My 120 filled mostly with SPS

[Acronic]

Oh snap! Uve been bitten by the upgrade bug only a matter of time now. The tank looks awesome though, suppose there isnt much rush.

 

[jroovers]

Oh snap! Uve been bitten by the upgrade bug only a matter of time now. The tank looks awesome though, suppose there isnt much rush.

Today I've been bitten by the I want to get out of this hobby bug.

I woke up this morning, went downstairs, and heard immediately that something was wrong (loud noise from tank area). Long story short, my SRO 2000 INT overflowed my tank and my pump was running dry. Luckily really my top up ran dry too, or it might have been even worse. The funny thing is due to my fear of this skimmer overflowing, I already had it draining into a 5 gallon bucket, which I dumped yesterday. So between last night and this morning, it managed to overflow somewhere in the vicinity of 10 gallons of water... 5 stayed in the bucket, and 5 ended up on the carpet in the basement. It is a rec room, so not a major deal, but still a PITA. The carpet needed a cleaning anyway, so I'm off to rent a machine. The fans and humidifier are running at peak.

Anyway, the SRO 2000 won't get started up again on my tank. If anyone has any recommendations for a similar skimmer price range wise, would love to hear it. I need an insump model. Don't want to do any mods, I want something that is above all else reliable.

Oh, and my Enheim 1262 started right back up like nothing had happened despite running dry for at least a couple of hours.

 

[Flagswipe]

Sorry to hear it Jordan, always something!

I have a brand new in box ATI powercone that would be right up your alley

I bought it on a whim but my Bubble King just keeps plugging away so never even took the wrapping off it. Let me know if you are interested

Dwayne

 

[westreef]

Hi Jordan, don't ever give up. Bad things happen.
Recently I have STN on several colonies including my red planet. The "get out bug" was in my head for a while. But now I kill that bug at least for the time being.

 

[jroovers]

Sorry to hear it Jordan, always something!

I have a brand new in box ATI powercone that would be right up your alley

I bought it on a whim but my Bubble King just keeps plugging away so never even took the wrapping off it. Let me know if you are interested

Dwayne

You're right, something usually happens, things had been going too well lately! I know you've had your share of issues lately, hopefully things are on the up and up. I'll shoot you a PM re: the skimmer.

Hi Jordan, don't ever give up. Bad things happen.
Recently I have STN on several colonies including my red planet. The "get out bug" was in my head for a while. But now I kill that bug at least for the time being.

Thanks Bernie, I'll hang in there. Too bad about your STN, did you figure out the culprit? Hopefully they are rebounding.

 

[Acronic]

Dang, been there buddy. Have the same skimmer but 3000 and every once in a blue moon if I leave the cup dirty for over two weeks its like the skimmer knows and overflows to remind me not to be an idiot and clean the cup more often. What dd the salinity end up dropping too? I think the power cone is pretty sexy, if it is the one I am thinking of... Im not up to date on my skimmers ATM

 

[dvanacker]

I think its normal for any skimmer to over flow once in a while for what ever reason. Its best to have them in a wide sump so it just goes back into the tank. I have had full skimmer cups and an overflowing skimmer. Usually I just skim wet for a while afterwards and no trouble.

Sorry to hear about the flooding. Im sure wifey is a happy camper with that one. So no hard wood floor in the basement for now huh....

 

[Ted_C]

I swear - its one problem after another in this hobby... I too have had several floods and problems over the last few months.

1 - Had Cyano growing everywhere - used red slime remover and a filter sock - filter sock clogs and dumps around 20 gallons on the floor (and drops salinity from 1.027 to 1.022)

2 - Disconnected the tubing for the auto top off - gravity drained 5 gallons onto the carpet.

3 - The tubing on my return pump let go - creating a nifty little fountain in my sump - covering 1/2 of the electronics with saltwater. Luckily on this one - it sprayed onto the ATO pump - so I didn't top off any water. Dumped 10 gallons on the floor.

4 - SPS tissue damage
Before:

After:

Damage is likely caused by a vermetid snail mucus net rubbing up on it. Suggestions to fix it were to start running filter socks to remove the free floating food the vermetid might be using. Increased export of NO3 and PO4 but didn't decrease Alkalinity or Calcium - caused tissue burns in 5 of my 40 SPS frags.

This guy is almost completly white now (you can see a vermetid with mucus net on this guy too)

 

[westreef]

Have not found out the issues. All major parameters stable. I guess maybe summer temperature here is a bit high. Sometimes the tank can get up to 81F. Some expert say it is okay as long as not over 82F and the swing is not more than 2F a day. Well, STN is quit mysterious. Now it looks like stop. I did frag them to preserve its kind. Fingers crossed.

 

[jroovers]

Dang, been there buddy. Have the same skimmer but 3000 and every once in a blue moon if I leave the cup dirty for over two weeks its like the skimmer knows and overflows to remind me not to be an idiot and clean the cup more often. What dd the salinity end up dropping too? I think the power cone is pretty sexy, if it is the one I am thinking of... Im not up to date on my skimmers ATM

For me it is pretty regular that I've had overflow issues. I changed the cup every day when I had skimmate because I was worried the next day it would overflow into the sump. I can't get this thing dialed in no matter what I try, and the 5 gallon pail as opposed to the cup was supposed to be my backup when it did go a bit wonky. I didn't check the salinity yet, but I replaced the water with new salt water, so change should be negligible really.

I think its normal for any skimmer to over flow once in a while for what ever reason. Its best to have them in a wide sump so it just goes back into the tank. I have had full skimmer cups and an overflowing skimmer. Usually I just skim wet for a while afterwards and no trouble.

Sorry to hear about the flooding. Im sure wifey is a happy camper with that one. So no hard wood floor in the basement for now huh....

The wife didn't mind... I actually ended up cleaning the whole carpet with a rug doctor so I think she is actually pleased. Had it been a new floor though however, would have been a different story.

When this thing overflows, it doesn't just overflow, it boils over if you catch my drift. It sprays water everywhere. Maybe the solution is to leave the cup on, and drill a drain hole at the top of the cup to let it drain back into the sump when it does boil over. The skimmer is so inconsistent though... one day it skims fine, the next it skims nothing, and the next it is literally shooting tank water skyward. It is probably the most disappointing piece of reef related equipment I've used to date.

I swear - its one problem after another in this hobby... I too have had several floods and problems over the last few months.

1 - Had Cyano growing everywhere - used red slime remover and a filter sock - filter sock clogs and dumps around 20 gallons on the floor (and drops salinity from 1.027 to 1.022)

2 - Disconnected the tubing for the auto top off - gravity drained 5 gallons onto the carpet.

3 - The tubing on my return pump let go - creating a nifty little fountain in my sump - covering 1/2 of the electronics with saltwater. Luckily on this one - it sprayed onto the ATO pump - so I didn't top off any water. Dumped 10 gallons on the floor.

4 - SPS tissue damage
Before:

After:

Damage is likely caused by a vermetid snail mucus net rubbing up on it. Suggestions to fix it were to start running filter socks to remove the free floating food the vermetid might be using. Increased export of NO3 and PO4 but didn't decrease Alkalinity or Calcium - caused tissue burns in 5 of my 40 SPS frags.

This guy is almost completly white now (you can see a vermetid with mucus net on this guy too)

Man, I don't feel so bad now. That is a miserable string of luck. I don't think I'll have a main floor tank due to flood reasons, unless i have a dedicated basement fish room.

Have not found out the issues. All major parameters stable. I guess maybe summer temperature here is a bit high. Sometimes the tank can get up to 81F. Some expert say it is okay as long as not over 82F and the swing is not more than 2F a day. Well, STN is quit mysterious. Now it looks like stop. I did frag them to preserve its kind. Fingers crossed.

It could be temp related. I know Darryl said he raised the temp 1 degree in his house and his tank went up a few degrees and caused some browning issues, and maybe rtn on a piece or two. Since my tank is in the basement, and after having moved to LEDs and T5s, it always stays at a consistent 78 degrees. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as well, hopefully you've got it nipped in the bud.

 

[Ted_C]

Man, I don't feel so bad now. That is a miserable string of luck. I don't think I'll have a main floor tank due to flood reasons, unless i have a dedicated basement fish room.

It wouldn't be so bad and I would blame myself if it were something stupid that I repeated - but it's not. It's something new every time. I can sort of blame myself for the vermetid problem for not quarantining a frogspawn I put in in February (having only been cycled for three months at that point, never had any type of aquarium before, total newbie). I do blame the LFS a bit on that too.

 

[frankyrivera]

I found that everytime my skimmer went haywire and I too run a 2000. It was due to the airline being clogged. Unscrew the whole piece from the skimmer and look inside the plastic inlet piec and u will find a huge rock of salt creep restricting the air flow.

 

[lanshark]

Inspiring. What would you say your dosing volume per day is for CA, Alk and Mg?

 

[SchnitzelReef]

For me it is pretty regular that I've had overflow issues. I changed the cup every day when I had skimmate because I was worried the next day it would overflow into the sump. I can't get this thing dialed in no matter what I try, and the 5 gallon pail as opposed to the cup was supposed to be my backup when it did go a bit wonky. I didn't check the salinity yet, but I replaced the water with new salt water, so change should be negligible really.



The wife didn't mind... I actually ended up cleaning the whole carpet with a rug doctor so I think she is actually pleased. Had it been a new floor though however, would have been a different story.

When this thing overflows, it doesn't just overflow, it boils over if you catch my drift. It sprays water everywhere. Maybe the solution is to leave the cup on, and drill a drain hole at the top of the cup to let it drain back into the sump when it does boil over. The skimmer is so inconsistent though... one day it skims fine, the next it skims nothing, and the next it is literally shooting tank water skyward. It is probably the most disappointing piece of reef related equipment I've used to date.



Man, I don't feel so bad now. That is a miserable string of luck. I don't think I'll have a main floor tank due to flood reasons, unless i have a dedicated basement fish room.



It could be temp related. I know Darryl said he raised the temp 1 degree in his house and his tank went up a few degrees and caused some browning issues, and maybe rtn on a piece or two. Since my tank is in the basement, and after having moved to LEDs and T5s, it always stays at a consistent 78 degrees. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as well, hopefully you've got it nipped in the bud.

I'm so bummed ur having all these issues with ur SRO skimmer. I have the SRO xp3000 and I LOVE it. There's got to be an issue with the skimmer. Have u contacted Coralvue? The skimmer pro is Jeremy. He's a good guy and took care of me when I had a pump problem. U should call them and see if there's something they can do for u.

See if u can find a used Vertex Alpha. Heard nothing but great things about those skimmers.

I showed u earlier in the thread my 180 hybrid that I built. Well I started a frag tank and made a 6x24 ATI into a hybrid. Just wanted to show u, since u were my main inspiration to switch to led/t5 hybrid

I ended up using Luxeon LEDs and I'm running them at 700mah. They look really good. The pics turned out a lot bluer then it looks in real life. Anyways just thought id share this with ya

 

[jroovers]

Inspiring. What would you say your dosing volume per day is for CA, Alk and Mg?

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I just bumped up my dosing... I think I am at 80 or 85 ml per day each of Ca and Alk. I don't dose Magnesium, I just do the 1000ml addition every time I have dosed a gallon of Ca and Alk.

I'm so bummed ur having all these issues with ur SRO skimmer. I have the SRO xp3000 and I LOVE it. There's got to be an issue with the skimmer. Have u contacted Coralvue? The skimmer pro is Jeremy. He's a good guy and took care of me when I had a pump problem. U should call them and see if there's something they can do for u.

See if u can find a used Vertex Alpha. Heard nothing but great things about those skimmers.

I showed u earlier in the thread my 180 hybrid that I built. Well I started a frag tank and made a 6x24 ATI into a hybrid. Just wanted to show u, since u were my main inspiration to switch to led/t5 hybrid

I ended up using Luxeon LEDs and I'm running them at 700mah. They look really good. The pics turned out a lot bluer then it looks in real life. Anyways just thought id share this with ya

Schnitzel, I can't see your pics?

In the spirit of full disclosure, the last SRO 2000 incident was my own fault. I wonder if the others may have been as well, now that I'm looking back in hindsight. I had pushed the intake of the pump up against the glass of the sump and I think I was trying to fine tune it while that was going on. I must have moved the pump away from the glass (or vice versa, closer) and then turned the gate valve, and just didn't pay attention - and viola, overflow. My own fault, I take back some of what I said about the SRO.

Anyway, I did decide that the SRO just wasn't enough skimmer so I did get a skimmer rated for a much greater volume of water, the AquaMaxx ConeS Co-2. It has been up for almost two weeks, and has broken in nicely and is pulling quite a bit of gunk.

I also added more biopellets, I'm running about 500ml I would say now. The biopellets have definitely caused a bacterial spike - I had almost completely eliminated cyano, but a small amount has returned with the pellets. I've also noticed some growth on the back wall of the tank, which is sort of diatom like, but nothing major. Hopefully it will balance back out quickly, and if not, I may reduce the amount of pellets I have in my reactor. Otherwise, most of my corals are doing well, I did have some issues with two of my deepwater acros, debris landed in the colony and caused some tissue death, so now I have these unsightly dead spots in the center of them, but otherwise the colonies are healthy.

I'll post some new pics next week hopefully.

 

[jroovers]

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I just bumped up my dosing... I think I am at 80 or 85 ml per day each of Ca and Alk. I don't dose Magnesium, I just do the 1000ml addition every time I have dosed a gallon of Ca and Alk.



Schnitzel, I can't see your pics?

In the spirit of full disclosure, the last SRO 2000 incident was my own fault. I wonder if the others may have been as well, now that I'm looking back in hindsight. I had pushed the intake of the pump up against the glass of the sump and I think I was trying to fine tune it while that was going on. I must have moved the pump away from the glass (or vice versa, closer) and then turned the gate valve, and just didn't pay attention - and viola, overflow. My own fault, I take back some of what I said about the SRO.

Anyway, I did decide that the SRO just wasn't enough skimmer so I did get a skimmer rated for a much greater volume of water, the AquaMaxx ConeS Co-2. It has been up for almost two weeks, and has broken in nicely and is pulling quite a bit of gunk.

I also added more biopellets, I'm running about 500ml I would say now. The biopellets have definitely caused a bacterial spike - I had almost completely eliminated cyano, but a small amount has returned with the pellets. I've also noticed some growth on the back wall of the tank, which is sort of diatom like, but nothing major. Hopefully it will balance back out quickly, and if not, I may reduce the amount of pellets I have in my reactor. Otherwise, most of my corals are doing well, I did have some issues with two of my deepwater acros, debris landed in the colony and caused some tissue death, so now I have these unsightly dead spots in the center of them, but otherwise the colonies are healthy.

I'll post some new pics next week hopefully.

Weird, now that I quoted them, I can see them! Nice mod and the coral/tank looks fantastic! :thumbsup:

 

[Acronic]

Ugh, i hate when the deepwaters get burnt. Looks like crud and takes forever to regrow. The new skimmer is the one with the angled volute right? Hows the ease of maintenance compared to the sro?

 

[jroovers]

Ugh, i hate when the deepwaters get burnt. Looks like crud and takes forever to regrow. The new skimmer is the one with the angled volute right? Hows the ease of maintenance compared to the sro?

Yes, with the deepwaters unfortunately the lost time for growth is the worst part.

I don't think the ConeS has the angled volute, I could be wrong though... are you maybe thinking of one of the AquaMaxx skimmers that has the pump right inside the skimmer body? In terms of maintenance, I would say about the same as the SRO2000, except I think the base screws away from the body, which makes cleaning easier. The bubble plate cones can be more difficult to clean apparently. I'm only 2 weeks in, so things still look really clean! When I took my SRO2000 offline, it actually didn't even look that dirty, pump included.

 

[dvanacker]

That skimmer was the one thing I really recommended that did you wrong....sorry buddy. Hope your new one is headache free.

 

[Acronic]

Ah my bad, meant neck not volute. The angled neck and oval opening surely peaks my interest. Its a nice looking skimmer for sure.