drummereef's 180g in-wall build
- Thread starter drummereef
- Start date
cromedogg33
Member
Brett,
I followed what you did pretty closely but as far as the actual pump goes, did you just set it on the bottom? I was pretty taken back by the vibration noise it created on the bottom of the bucket.
I followed what you did pretty closely but as far as the actual pump goes, did you just set it on the bottom? I was pretty taken back by the vibration noise it created on the bottom of the bucket.
drummereef
Team RC
Thanks Gtt1988.
No other mechanical filtration is used. I just use the skimmer right now. Occasionally I will use 2 filter socks if I'm basting the rocks but that is only for maintenance purposes. There's always a little particulate in the water column but the pics probably don't show the detail. 
Yeah, mine is just setting on the bottom. Obviously mine is in the sump room so I don't really notice the sound as much but I can see how in other situations it might be more noticeable. The other thing you can try is just let the pump "hang" as to not touch the bottom or sides of the bucket and see if that works better. I'm guessing it's just the vibration of the pump that is amplified when it touches the sides or bottom of the bucket. You can put a wire tie around the cord right where the wire passes through the lid to keep the pump suspended. Give that a try and let me know what happens...
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cromedogg33
Member
I will say though, I've been skeptical on most all auto top offs. The tunze pretty much beats them all out at this point. The only thing the I have debated doing is wiring up two float switches, one as a high switch in the sump and a low one in the reservoir bucket hooked up to the apex to cut power to the tunze if it indeed ever does have both switches fail, as well as to keep the pump from running dry.
drummereef
Team RC
I've definitely been happy with it. Sounds like a good plan for redundancy. If you end up doing that let me know how you end up wiring it all together.
cromedogg33
Member
Hope you and Brett like them because radiums are no more for the time being, so I guess it's a good time to make the switch.
Yes, word on the street is the major US distributor/supplier is overseas right now trying to work things out as we speak. But I simply could not wait any longer. I have a GHA problem popping up and my Radiums are almost 12 months in use at 9 hrs a day. So I am assuming they have reach their lifespan.
I'll keep everyone posted.......
drummereef
Team RC
Hey guys... For those of you who "drip" Kalk, what is your approximate drip rate per minute? Trying to get a handle on how to implement this to combat these dinos. I don't need it to replace my top off, but just to raise pH and use it as a supplement to the top off. Always been a 2-part guy, never dripped kalk before. 
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dzhuo
Active member
Hey Brett,
How much evaporation you got a day? Although kalk is high in pH and lots of people use it to maintain alk / cal / pH, you might be disappointed for it's effectiveness in a large-ish tank. For example, I dripped kalk (2 tsp per 1 gallon) in my 150g + 40g (so let's say 170g total) and use up roughly 8g of kalk every 5 to 6 days (depends on temperature and how much the fans run), it was not effective at all and I never saw my pH go up more than 7.9. What's your current pH?
I was able to run my tank with pH between 8.1 to 8.2 mostly due to the addition of CO2 scrubber. Before that, my tank ran mostly between 7.6 and 7.9 with kalk.
How much evaporation you got a day? Although kalk is high in pH and lots of people use it to maintain alk / cal / pH, you might be disappointed for it's effectiveness in a large-ish tank. For example, I dripped kalk (2 tsp per 1 gallon) in my 150g + 40g (so let's say 170g total) and use up roughly 8g of kalk every 5 to 6 days (depends on temperature and how much the fans run), it was not effective at all and I never saw my pH go up more than 7.9. What's your current pH?
I was able to run my tank with pH between 8.1 to 8.2 mostly due to the addition of CO2 scrubber. Before that, my tank ran mostly between 7.6 and 7.9 with kalk.
drummereef
Team RC
If my probe isn't bad my pH is running 7.9-8.1 (lights off / lights on). The tank evaporates about 3-4 gallons per day. I mixed up some Mrs. Wages tonight so I was going to try a slow drip starting tomorrow morning and see if it does anything with the pH. Is there a max drip per minute you can recommend? Just don't want to overdo it and cause more issues.
gary faulkner
New member
I use kalk as my top-off using a Tunze pump. I have about 4.5-5 gal day evap and no issues with too much kalk at one time. Total system about 350 gal. You can put a timmer on the auto top off for only running when lights are off and ballance out the pH.
HTH
HTH
drummereef
Team RC
Thanks for the info Gary.
Brett, you might want to pick Hershel's (aka Ocean View) brain on kalk dosing. He has his setup pretty dang neat on his 260 gallon tank
Cool, will do Dave. Thanks!
cromedogg33
Member
Brett,
Have you looked into dosing 1ml per 10g of h2o2? It would probably clean up any dinos you had in about 48 hours.
Have you looked into dosing 1ml per 10g of h2o2? It would probably clean up any dinos you had in about 48 hours.
drummereef
Team RC
Yes, actually I've been dosing for about 7 days now. It's definitely slowed their growth but hasn't completely killed them as they return when the lights come one. I also removed my bio pellets from the system in thinking the excess dead bacteria was feeding the dinos. I did a test run with 1 gallon of Kalk last night to see what it was going to do in regards to the pH, looks promising so far. I have a new pH probe coming tomorrow so I'll know where I stand. I plan on doing a lights out period for at least 48hrs as well starting tonight. I'll only turn a light on to feed the fish, then back to sleep.
:uzi: Dinos!
drummereef
Team RC
I've heard they do better in odd numbers, so next time try 11 instead of 10. Also feed them frequently so they have something to occupy their time instead of picking on each other.
