importing yet "...in the near future" was mentioned I believe. Shall we start up a "company forum" thread to appease the moderators? or how about we drop this bullshit of slandering others on specific details of their replies and get back to the topic in question?

but guess what pies, cleaner shrimps have dropped to an 'affordable' (insert tui's ad slogan here) $65 when i asked staff at hollywood a few weeks ago,... what would i expect a good price to pay for a cleaner shrimp? i'd expect to pay no more than $50 each.

:roll:

according to companies.govt.nz, the name is reserved at least

give it 1 more week and i gaurantee this forum will have the most pages of any post so far. it's an endless discussion, there is no right or wrong, we'll just have to wait to see how nicks/steve's little venture goes...

bwaaa ha haaa! just shows im keen to learn steve either that or i dont have a life :-? oh dear, im off to the pub... :lol: