CADlights 39g Pro build thread
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reeftivo
Skim junkie
a short sump video with the new phos reactor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBW-Tut4ZHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBW-Tut4ZHE
so, in your "drain" chamber, you've got your LR rubble in a bag (presumably for ease-of-rinsing), you've got a mesh bag over top of the end of the drain pipe... and that's it?
How are you avoiding a microbubble bonanza??? I've got several layers of filter pads between my drain tube/skimmer drain, on top of a high layer of relatively densely-packed LR rubble, and i still get medium/high bubblage flowing through the LR, through the first set of baffles, over top of my fuge chamber, down through the next set of baffles, and into my return pump.
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Do you have your skimmer return in the corner similar to mine? If so then hell! I don't know why you're getting so many micros. Your skimmer should be broken in by now and settled down. Try closing the gate valve a bit on the skimmer return and raise the level in the skimmer to see what it does. The valve fully open would increase the flow, thus letting more micros out the gate. Maybe that would help but your skim will be much wetter. Wet skim is not bad-It exports much more nutrients.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
I solved my micro bubble problem by having both the skimmer and return exhaust into a large sock. I'm not sure what the impact of combining both into a single sock might be, (if any) but at least the bubbles are gone.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
My contribution to the CadLights 39G Pro build.
My contribution to the CadLights 39G Pro build.
I Looked at all available options in the 30-50 gal range an decided on the CadLights 39Gal Pro. Ordered the tank, stand and oscillators. This is intended as primarily a SPS tank (with a clown/anemone and a couple other fish to keep my daughter happy.)
I decided to run a DSB in the display tank (a big decision giving up 6" in a tank that is only 20" tall) and ordered 90lbs CaribSea Aragamax Oolitic Select and 40lbs CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (as a top to keep the fine stuff from being blown around. I also added 10 lbs of "œlive" Caribsea Bimini pink from the LFS (Bimini pink looks great.)
I Ordered 25lbs of dead rock from Marco and grabbed another 10lbs of live from LFS. I'll throw another 10lbs of live rubble in the sump.
I sprang for a Neptune APEX controller "“ I travel a lot and the ability to monitor and adjust the tank via the Internet was intriguing. I also ordered a MP-20 to provide additional flow.
Received part of the shipment 5 days later, tank looked good but the box containing the stand was heavily damaged.
Upon inspection, the corners of the stand were destroyed and had to be replaced.
CadLights shipped the new stand a couple days later.
As I attempted to assemble the tank, a few more problems arose. The Durso drain was much shorter than all the photos I have seen (about 9" tall.)
Unfortunately I discovered this *after* I had cemented all the pieces, including the return lines in place. One of the fans in the dual fan evaporator unit is dead; the oscillators were missing as were the elbows connecting the loc-line to the return.
I finally tracked down the required missing parts at Home Depot and got the tank up and leak checked. First impressions are the tank looks great but the hood fan is VERY loud (have to find a replacement.) Even louder is the single (the other fan is dead) evaporator fan. The loudest issue is the return water fall noise (I assume mostly due to the short Durso.) Using filter floss and the CD top as a temp fix but I'll have to rip it apart and re-plumb it with a taller pipe.
The tank is up and cycling,
I LOVE the MP-20, (installed after this photo was taken on the left side.) It's completely silent and provides great variable flow in reef crest mode (although I think I should have gone with the MP-40 and just dialed it back a bit.) Initially had problems with micro bubbles "“ solved it by having the return and Skimmer exhaust into a large filter sock.
Also installed a new RO/DI to replace a 20 year old unit (was showing 60 TDS) "“ AirWaterIce.com Hurricane 5 stage RO/DI 50 GPD with a permeate pump to supply both DI water for the reef and RO drinking water to the sink faucet and water for the ice and water in the refrigerator.
I've got little to do during the cycle, so I ordered a bunch of Copepods to build the population (a Mandarin is on the wish list) and am planning to add live rubble and Cheato to the center baffle. 2.5 gal Aquadose is also ordered for top off and Kalk drip, I figured it will just fit above the sump.
Contemplating the following mods,
"¢ Replace hood fan with quieter model (this tank resides in my living room and it's just too loud.)
"¢ Replace dual evaporator fans with quieter model
"¢ Daily temp swings are 78-81 and I think it can be improved by replacing the pump. Thinking about replacing the stock 750 GPH pond return pump with more efficient model (Rio Hyperflow 20h gated to <1000gph?)
"¢ I noticed the hood is rated for a 250 watt MH "“ wondering if it can be upgraded with a new ballast (and probably a couple additional fans?)
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the thread, it's been a big help in getting this started. :thumbsup:
My contribution to the CadLights 39G Pro build.
I Looked at all available options in the 30-50 gal range an decided on the CadLights 39Gal Pro. Ordered the tank, stand and oscillators. This is intended as primarily a SPS tank (with a clown/anemone and a couple other fish to keep my daughter happy.)
I decided to run a DSB in the display tank (a big decision giving up 6" in a tank that is only 20" tall) and ordered 90lbs CaribSea Aragamax Oolitic Select and 40lbs CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (as a top to keep the fine stuff from being blown around. I also added 10 lbs of "œlive" Caribsea Bimini pink from the LFS (Bimini pink looks great.)
I Ordered 25lbs of dead rock from Marco and grabbed another 10lbs of live from LFS. I'll throw another 10lbs of live rubble in the sump.
I sprang for a Neptune APEX controller "“ I travel a lot and the ability to monitor and adjust the tank via the Internet was intriguing. I also ordered a MP-20 to provide additional flow.
Received part of the shipment 5 days later, tank looked good but the box containing the stand was heavily damaged.
Upon inspection, the corners of the stand were destroyed and had to be replaced.
CadLights shipped the new stand a couple days later.
As I attempted to assemble the tank, a few more problems arose. The Durso drain was much shorter than all the photos I have seen (about 9" tall.)
Unfortunately I discovered this *after* I had cemented all the pieces, including the return lines in place. One of the fans in the dual fan evaporator unit is dead; the oscillators were missing as were the elbows connecting the loc-line to the return.
I finally tracked down the required missing parts at Home Depot and got the tank up and leak checked. First impressions are the tank looks great but the hood fan is VERY loud (have to find a replacement.) Even louder is the single (the other fan is dead) evaporator fan. The loudest issue is the return water fall noise (I assume mostly due to the short Durso.) Using filter floss and the CD top as a temp fix but I'll have to rip it apart and re-plumb it with a taller pipe.
The tank is up and cycling,
I LOVE the MP-20, (installed after this photo was taken on the left side.) It's completely silent and provides great variable flow in reef crest mode (although I think I should have gone with the MP-40 and just dialed it back a bit.) Initially had problems with micro bubbles "“ solved it by having the return and Skimmer exhaust into a large filter sock.
Also installed a new RO/DI to replace a 20 year old unit (was showing 60 TDS) "“ AirWaterIce.com Hurricane 5 stage RO/DI 50 GPD with a permeate pump to supply both DI water for the reef and RO drinking water to the sink faucet and water for the ice and water in the refrigerator.
I've got little to do during the cycle, so I ordered a bunch of Copepods to build the population (a Mandarin is on the wish list) and am planning to add live rubble and Cheato to the center baffle. 2.5 gal Aquadose is also ordered for top off and Kalk drip, I figured it will just fit above the sump.
Contemplating the following mods,
"¢ Replace hood fan with quieter model (this tank resides in my living room and it's just too loud.)
"¢ Replace dual evaporator fans with quieter model
"¢ Daily temp swings are 78-81 and I think it can be improved by replacing the pump. Thinking about replacing the stock 750 GPH pond return pump with more efficient model (Rio Hyperflow 20h gated to <1000gph?)
"¢ I noticed the hood is rated for a 250 watt MH "“ wondering if it can be upgraded with a new ballast (and probably a couple additional fans?)
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the thread, it's been a big help in getting this started. :thumbsup:
reeftivo
Skim junkie
It will have no effect as long as the return flow is not impeeded (backpressure). I'm still baffled because you should'nt need to do that after breakin. There will always be some minimal micros from the surface break into the chamber but they should be diffused at the surface across the fuge. Many are having these micros issues even when the skimmer is broken in-
I'm wondering what the sump levels are of those with the micro problems and whether or not the skimmers are raised slightly in the chamber with egg crate etc.
The skimmers are hand made so I'm wondering if there may be an occasional design flaw where the elbow into the bottom of the skimmer body is off a bit and directs too many micros right into the return elbow-could be?
reeftivo
Skim junkie
If you are using a filter sock for both the drain and the skimmer, I would clean it at least once a week or alternate between two or more socks. Most of the proteins will be picked up by the skimmer but the free floating detritus and food will be trapped by the socks and present a potential nitrate and phosphate issue unless cleaned often.
I have recently put my rubble inside filter socks for this reason. I cleaned them twice this week and both times the water in the 5 gallon bucket I cleaned them in instantly turned to a thick nasty cloud. It almost seems as if the process is futile and I am wondering how clean they are actually getting. I guess the water volume-to-waste ratio has a small amount of water compared to how much waste is on the rocks!
Also, most of the rocks in my fuge are literally covered in coralline algae (thanks liveaquaria.com!) - do you think that the light from home depot mentioned above will keep the coralline algae alive, or should I enjoy it while it lasts?
Finally, is it okay to clean all the rocks in my sump at once? I hope so because that is what I have been doing. I kind of remember reading something a long time ago that this is not a good idea, but then again my memory often gets skewed after a certain point in time.
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reeftivo
Skim junkie
CalmSeaQuest,
I don't know what the heck is going on at CAD with that shipping!! Some (like me) get their tanks and stands with banded reinforced corners etc. and others get just a simple box-what the #$%@!
Anyways, glad to hear you're up and running-welcome!
If you need any help with mods, let me know.
Tivo
I don't know what the heck is going on at CAD with that shipping!! Some (like me) get their tanks and stands with banded reinforced corners etc. and others get just a simple box-what the #$%@!
Anyways, glad to hear you're up and running-welcome!
If you need any help with mods, let me know.
Tivo
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Hello!!
Hello!!
Hey Its Mee,
Sounds like your getting frustrated:hmm3: You won't need to rinse the bag off very often (once every month or two). The rock will always be producing a mulm from the biological processes going on inside, so the main thing by rinsing the outer bag on occasion is to keep the junk off the out side of the bag so water can flow through it efficiently. The inside of the bag will build this mulm which is what you constantly see when you feel futile:spin1:. You don't need to give the bag more than a good shake to loosen the junk and then rinse the outside and put it back in. It MUST be rinsed in tank water! No fresh water. Your coralline will die off a bit but it is pretty resilient and can grow in low light areas so don't count it out completely. Some coralline is very good but a ton of it can be a huge pain to clean off display glass.
Hope that helps:thumbsup:
Tivo
Hello!!
Hey Its Mee,
Sounds like your getting frustrated:hmm3: You won't need to rinse the bag off very often (once every month or two). The rock will always be producing a mulm from the biological processes going on inside, so the main thing by rinsing the outer bag on occasion is to keep the junk off the out side of the bag so water can flow through it efficiently. The inside of the bag will build this mulm which is what you constantly see when you feel futile:spin1:. You don't need to give the bag more than a good shake to loosen the junk and then rinse the outside and put it back in. It MUST be rinsed in tank water! No fresh water. Your coralline will die off a bit but it is pretty resilient and can grow in low light areas so don't count it out completely. Some coralline is very good but a ton of it can be a huge pain to clean off display glass.
Hope that helps:thumbsup:
Tivo
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CalmSeasQuest
Active member
I swap out the filter sock weekly with a clean one, so I'm hoping it wont be an issue. I picked up a 26w (90W equivalent) 6500K CF bulb from Lowes ($9) today, coupled with a $6 clamp on fixture it seems to work great in the fuge. I went with the outdoor version of the bulb as it seems to have a tougher exterior - hoping it will take a bump without shattering.
Also threw about 15lbs of live un-cured rubble in the sump center section hoping it will be a nice home for the tons of copepods ordered through livecopepods.com and other misc critters.
Also planning on burying some eggcrate a few inches down below the rockwork to create a sturdy foundation prevent the diggers from undermining it. Looked for some acrylic rod to drill and secure the rockwork but none was to be found. Bought 1/4 pvc pipe instead that should work fine.
Looking forward to the completion of the cycle so I can start on the display tank.
Also threw about 15lbs of live un-cured rubble in the sump center section hoping it will be a nice home for the tons of copepods ordered through livecopepods.com and other misc critters.
Also planning on burying some eggcrate a few inches down below the rockwork to create a sturdy foundation prevent the diggers from undermining it. Looked for some acrylic rod to drill and secure the rockwork but none was to be found. Bought 1/4 pvc pipe instead that should work fine.
Looking forward to the completion of the cycle so I can start on the display tank.
reeftivo
Skim junkie
sounds good!
sounds good!
Weekly change out of the sock will work fine. I used to put my socks in the washer (no soap of coarse) and I found that using a water hose with a straight high pressure nozzle cleans it much faster and is much more effective-just lay it on the ground out side and hold it down with a stick and blast away, then turn it inside out and do it once more and your set. The washer would always leave some junk in the sock even after two cycles and the hose blasts everything out well. The only thing about using the hose is that it loosens the fibers up a bit in the bag after a while because of the high pressure blasting.
Acrylic rods! If you're not going to put really heavy pieces together and you still want a really good solid bond then you may want to just cut some plastic coat hangers into 2 to 3 inch sections and use them with putty. They worked well for me. If you go with heavier pieces then the pvc is better but if you use a masonry bit to drill, drill it at high speed with light pressure or the rock will have a tendency to split.
Keep up the good work!
Tivo:wave:
sounds good!
Weekly change out of the sock will work fine. I used to put my socks in the washer (no soap of coarse) and I found that using a water hose with a straight high pressure nozzle cleans it much faster and is much more effective-just lay it on the ground out side and hold it down with a stick and blast away, then turn it inside out and do it once more and your set. The washer would always leave some junk in the sock even after two cycles and the hose blasts everything out well. The only thing about using the hose is that it loosens the fibers up a bit in the bag after a while because of the high pressure blasting.
Acrylic rods! If you're not going to put really heavy pieces together and you still want a really good solid bond then you may want to just cut some plastic coat hangers into 2 to 3 inch sections and use them with putty. They worked well for me. If you go with heavier pieces then the pvc is better but if you use a masonry bit to drill, drill it at high speed with light pressure or the rock will have a tendency to split.
Keep up the good work!
Tivo:wave:
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OK, so I wanted to get a little bit more in depth with my issues. So, fellow Cad Pro owners out there -- i have two possibly-related problems:
1) microbubbles
2) inconsistent skimmer production
first, how is everyone dealing with microbubbles? I'm having serious issues with them. I've tried several different approaches, and none of them seem very effective. I worked on this for about an hour last night, but nothing I changed/did differently seemed to make much of a difference.
I am suspicious that MOST of the bubbles seem to be coming from my drain pipe (which has been cut to a length that is perhaps too short?), not from the skimmer. I can always attach a little PVC extension to the hose to help lengthen it, i guess.
as can be seen in prior pictures of the "drain chamber," i started off with bioballs with pads. not great, not bad as far as microbubbles went. see old picture here:
i then switched to about 4" of LR rubble as a base, with 4 filtration pads on top of the rubble. This was functional, but it wasn't working that well. see old picture here:
so, i added about 4" more LR rubble (depth is now about 8"). This LR is fairly densely-packed (which could be a contributing problem?). On top of the LR, I have tried using 0, 1, 2, 3 and even 4 layers of pads (i'm using the ones that shipped with the tank from cad). Even running through 4 pads, the bubbles are pretty consistently making it through both the LR and both sets of baffles, and thus into the return pump and back into the tank. [will add picture of current setup this afternoon]
in addition to that, even when i get it to a level of water/bubbles that I consider an "ok stopping point until i come back and work on it tomorrow," the water level in the drain chamber gradually rises (over the course of hours, not minutes -- to the point where it ends up overflowing into the skimmer chamber, resulting in the skimmer's drain pipe being submerged.
something i've noticed is that the drain hose coming from the tank seems to end up with water "splashing" back up inside of it instead of draining straight out of it. would it maybe make sense to take out some of the LR rubble from the drain chamber (can anyone think of a problem with moving it into the return pump chamber?), extend the hose with some PVC, and see if that helps?
on to the skimmer: the water level in the drain chamber has been consistently higher than the level in every other chamber of the sump. this made me concerned that maybe the water level in the skimmer chamber was preventing bubbles from getting "up and over" into the collection cup, which has been an ongoing issue. Sometimes the bubbles in the skimmer will reach the top of the cup, sometimes they barely get into the cup at all -- i am losing about 2L of water per day now, topping off at about 10pm every night -- but, despite my religious top-off efforts, I am wondering if the variation in the water level may have something to do with the inconsistent production. the other thing is, i've never had a skimmer before, so i'm not sure what is "normal" -- i was definitely expecting more consistent production than i've gotten, though.
my tank has been running for several weeks, skimmer running 24/7 with the valve wide open, and i've yet to collect any substantial skimmate. in fact, the only time i've collected much of anything at all was when i added the extra 2" of LR to my drain chamber. and, even then, i only got a bout 1/4" to 1/2" of skimmate in the cup.
1) microbubbles
2) inconsistent skimmer production
first, how is everyone dealing with microbubbles? I'm having serious issues with them. I've tried several different approaches, and none of them seem very effective. I worked on this for about an hour last night, but nothing I changed/did differently seemed to make much of a difference.
I am suspicious that MOST of the bubbles seem to be coming from my drain pipe (which has been cut to a length that is perhaps too short?), not from the skimmer. I can always attach a little PVC extension to the hose to help lengthen it, i guess.
as can be seen in prior pictures of the "drain chamber," i started off with bioballs with pads. not great, not bad as far as microbubbles went. see old picture here:
i then switched to about 4" of LR rubble as a base, with 4 filtration pads on top of the rubble. This was functional, but it wasn't working that well. see old picture here:
so, i added about 4" more LR rubble (depth is now about 8"). This LR is fairly densely-packed (which could be a contributing problem?). On top of the LR, I have tried using 0, 1, 2, 3 and even 4 layers of pads (i'm using the ones that shipped with the tank from cad). Even running through 4 pads, the bubbles are pretty consistently making it through both the LR and both sets of baffles, and thus into the return pump and back into the tank. [will add picture of current setup this afternoon]
in addition to that, even when i get it to a level of water/bubbles that I consider an "ok stopping point until i come back and work on it tomorrow," the water level in the drain chamber gradually rises (over the course of hours, not minutes -- to the point where it ends up overflowing into the skimmer chamber, resulting in the skimmer's drain pipe being submerged.
something i've noticed is that the drain hose coming from the tank seems to end up with water "splashing" back up inside of it instead of draining straight out of it. would it maybe make sense to take out some of the LR rubble from the drain chamber (can anyone think of a problem with moving it into the return pump chamber?), extend the hose with some PVC, and see if that helps?
on to the skimmer: the water level in the drain chamber has been consistently higher than the level in every other chamber of the sump. this made me concerned that maybe the water level in the skimmer chamber was preventing bubbles from getting "up and over" into the collection cup, which has been an ongoing issue. Sometimes the bubbles in the skimmer will reach the top of the cup, sometimes they barely get into the cup at all -- i am losing about 2L of water per day now, topping off at about 10pm every night -- but, despite my religious top-off efforts, I am wondering if the variation in the water level may have something to do with the inconsistent production. the other thing is, i've never had a skimmer before, so i'm not sure what is "normal" -- i was definitely expecting more consistent production than i've gotten, though.
my tank has been running for several weeks, skimmer running 24/7 with the valve wide open, and i've yet to collect any substantial skimmate. in fact, the only time i've collected much of anything at all was when i added the extra 2" of LR to my drain chamber. and, even then, i only got a bout 1/4" to 1/2" of skimmate in the cup.
reeftivo
Skim junkie
OK, so I wanted to get a little bit more in depth with my issues. So, fellow Cad Pro owners out there -- i have two possibly-related problems:
1) microbubbles
2) inconsistent skimmer production
first, how is everyone dealing with microbubbles? I'm having serious issues with them. I've tried several different approaches, and none of them seem very effective. I worked on this for about an hour last night, but nothing I changed/did differently seemed to make much of a difference.
I am suspicious that MOST of the bubbles seem to be coming from my drain pipe (which has been cut to a length that is perhaps too short?), not from the skimmer. I can always attach a little PVC extension to the hose to help lengthen it, i guess.
as can be seen in prior pictures of the "drain chamber," i started off with bioballs with pads. not great, not bad as far as microbubbles went. see old picture here:
i then switched to about 4" of LR rubble as a base, with 4 filtration pads on top of the rubble. This was functional, but it wasn't working that well. see old picture here:
so, i added about 4" more LR rubble (depth is now about 8"). This LR is fairly densely-packed (which could be a contributing problem?). On top of the LR, I have tried using 0, 1, 2, 3 and even 4 layers of pads (i'm using the ones that shipped with the tank from cad). Even running through 4 pads, the bubbles are pretty consistently making it through both the LR and both sets of baffles, and thus into the return pump and back into the tank. [will add picture of current setup this afternoon]
in addition to that, even when i get it to a level of water/bubbles that I consider an "ok stopping point until i come back and work on it tomorrow," the water level in the drain chamber gradually rises (over the course of hours, not minutes -- to the point where it ends up overflowing into the skimmer chamber, resulting in the skimmer's drain pipe being submerged.
something i've noticed is that the drain hose coming from the tank seems to end up with water "splashing" back up inside of it instead of draining straight out of it. would it maybe make sense to take out some of the LR rubble from the drain chamber (can anyone think of a problem with moving it into the return pump chamber?), extend the hose with some PVC, and see if that helps?
on to the skimmer: the water level in the drain chamber has been consistently higher than the level in every other chamber of the sump. this made me concerned that maybe the water level in the skimmer chamber was preventing bubbles from getting "up and over" into the collection cup, which has been an ongoing issue. Sometimes the bubbles in the skimmer will reach the top of the cup, sometimes they barely get into the cup at all -- i am losing about 2L of water per day now, topping off at about 10pm every night -- but, despite my religious top-off efforts, I am wondering if the variation in the water level may have something to do with the inconsistent production. the other thing is, i've never had a skimmer before, so i'm not sure what is "normal" -- i was definitely expecting more consistent production than i've gotten, though.
my tank has been running for several weeks, skimmer running 24/7 with the valve wide open, and i've yet to collect any substantial skimmate. in fact, the only time i've collected much of anything at all was when i added the extra 2" of LR to my drain chamber. and, even then, i only got a bout 1/4" to 1/2" of skimmate in the cup.
get rid of the blue filter pads for sure! They will trap micros and not diffuse them. The rising water level in you first chamber is from the combination of the pads you have in there and the rubble being packed so dense. Get a couple of sump filter socks (put the drain hose in the sock)so you can alternate them weekly as they get dirty, then what you could do is either take some rubble out of the first chamber and put it in a media bag and put it back in (not so much as to restrict flow at the bottom). Or you can get some egg crate/light diffuser panel at HD and space it off the bottom of the first chamber where the drain goes then put the rubble on top of the diffuser. That will keep the rock from packing in too tight at the bottom and restrict flow out to the skimmer chamber and fuge.
It looks like your sump level is kind of low. Is it in the middle?
Is your skimmer raised at all off the bottom? Many people raise the skimmer because the return pipe hits the divider over into the drain chamber.
Have you tried a higher sump level too see if it helps with the micros and skimmer production?
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Tim,
The DSB you have in the fuge is also contributing to the micros going laminar directly over the fuge and into your pump chamber. I think if we can solve the skimmer issue then you won't have to worry about the DSB so lets see if we can get this figured out. For sure the rising level issue in the first chamber has to be because of the rubble and pads in there slowly clogging with fine particulate matter. The rising level of water in the first chamber = slower water into the skimmer chamber. We'll fix this!
i feel your pain!!
Hang in there buddy!
The DSB you have in the fuge is also contributing to the micros going laminar directly over the fuge and into your pump chamber. I think if we can solve the skimmer issue then you won't have to worry about the DSB so lets see if we can get this figured out. For sure the rising level issue in the first chamber has to be because of the rubble and pads in there slowly clogging with fine particulate matter. The rising level of water in the first chamber = slower water into the skimmer chamber. We'll fix this!
i feel your pain!!
Hang in there buddy!
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CalmSeasQuest
Active member
I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with your return exhausting near the top and so close to the next chamber - it looks like it basically injects the bubbles from the return into the bubble trap connecting the second chamber. This coupled with the faster laminar flow in the second chamber (due to the height of the sand bed) *might* be causing some of the problems. I'd increase the length of the return drain and place it at the bottom of the opposite corner (as far away as possible for the next chamber.) Exhaust it into a sock and hopefully that will solve the problem.
The skimmer issue might be connected with the above - The water level in all three sections should be the same. If consistently higher in the first section, then the material placed in that section to minimize the micro bubbles must be restricting the flow. If this flow varies, it constantly changes the water level in your skimmer and will diminish performance.
If the above solves the bubble problem, I'd remove some of the material that's restricting the water flow. That should stabilize your water levels and improve skimmer performance.
Thats my best guess.
The skimmer issue might be connected with the above - The water level in all three sections should be the same. If consistently higher in the first section, then the material placed in that section to minimize the micro bubbles must be restricting the flow. If this flow varies, it constantly changes the water level in your skimmer and will diminish performance.
If the above solves the bubble problem, I'd remove some of the material that's restricting the water flow. That should stabilize your water levels and improve skimmer performance.
Thats my best guess.
thanks for the responses! these are some good ideas. i'll continue to work on them this evening.
in the process of "de-densifying" the LR rubble, would it make sense to move some of the excess LR rubble into the return pump chamber? i don't have much else to do with it, and i hate to waste it.
in the process of "de-densifying" the LR rubble, would it make sense to move some of the excess LR rubble into the return pump chamber? i don't have much else to do with it, and i hate to waste it.
reeftivo
Skim junkie
pump chamber is fine as long as its not filled with junk (will end up in the display!). Your drain hose is the same length as mine so I'm pretty sure you'll be fine just placing it in a filter sock. The filter socks are long with a molded mounting collar. I shortened it up to 2/3 it's original size by cutting off the collar and used a lighter to melt the cut edge where the stiches are to keep it from fraying. Works awsome!!
So, something I've been thinking about along with my microbubble/skimmer issue is "how to quiet this tank down." I think, again, all these issues are related.
It is in my bedroom, and I'm afraid that it is affecting my wife's and my ability to sleep soundly through the night. The halide fan doesn't bother me, as we're not trying to sleep when it's on. However, that waterfall can get loud (i haven't yet tried the "CD cover" trick), and the return pump makes a good amount of noise. and, the inlet from the drain pipe will also potentially be making more noise than it is now once i get this microbubble issue solved (here's hoping...).
i'm definitely going to get a vortech mp10 or mp20 within the next couple of months. with that in mind, it seems like i wouldn't need to be as concerned about keeping up high flow in the tank. so, my thought was to replace the return pump with something quieter (which would be just about anything, I think) -- and maybe with something with a lower flow rate?
My thought process is this:
1) lower flow rate = not a big deal because i will have for the vortech compensating for this.
2) lower flow will make the waterfall quieter
3) lower flow will slow the water running through my sump, thereby preventing as much "backup" in the drain inlet chamber, and allowing more "contact time" with the skimmer and fuge (and therefore, with the DSB and chaeto). sidenote: laminar flow concept is bumming me out and has me wondering how useful my DSB is in it's present state. my nitrates have never read above 0, but i've also had a pretty low bioload. oh well -- no reason to worry about something that's not a problem, right?
4) lower flow pump = more time for bubbles to pop before getting sucked straight through the sump
5) lower flow pump = less expensive up front, less heat transfer, less energy consumption.
does this make sense?
assuming i've got a vortech in place, how much flow do i really need? 300, 400gph? i've heard good things about the eheim re: heat, noise, reliability. maybe the eheim 1250 (320gph, max head of 6.5ft)? any cheaper options that people like?
It is in my bedroom, and I'm afraid that it is affecting my wife's and my ability to sleep soundly through the night. The halide fan doesn't bother me, as we're not trying to sleep when it's on. However, that waterfall can get loud (i haven't yet tried the "CD cover" trick), and the return pump makes a good amount of noise. and, the inlet from the drain pipe will also potentially be making more noise than it is now once i get this microbubble issue solved (here's hoping...).
i'm definitely going to get a vortech mp10 or mp20 within the next couple of months. with that in mind, it seems like i wouldn't need to be as concerned about keeping up high flow in the tank. so, my thought was to replace the return pump with something quieter (which would be just about anything, I think) -- and maybe with something with a lower flow rate?
My thought process is this:
1) lower flow rate = not a big deal because i will have for the vortech compensating for this.
2) lower flow will make the waterfall quieter
3) lower flow will slow the water running through my sump, thereby preventing as much "backup" in the drain inlet chamber, and allowing more "contact time" with the skimmer and fuge (and therefore, with the DSB and chaeto). sidenote: laminar flow concept is bumming me out and has me wondering how useful my DSB is in it's present state. my nitrates have never read above 0, but i've also had a pretty low bioload. oh well -- no reason to worry about something that's not a problem, right?
4) lower flow pump = more time for bubbles to pop before getting sucked straight through the sump
5) lower flow pump = less expensive up front, less heat transfer, less energy consumption.
does this make sense?
assuming i've got a vortech in place, how much flow do i really need? 300, 400gph? i've heard good things about the eheim re: heat, noise, reliability. maybe the eheim 1250 (320gph, max head of 6.5ft)? any cheaper options that people like?
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