NanoGurl's 75g Reef Thread

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9862308#post9862308 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REHEM
Hey NanoGurl, were your Sun coral's polyps out when you got them, or did it take them a while to get used to your tank? I've been wanting to get a small bunch, but every time I see them locally, they are withdrawn...???

I was also wondering if they are still doing pretty well?

We ordered ours online. When they showed up, there were not out. It's normal for them to be closed up during the day. Towards the evening a few hours before the lights go out ours are used to opening up then to be fed. Or when they smell food in the water they open up. Ours open up quite a bit which is cool. If you place them in a shady part of the tank they will also probably open up more.

They are fun and I like mine a lot. But they do require work. You must feed them at least every other day and you have to spot feed each individual mouth or they will starve.

Here is a photo of the rock we bought. There were too many mouths, so we cut it in half and sold one half, and kept the other half.

Feeding time.

 

[NanoGurl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9862475#post9862475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davocean
Second time I've seen the hammer/frog, really nice color.
Tank looks great.
Cool thread, perfect amount of beauty coming from every direction!

Thanks

 

[NanoGurl]

Update!

Okay, I got my Mag 5 and two tunzes today... got the Mag hooked up and running, but I'm having a small problem.

The water in the overflow keeps rising and lowering about 1" to 2" back and forth. It's like it raises then drains then raises then drains. At first this effected the water in my sump as well, but now it's only effecting the megaflow height.

Any ideas why it would be doing this?

 

[Nano Chris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9819546#post9819546 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chinaman4u
No Fair!

On 4/8/07, this tank was on the floor.
Now 4/26/07, tank is filled with all kinds of stuff.

I bet if Nanogurl wasn't a gurl, you'd guys be bashing, for setting up so quickly!

I just think people are being nice to you bc u r a girl. I have seen other new tanks bashing from plenty here on RC, you seem to be an exception. To experiment put a bunch of tangs in there, I bet even the tang police will cut you a break! LOL

Girls get everything their way.

No fair!

Seems like it But she just upgraded her tank, she seems like she knows what shes doing

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9823910#post9823910 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoGurl
Awww.. too bad. I like handcuffs!!

Nice to know! :lol2:

 

[NanoGurl]

 

[driftin]

Somewhere in this thread I saw a photo of your overflow, looks like you put an airvalve on top of the drain riser. Have you tried playing with this? The surging could be due to not enough air entering the standpipe.

 

[NanoGurl]

It's the standard kit that comes with the overflow. I didn't add anything to it. There are two holes in the plastic that are below water level. At the very top of the kit is a small air hole. Does that help? I've tried raising and lowering the pipe which adjusts the amount of flow and depth of the rising, but won't fix it.

 

[driftin]

I was looking at this photo.

Is that basically all there is to see on your overflow? I see a riser, a down-turned elbow, and an airvent at the top. Is that right?

How big is the airhole on the top of the riser? And where does the water level fluctuate, compared to the elbow? For example, does it always come just to the top of the elbow and then drop, then rise back up again?

 

[NanoGurl]

Here are some photos if this helps at all.

 

[driftin]

The water level looks about the same in those two photos - Is that the max height? Min? Somewhere in between? I don't have too many guesses right now, so here's a free bump

 

[omni2226]

What may help with the flushing effect.
Check the drain exit in the sump. Is the end of the pipe submerged when all pumps are on?
If it is, you can adjust/cut the pipe to where the end of the pipe is just below or right at the operating water level.
This allows the water to drain without having to "push"/ displace the water in the sump.

 

[NanoGurl]

Thank you everyone. I tried many different things tonight and none worked. I give up. Today was just a very bad day and the tank issues are just making it worse. I gave up and put the 9.5 back on the tank and will just deal with the microbubbles. At this point I don't care anymore and don't even want to look at my tank.

I'm going to bed.

A very frustrated NG.

 

[dga]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9852677#post9852677 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoGurl
Thanks! I think it was high bc all of the filters are older. I didn't set this system up, someone else did a few years ago and I never learned how to use it. It sat dormant for a long time. I finally found the correct filters I need to order so I am going to do that this week. I went ahead and changed the parts that were in storage and it brought it down to 1.8ppm. I am hoping with the other filters it will go down farther.

the prefilters wont lower the tds any, there only there to protect the membrane. if the membrane has dried out and the prefilters are old. you will need to change the membrane and replace the media in the DI cartridge. i would use the 75 gpd or less membranes as for the reason i stated in my last post. dont forget to order a new flow restrictor with your membrane. some places give it free with the membrane.

always a good place to start. their service is excellent.

filter guys...

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9866325#post9866325 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoGurl
Thank you everyone. I tried many different things tonight and none worked. I give up. Today was just a very bad day and the tank issues are just making it worse. I gave up and put the 9.5 back on the tank and will just deal with the microbubbles. At this point I don't care anymore and don't even want to look at my tank.

I'm going to bed.

A very frustrated NG.

The surging or flushing you are observing is due to a lack of air getting into the drain pipe, usually. By increasing that small hole one size larger, you will probably resolve the problem.

I find it odd that it doesn't do this with the 9.5, but does with the Mag 5.

 

[REHEM]

<img src=http://www.nanocorals.com/reefcentral/75/sun5.jpg>

Thanks NanoGurl! Nice pic too! That's exactly how I have been seeing the Sun corals, I just didn't know if they were unhealthy or not so I didn't make the purchase. I'll have to think about this one though. That's a whole lot of nurturing!

And as far as your overflow surges go, 1 of the 2 boxes in my All Glass did the same thing at first. I would try cutting your overflow hose to the water level also, but you might check the levelness of your tank. This is what my culprit was. My tank was off level by less than an eight of an inch, and after shimming underneath of the off side, the problem corrected itself immediately! Good luck with it!

 

[spleen93]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9866397#post9866397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
The surging or flushing you are observing is due to a lack of air getting into the drain pipe, usually. By increasing that small hole one size larger, you will probably resolve the problem.

I find it odd that it doesn't do this with the 9.5, but does with the Mag 5.

Possibly because the flow rate with the 9.5 is too high and it causes a syphon effect and keeps the level in the overflow steady? But the 5 is not as strong so it causes an intermittent syphon effect where the level drops until the end of the durso breaks the surface, breaking the syphon, raises the level of the overflow until it restarts the syphon effect. The answer, as others have mentioned, would be to open the air valve more / make the hole bigger to prevent the syphon effect from occuring.

Of course, I could just be talking out of my butt too ...

BTW, NG - nice tank.

Spleen

 

[jacmyoung]

NanoGurl, hope you get up and smile again, else too many sad faces will appear on RC the moderator will need to hire a shrink...

The mag5 pumps less, your drain on the other hand has more capacity at current air intake level so it flushes the water down and the pump can not keep up, the water level drops below the low point of the inverse U tube, the drain then stops till the water level in the overflow rises again to resume the flow.

So yes letting in more air will reduce the drain capacity that should help. However I am of the habit always be on the safe side, once something is cut it is hard to put back. I would add an airline to the hole, hookup with a small air pump with an air needle valve in between, try to pump a little more air (very little at a time since you don't want it to overflow) into it and fine tune with the valve. At least you can confirm our theory before destroying the hole.

But to completely eliminate microbubbles you will need to look into this silent drain method on RC, there is a very long thread on this I will have to dig up the link later. Many of us have been using that method for years, completely silent and without any air sucked in.

Here it is:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892

BTW I have been using it without an emergency drain without any issue, this way you don't need to add another pipe in the plumbing, only need to remove your U tube, probably have to cut back the standpipe, add a screen on top, then use a gate valve at the end of the drain outlet in the sump. At least that is in a nutshell.

There was debate in the thread about the importance of the emergency drain, some of us don't use it but it is up to individual to decide.

And BTW BTW, you can also just close up the drain valve a little to reduce the drain capacity manually and see if that will help, in case you are still not in the mood to waste any more time on it.

 

[TRITON1]

I had the same problem with my 75g overflow going up and down. Major frustration! However, Marc has the right solution, the hole in the top needs to be bigger. By the look of your standpipe the hole looks tapered (like it would form a triangle if higher) I'd try cutting a couple millimeters off and see what happens, then cut some more if needed. By the looks of it, regardless of how much you cut it will never be submerged, but I dont know if too much would be a bad thing. Give it a shot, it shouldnt be too hard.

 

[Gettin'Tanked]

Hey Wendy. For what it's worth. I have the same Mega flow overflow. I was having the same problem when I first set up my 75 g with the 9.5 mag pump. I put a ball valve on the return line to the display and decreassed the flow just a bit, added a filter sock, and the bubble were gone in a few hours. Also I believe my elbow on the drain is deaper. The elbow on mine is almost compleatly submerged. I can take some photos tonight if you think it may help. BTW, my pump runs wide open now with no problems, and the only noise I have is from the flex drain pipe ridges. I am probably going to plumb it with PVC to see if it helps.

 

[NanoGurl]

Who's Wendy? That's not my name

Thank you for the info. Photos would be great if you get the chance. I'm glad your setup is running well for you.