First Reef Tank - Help!

[Lksheppa]

Alright, so we bought a once established reef tank (no livestock or coral), but it has live rock/sand that we are fine with replacing should we kill it while restarting the tank.

HOWEVER. We cannot seem to figure out how to get the sump back together the way it was and this thing is LOUD. We know some of the basics and planned on just getting the tank cycling, but are definitely struggling with putting everything back together. Any advice or anything on how to do this?

 

[Ryan Darilek]

This is a tricky one to answer. Did you see the reef while it was up and running? Basically, was it healthy? It might not be necessary to start all over with the LR and LS. I would just be sure to wait at least 8 weeks before adding any fish to ensure that any potential parasites die off, then you're good to go. Regarding the "sump being loud", is it the skimmer? Or the return pump? The water itself? See if you can isolate where the noise is coming from and let us know. Pictures might be helpful as well. Welcome to the hobby by the way!!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[DancingShark]

Hi. Some good pics might help. What is the " loud" coming from.

 

[Lksheppa]

It's definitely the return pump that is making all the noise. The skimmer was making a little bit of noise at first until we adjusted the flow. I will post pictures of everything in a few minutes. I will also add pictures of when the reef was in the tank, but we did not pick up the tank with anything other than rock and sand. The guy let the tank sit without fish or coral for 8 months, but left it running from what I gathered when picking it up. He had an ATO on it and an alternate "tank" that he fashioned to filter waste from the refugium. However that small tank was poorly made and split apart during the move so we decided to do away with it and the ATO until we get everything working. The tank definitely suffered some neglect before we purchased it. We have a dual carbon reactor (Bulk Reef Supply) that he cut in half and mounted and hosed beneath the tank that we aren't quite sure how to reassemble either.

We have managed to get the thing running for the most part because the return was going much faster than the sump was receiving. Which was a nightmare lol. HOWEVER, we still have it off because there were leaks in the lines were we coupled the plumbing.


What we have done this far: gotten RO/DI water from LFS, treated it with Red Sea Coral Pro salt and buffer, put the live rock back into the tank so we can judge water depth/get the sump running, and now we are currently sealing the plumbing where there are leaks. The positive is that the sump already has a developed refugium of live rock and algae (I couldn't tell you what kind or anything/if that's actually what it is) and was have a developed sand bed and rock from the previously running tank. But then again I have no idea what he did during that 8 months and if the tank has anything bad in it.

Anyways, I will post pictures to let you guys get an idea of what we are working with. Just keep in mind that we intend to give it a lot of TLC in the coming weeks, we just need to get it off the ground.

 

[DancingShark]

Lksheppa :We have managed to get the thing running for the most part because the return was going much faster than the sump was receiving.

This problem sounds to me like you don't have enough water in the system to keep the return chamber full or at least the pump/s fully submerged. Which might be why it's noisy.

 

[Lksheppa]

Tank Now:

http://i63.*******.com/e3j7t.jpg
http://i66.*******.com/v79qwz.jpg
http://i63.*******.com/2gxfat4.jpg
http://i68.*******.com/33k6l2b.jpg
http://i64.*******.com/2lm84sk.jpg
http://i64.*******.com/2lm84sk.jpg

Tank before when established:

http://i63.*******.com/30rnomd.jpg
http://i64.*******.com/23hrrmd.jpg
http://i68.*******.com/35n55r5.jpg

 

[Lksheppa]

 

[Lksheppa]

Okay, so how does one successfully post an image? :/

 

[Ryan Darilek]

We should be able to give you some solid pointers after seeing the pics... But shark is right, that's definitely what it sounds like. It would also produce tiny bubbles in the DT if that were the case

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[Lksheppa]

Sorry, I'm working the pictures. The site wouldn't work with ******* so I will try an alternate avenue. We did add more water to the sump and have some prepared if need be. I know that we had to adjust the valves to the return pump and the recieve. It leveled out, but I'm unsure how to hook up the reactor now. I'm sure once I can get these images loaded, you will be able to understand what I'm talking about. So sorry!

 

[Lksheppa]

 

[Lksheppa]

Okay, SO SO sorry about the oversized images. I didn't want to go through and re-size every single image. I have the software, but it would take me quite a while to download and upload again. The former post was the tank NOW. These are the images of the tank before. The image above this text contains the handmade "box" with a screen in it to catch extra waste. It's hard to see, but I wanted to include it in case we needed it. It's the stuff sitting on the cutout acrylic or whatever.

The tank when it was maintained before we purchased it. Above is an image of the sump top when we went to pick it up. It has a doser connected that we have not put back on the system.

 

[Lksheppa]

Just wanted to update for anyone following this thread:
Got the sump setup - return, fuge (live rock, alg), skimmer. Cleaned the skimmer, learned the reactor + the pump, got established with the LFS (who is amazing by the way and actually sold most of the equipment in our tank to the guy who owned it before). We have live rock, live sand, bio spira, and also a little sand and skimmer funk from the LFS to help the tank cycle. Checked all the parameters today (after replacing the water from buffing out scratches in the glass) and all the tank has is nitrates.

What does it mean if your tank only has nitrates present? I have a master test kit to check all other parameters if that would help. (Phosphate, Fe, ammonia, calcium, GH, etc.). We want to add a cleanup crew ASAP. Obviously not before the tank is ready for them. Just wanted to drop in and let you guys know what was going on.