Help josh unscrew his tank

[Fmellish]

I have wolfenstein, but only on one machine, so we probably won't be playing that. I don't have enemy territory, although when QuakeWars comes out I'll be getting that. Lately it's just been Battlefield 2 and Prey. CS:Source is pretty standard too.

We can PM you IPs all night long, but we may hop from server to server fairly quickly, or play only on the LAN for periods.

I'm not sure yet if this is all going to happen or not.

Josh

 

[818]

O ok because I hold a killing spree on server

IProjectwasted.com for wolfenstein...

71 kills without a death.

Im pretty lethal :lol:

As long as you find a server with no bullet lag a nice bandwith and nice ping Im down. My machine is pretty weak, still on 128MBRAM I know I know....

 

[Fmellish]

Since we're comparing sizes.

I'm on a dual core 4400+ with 2 Gigs RAM and Geforce 7900 GTX SLI, 24" widescreen display, creative Audigy 2, Marantz sr 7300 preamp with paradigm speakers and sub.

My other rig is slower, its only an Atlon Xp 2600+ with 1 GB RAM and a Geforce 7900.

Ok, this thread has officially taken a detour. Back on topic!

I still have the film on my water surface I think I may end up having to do a large water change as Nicole suggested.

Cheers
Josh

 

[WarDaddy]

GEEKS!

 

[818]

I dont know what all that is on your computer...but all I was told was to have some RAM wich I dont have :lol:....

anyyyyywayyyy.....How large are the water changes? Are you still siphoning?

Do you have a clean up crew?

 

[Fmellish]

I'm going to go home for lunch in a few minutes and check on things. I'm hoping the skimmer is finally skimmin by now. It wasn't skimming at 4:00 am when I checked it last, but at least the bubbles in it were clear and not black.

I'll do another water change tomorrow or Thursday, around 18-20 gallons. This weekend I will siphon out the weekly cyano buildup.

I have some snails for a clean up crew, and they do their job.

 

[gcarroll]

Josh nice diary! From reading your diary, I have identified a few things that would do different. I am not saying that what you are doing is wrong, just that I would do them differently

1: Skimmer â€"œ First thing I would do is go back to the Eheim 1262 but without the ball valve. This pump is suggested by many on RC for the EV180 because it overdrives the skimmer. The problem is that the way Aqua C recommends using the pump and the way many on RC use the pump is totally different. I would use the 1262 direct to the skimmer, close the air valve completely & open the gate valve completely. You should really never have use for the gate valve again. Then open the air valve ¼ of the way open. Allow the skimmer to run for an hour or two, then open the air valve enough to get foam up to the bottom of the collection cup but no more than ½ way up. Once it is there if you want wetter skimming you can open it more or even use the output gate valve for fine tuning. Dialing in the skimmer may take a day or two since for every adjustment you should allow 30 minutes or so for things to settle in. (Important: NEVER start this process within 2 hours of putting your hands in the tank, adding additives or feeding. You will get a false reading on the foam level and once you are away from the tank the skimmer will kick in and fill the overflow container). Overdriving the skimmer will also help improve ORP. The smaller bubble size has more surface area which in turn increases oxygen exchange while reducing CO2 which cyno does not like.

2: Carbon - In reading the way you rinse carbon it appears that you use tap water to rinse. Is this trhe case? I place a fresh bag of carbon in a small bucket of ro/di water (1 gallon bucket for 1 lb of carbon) for about 5 minutes, then raise and lower the bag in the water several times. I then pull the bag out, clean the bucket and repeat the process. I then poor some ro/di slowly over the bag one last time. I then add the carbon to the system. Any remaining dust is minimal and will be picked up by the filter sock and/or skimmer.

3: Phosphate Remover - I rinse phosphate remover the same way but I use a glass of water instead of the bucket.

4: Placement of Media â€"œ I place my carbon and phosphate remover in the sump right next to the screen for the return pump. This allows the slow flow of water to be drawn through the media. I would not recomend this if there is no screen on the return pump. Also you don’t want to completely cover the intake screen with media bags because that will make the pump draw too much through the media causing ot to pulverize. I try to at least have 50% or more of the intake screen free with no obstructions.

5: Powerhead Placement â€"œ I run my Tunze’s upside down that way the are tilted upward slightly upward (instead of the downward angle that is recommended. This prevents the film from collecting in the corners..and also makes sure if any does form, it goes over the overflow.

I would try to increase alk to 9 dKH. This gives more room for error if you miss dosing. I also run my Salinity a little lower, between 1.023 and 1.024 (but that’s me) everything else looks fine. The 13% water changes are great and I never recommend large water changes (because I profess stability). Siphoning out the cyno is great for nutrient export. But if it ever geets stirred up make sure you change the filter sock once the tank is clear to export the loose cyno pieces.

 

[Fmellish]

Thanks Greg, see my responses below.

1: See my website (little red house), and select the month of January and then read the entry for the 10th, ("01/10/2006 - Every tank has its bad days"). The 1262 is too powerful for my setup. Even with my EV180 gate valve all the way open, the 1262 blows the lid off my skimmer, (Figuratively). What really happens is that it fills up the cup instantly and the whole thing overflows into my sump, (or into my waste collection container as was my case). I went over this with Steve at AquaC and he said you have to run a valve if you choose to use the 1262, (unless you have adequate head pressure). The 1262 looses steam quickly so I imagine it wouldn't take too many feet of head to make this pump more useable without the need for a valve. For me I had to install the valve. I spent about a month finding a good valve position. Ultimately the skimming performance under this configuration was average to poor.

The Mag 7 worked awesomely. It was my pump for the first weeks and I had a ton of skimmate with my Mag 7. I'm not sure why now that same Mag 7 is not producing good skimmate with the same skimmer. I didn't get to go home for lunch today. I have hope that now that the carbno gunk is out of my skimmer that it will be skimming well from now on.

2) Thanks for a detailed response on this. I have totally been rinsing carbon wrong. However it takes a few hours for me to product a bucket of RO/DI water, so bucket rinsing isn't really an option for me, unless I want to spend an entire day rinsing carbon. 5 bags of carbon at two fresh bucket dips each is 10 buckets. More than I can fill in a day. At some point I will implement a water storage solution so I have RO/DI water on hand on an as-needed basis. Until I do that, its straight from the filter at a few drops a second.

3) Same thing here, I rinsed it incorrectly and will need to do it correctly next time.

4) Yeppy, I had this all wrong, but I have since relocated my media to the screen in front of my return pump

5) This is interesting I didn't know you could run them upside down. I need to inspect my mount tonight and try this, thanks for the tip!

Where were you weeks ago?

Thanks for the tips, you have reasserted what I have painfully learned by consequence of my own ignorance.

Cheers
Josh

 

[chalowolf]

Hey i also run my carbon in my filter sock. But then my sump is only 10 gallons....lol

 

[gcarroll]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7640420#post7640420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fmellish

1: See my website (little red house), and select the month of January and then read the entry for the 10th, ("01/10/2006 - Every tank has its bad days"). The 1262 is too powerful for my setup. Even with my EV180 gate valve all the way open, the 1262 blows the lid off my skimmer, (Figuratively). What really happens is that it fills up the cup instantly and the whole thing overflows into my sump, (or into my waste collection container as was my case). I went over this with Steve at AquaC and he said you have to run a valve if you choose to use the 1262, (unless you have adequate head pressure). The 1262 looses steam quickly so I imagine it wouldn't take too many feet of head to make this pump more useable without the need for a valve. For me I had to install the valve. I spent about a month finding a good valve position. Ultimately the skimming performance under this configuration was average to poor.

The Mag 7 worked awesomely. It was my pump for the first weeks and I had a ton of skimmate with my Mag 7. I'm not sure why now that same Mag 7 is not producing good skimmate with the same skimmer. I didn't get to go home for lunch today. I have hope that now that the carbno gunk is out of my skimmer that it will be skimming well from now on.

There is no way the skimmer could have overflowed with the air valve completly closed. At least not with the 1262. Please reread my post. You cannot combine my instructions with AquaC's instructions. putting a valve on the pump defeats the purpose of the oversize pump. Steve was shocked beyond beleif when I showed him what my skimmer pulls out in a day.

 

[Fmellish]

Then that may have been my problem. I believe I had the airvalve all the way open.

So let me get this straight. When I turned on the 1262, within seconds, it filled up the skimmer, filled up the neck, and filled up the cup, then all the water exited through the drain in the cup, filled up my entire waste collection container, and then spilled all over the floor. This was with all valves full open.

So you're saying if I close the air valve, this won't happen? That is amazing, I should try it.

The only issue then is that with the air valve closed the skimmer isn't bubbly inside, its just water. Only by opening the air valve does the water inside turn bubbly. What if opening tha air valve back up, (even just 1/4"), then cause the wate to overflow again?

I need to try this.

Although I'm still perlexed as to why my current config, (mag7) isn't producing sticky bubbles, when it did before.

Thanks Greg, I will be rearrangnig my pumps tonight to try this out. My Mag 7 will be moved to my chiller pump.

Thank goodness I use hosebarb for everything, or this would be a PITA.

josh

 

[gcarroll]

Just make sure you only open the airvalve enough to keep it from overflowing. You are now using the external waste collection jug right? Just make sure the gate valve is wide open.

 

[Fmellish]

I've always had the waste collection jug. It's the jug that overflowed when I tried the 1262 w/o a ball valve.

I'll give this a try tonight with the air valve set accordingly and my hand on the kill switch

Thanks
JOsh

 

[gcarroll]

Let me know how it works our.

 

[Fmellish]

I just got back from helping my friend move his 300 gallon tank into his house, so I didn't have time to work on the skimmer tonight. Below are some updates and then my params from just now.

Updates:
- Film on water is gone.

- Cyano finally seems to be gone.

- Since dosing Ca and Alk I now am growing a new type of Coralline algae, dark red, instead of the pink/purple I'm used to. Looks nice.

- All corals doing great.

- Params doing great, dKH almost at 8 now.

- Still changing black filter socks every night. I have no idea how to get the carbon out of my water.

- Individual dieing Xenia stalks float freely around the tank. When my colonies decided to die they let loose hundreds of individual heads.

- Params below:

06/28/2006 9:40 PM
Temp: 79.1 F
Specific Gravity: 1.025
pH: 8.3
Carbonate Hardness: 7.85 dKH
Alkalinity: 2.80 meq/L
Calcium: 435 ppm

Cheers
Josh

 

[gcarroll]

Josh, any updates on the skimmer?

 

[mmoore0803]

Holy crap! I'll see you tomorrow.....Happy Birthday!

 

[Fmellish]

Greg, no updates on the skimmer. I am watching the kids today and the neighbors kids. My current config, (Mag 7) is causing bubbles to climb the neck, but they are so dry and sticky that they just form thick foam on the cup's lid instead of falling down into the cup.

I will try the 1262 again tonight if I have time.

Maybe tonight I'll get to work on my tank.

Mike, thanks!


Josh

 

[gcarroll]

If you install it tonight wait till tomorrow to dial it in . Just leave the air valve 1/4 - 1/3 of the way open but no more than that before you go to bed. I don't want to be blamed for the flood.

 

[Fmellish]

Ok, I am officially aggrivated. You had me second guessing myself, but I was right.

I just wasted the last hour rearranging my pumps for nothing.

Even with the gate valve completely open and the air valve set either closed or 1/4 way open, the 1262 overflows my skimmer and dumps water into my waste collection jug at several hundred gallons per hour. It took about 4 seconds for my jug to fill.

Luckily I was by the kill switch.

This is the last time I break down my system and reconfigure it because someone says I'm mistaken.

FOr whatever reason, my config, as shown before in January will not let me use this pump with this skimmer. SCrewing around with the airvalve doesn't change anything, the water still fills up the skimmer and sprays out the cups exit hole.

JOsh