The first step was to get the water flowing. I filled the tank with fresh water and turned on the pump. Here came the first problem, a leak from the pump. The pump is a large 1.5 HP pool pump. Most of the components are made of plastic. I removed the pump and opened it up. I couldn't see any visible problems so I put some silicone grease on the gaskets and put it back together. It still leaked. With some research on the web I found the that most likely source was what is called the pump seal. This is a cool little device that lets the shaft of the motor connect to the impeller but keeps the water on the side of the impeller. So I ordered a replacement one and installed it. The pump still leaked. I went back to the internet and posted on a forum. They said that if the pump seal wasn't the problem then probably the seal housing plate had gone bad. This piece is what the pump seal sits in, the shaft goes through it and this piece separtes the water from the electric motor. I pulled out the pump, took a look at the plate and found a few very tinny cracks. I replaced this piece and there were no more leaks. This all took about four weeks.
On to the other filters! The sand filter needed sand! The charcoal filter needed charcoal! And the chiller needed refrigerant? The sand filter is a very simple concept; run the water through a container of sand and all the organic debreee will be filtered out. I was able to find the special sand at a pool store and loaded up the filter. For the charcoal filter, luckily there was a box of activated charcoal at the school. I filled up the cartridge, rinsed out the soot, and put the filter back together.
The chiller was far more complicated than that. Heat has been a reoccurring problem throughout both tanks. Without the chiller working the tall tank would heat up to 83°. The chiller that was on the system did not have any refrigerant left in it. Without the refrigerant (a special gas) it didn't work. The gas that needed replacement is highly regulated and hard to get a hold of. But it turns out that they do sell it to consumers for automotive air conditioning. I got a few can of this gas, emptied them into the chiller and it started working. I came back two days and it quite working. All the gas and leaked out. A leak in the chiller was not good, that meant lots of money to get it fixed. Luckily there was an identical system on the other side of the room so I traded the two chillers. I'm going to later refer to this other system as the West tank. There are three tanks, 2 tall tanks and the big long tank. Luckily the other chiller was still working, and it brought the tank down to a nice 70°.
With all the systems fully functioning it was time for water. Salt water that is. With the help of Mr. Drossell, my uncle's pick up, the school's gasoline powered water pump, and ten garbage cans, we transported 800 gallons from Northwest Harbor to the school. I think it took five or six trips to do it. The water was rather murky coming from the local bays, but that water was quickly cleared by the filters. The water was so clear that you couldn't tell if there was water in the tank or not.
By the time we got to filling the tank it was December. All the fish had left. I went over to Atlantis Marine world and they kindly gave me two Permits and a Nassau Grouper (both juveniles.) From the beginning of the project I had been in contact with Joe "Fish" and Chris Papparo from Atlantis Marine World. They gave me an enormous amount of advise and continue to do so.
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