Need help building my 10,000 gal reef in Prosper

Karimwassef

Premium Member
I’ve been trying to solo this project and got one friend who can help for a few hours a week. It’s tough and it’s taking a long time.
Just building the 720’ of geothermal pipes has taken a week of near continuous pvc gluing. 
The concrete and rebar stages are going to be rough too. :)
 
if you’d like to help, please let me know. 
 
That's ambitious! Got any pictures of what you've done, or maybe some plans of what it will become?
 
 
Hi Melev. Sure. Here’s my picture thread so far : 
https://imgur.com/user/BrightReefGardens
and here’s a video of the build plan and final :
https://youtu.be/DqHlDnL29TI
I’m almost done with the water geothermal but have some pinhole leaks to fix in the 22’ x 11’ structure! :)
 
 
 
 
@karimwassef I have questions, which I'd imagine you've researched by now.Won't the PVC pipe's walls insulate too much, limiting the benefit of geothermal temperature control?  What do the horizontal (white in your drawing) pipes do? The red and blue sections surely indicate warm and cool.  I played the video and skipped ahead a bit, as there wasn't any narration. I saw the swimming area, and the structure to the side. Is that where the reef will be?
 
@melev
The PVC is a poor conductor which is why the structure has to be so large and so deep. Basically the PVC has to be inherently cool enough before the water flows through it and the flow rate has to be low enough that it allows the PVC to stay cool. 
This is my second geothermal experiment. For the first (back in 2012), I used thin titanium tubing but the diameter was only 0.5” reducing the flow and area so much that it wasn’t very effective.
The red is the feed, the blue is the return. The white are the actual heat exchanger lines. These are a little different than the original drawing. They’re 72 pipes at 2” and 10’ so ~ 200 sqft of interface to cool the water. The total structure will hold ~ 200 gallons of reef water.
 
@melev
the structure is a pool with reef on the one side and real pool on the other. 
this was the compromise with my wife to create a structure I could use but wouldn’t destroy our property value. When we sell the house, the reef and sump can be converted back to pool water as a lap pool and jacuzzi respectively... unless the buyer sees the beauty inside 10,000 gallons outside sps reef... but we’re a rare bunch.
 
And I thought my hands free auto-waterchange with mixing station was cool..  So under the cover, you will be able to create enough temperature controlled airflow to offset the 110 degree days? air conditioners?
 
There are two geothermals.
the first is a cooling reef water geothermal that circulates reef water underground in pvc pipes to cool it down. The ground temp is ~ 75F year round so I’m hoping to bring the reef temp down to high 80s without chilling.
the second is to cool/warm the air around it once it’s covered up. This is large 6” pipes that circulates air underground above the water pipes- it should help warm the air in the winter and cool it in the summer. This is more for people comfort than for the reef.
 
Today I’m using a vacuum pump to try and draw pvc glue into the holes I found by pressurizing the system with my air compressor and listening for leaks. I’m waiting for it to dry and then I’ll repressurize and retest.
There are about 300 joints and each needs to be checked. I got an ultrasonic leak detector for the next pass in case there are still holes I couldn’t find with a stethoscope.
 
Wow...  impressive project.   I'm definitely interested in seeing how this turns out and if you get enough cooling from it during the summer.  I can't imagine not needing a chiller (or two or three on days like today!) but I'm not expert in thermodynamics so hopefully it works.  :)
 
@karimwassef the link gave me an error. Can you check it?
 
Thanks guys. We're scheduled to pour next week. If anyone wants to see it in the current skeleton form, let me know soon. :D
 
concrete is in!
https://imgur.com/gallery/AM5HTfF
https://imgur.com/gallery/s9pLXaB
 
now comes the plumbing! If you’re in DFW and like to glue PVC, come on by. I have a narrow window to get it all done… 1000 feet of PVC almost.
Carrying it from the garage to the site (100’) will give you big muscles & help you get summer fit too! :)
 
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This build is incredible. You've really gone all in on this one! What is your general timeline after this part of construction is completed?
 
@melev
thanks Marc! Love your YouTube channel by the way. Hoping to get my design & build video up on mine soon.
so much still needs to be done and I’m running low on resources. :)
I hope to have life in by next summer. The reef construction should start in the fall. I’m hoping to use the winter to monitor the temperature and precipitation- the heating  coils, cooling pipes, and reef cover will be tested this winter I hope.
anyone in DFW who can drive to Prosper… come on by. There are some stages like installing the false reef sand floor or the quad vacuum surges, or raised scrubber that are challenging to do solo! All of this is challenging solo :)
 
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