Aqua Mend

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi y'all,

Every time I use Aqua Mend, my ASM G-2 skimmer goes nuts and overflows from the top in no time. It makes the room stinky, too, by spilling the collected skimmate along with the excess water.

Does other marine epoxy does the same? I don't recall a Fastix did as much.

Tomoko

 

[H@rry]

I have a Turbofloter and a homemade Beckett skimmer and I use Aqua Mend quite frequently and have never noticed a difference.

 

[Nitroq2]

My G-2 does the same with the home-depot brand of 2 part, I forget the name green on outside white on inside when blended its white.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

The first time I noticed this was a couple of months ago. I have been using Aqua Mend and ASM G-2 for two years now, but I did not notice the skimmer going nuts like this before. I was wondering if they had a formulation change or something.

Turning the skimmer off for a few hours or even a day does not alleviate the problem. It will go nuts when I turn it back on, and I end up emptying the large collection cup at least once. If I let the skimmer dump out the contents of the collection cup, then it's more like two to three times or until all the junk is cleared out by the skimmer.

I guess I have to try aquarium epoxy putties like Aquastik or Holdfast and see how they compare.

Tomoko

 

[Nitroq2]

Let me know if you find one that doesn't cause this.

 

[TheGriffin]

This happes to my G-3 whenever I was using the putty made by Marineland (dont know the name). Its the green outside with white inside that mixes to white.

 

[H@rry]

Other than having to dump the skimmer cup 2 or 3 times, what other problems has it caused? If it's making the room "stinky" it may be enhancing the performance of the skimmer. Where is the "stinky" smell coming from? Not from the AquaMend. Maybe from xenia slime. When I had xenia it smelled pretty bad.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

It's not the performance issue. The stink comes from the collected skimmate that gets dumped back into the water all at once when the cup overflows into the sump.

It is clear that AquaMend and other two part epoxy throw some chemicals into the water until they get cured up. I suppose that skimmers and GAC can get them out of the water since I don't see any adverse effect on my corals as far as I can see. It's just annoying to see the large cup get filled up in a matter of a few seconds (and having to empty it.)

Tomoko

 

[6Speed]

Have you modded your g2? I was thinking about doing the recirc/gate valve/mesh wheel mod to mine.

 

[Nitroq2]

I haven't modded mine but also have been thinking about it as well.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I thought about it for a while, too. However, I really don't like the idea of overskimming. I know that some people think there is no such thing as overskimming, but I am very happy with the way my corals are growing with my unmodified G-2 and my SPS's have beautiful colors, too. So what am I modding my G-2 for?

Eric Borneman is studying the content of skimmates. You can read his finding on the Marine Depot Forum. He has studied a number of samples, but he has not drawn any conclusion yet.

I actually had a really positive experience turning off my G-2 for a month. Various kinds of snails reproduced and I ended up with baby snails all over (they used to spawn but only a certain type had actual baby snails), foramineferans and tiny yellow sponges multiplied fast. I suspect this sudden increase in micro fauna is the result of turning off my skimmers since nothing else changed.

Tomoko

 

[MaryBebo]

I had to (yes HAD to) redo the rock work AGAIN. I used the Marineland putty as Griffin had mentioned. I ended up using the whole tube trying to secure the rocks and corals after the change. The last time I used any putty I had the small seaclone skimmer and didn't notice any thing different, but now with the Coralife Super Skimmer....I have already had to empty the cup. So there must be something in the putty to cause this as Tomoko & others said. It does look better now...it has slowed down, though I will have to keep a check on it in the morning. Boy, I am glad that's over with AGAIN...lol ....I hope this stuff says stuck!!!!!!

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi Mary,

I asked if a bag of activated carbon helps to alleviate the problem at Reef Chemistry Forum. Dr. Randy thought that it might. I will add a bag of it the next time to see if it helps.

I am glad that you redid the rocks without any major issue. Did you have a landslide or something? Boy, you are so brave to do it again. It's a lot of work. I need to do that myself since my SPS's are needing more space and different water flow pattern. I am too lazy and also a chicken to do that myself at this moment. Besides, fish seem to love my aquascape (large caves that I end up eliminating). Excuse, excuse, lol.

Tomoko

 

[MaryBebo]

Well, it all started off with me moving the powerhead that has the mag float connected to it. It came loose and fell into the anemone. It pulled itself back into the rocks. When it decided to come back out, it was touching some of my corals and they were the ones that were growing on the rocks. Then rocks started shifting and touching the glass. So yesterday, I just bit the bullet and dove right into it with out much thinking..lol... I was already planning on a 15 gal water change.
So I had my other 3 empty salt buckets there and put the water from the tank into them to cover the rocks. I was up and down out of the chair that I was using covered in towels. And the floor had towels everywhere. I took the loose corals and put them into the bucket making sure not to pile a rock on them. This gave me the chance to really clean the glass, and get the rocks back from the sides of the glass.
I had to catch the MEAN clown ( that tries to eat my hands up )out. I put him over into one of the buckets. Now I can move without jumping around in the chair. Mike came in from working out side in the yard and saw the mess I was in and offered to help...AWWW. I really appreciated that too. It made it a lot easier to arrange the rocks since I wasn't getting up and down out of the chair. The reason I use the Chair is that I have more room to move. A ladder gets in the way. So here we go...I tell mike which rocks to pass me first and then WA... LA it's done

I ended up like I said...using the whole tube of epoxy and 3 tubes of superglue gel...... I hope the fish didn't get too woozy with all of that in the tank. I did change out the filter pad and the carbon during all of this, giving everything a good cleaning. I told mike the last time we done this much to the tank was last year when I was starting up the Nano. It was easier this time.The sun was shining through the door into the tank giving me more light. That helped a lot with me having the top off the tank.

The rock that had the acro that Lori gave me broke a few off, now I can start new colonies I love that acro.

Tomoko, It is a job as you know, but I am SO glad that I got it over with. The putting it off is sometimes more worrisome that just doing it. Maybe Riley will help too