ReefWaters' 220 Sun Room Reef
- Thread starter ReefWaters
- Start date
ReefWaters
Premium Member
I did that originally, the problem with all of those ideas is the excess bubbles coming through the pipe with all the water. I shouldn't call them bubbles as much as "large volumes of air." They end up backing up the flow and then "burping" into the sump and splashing water all over the place.
I may have to add a vertical pipe somewhere along the drain line to get rid of that air before it ever gets near the sump.
I may have to add a vertical pipe somewhere along the drain line to get rid of that air before it ever gets near the sump.
you can add a T fitting on the end positioned vertically, then install around 12-18" pipe on the top of the T, cap it and drill a 1/4" hole in the cap, the bottom of the T will be your outflow that you can extend and/or a 90 , this will provide a vented laminar flow that should solve the burping/air
ReefWaters
Premium Member
Elliott, I have tried that as well, but not with 12 to 18" of pipe on top. When I had less pipe, it would burp up and out the vertical pipe. However, you gave me a good idea that might work. Im not going to try to explain it until I have it figured out in my head. Similar to what you're saying but with larger pipe. I'll post when I get the idea more firm.
you need the length of pipe for that purpose, in addition you can thread air line tubing down from the cap to the water much like you would do for a durso, anyway you should be able to control the burping and gurgle
ReefWaters
Premium Member
Sorry I never got around to posting photos of the plumbing I came up with to cut down on the bubbles. It worked pretty well. Not perfect but a lot better than before. I've also framed around the display side of the tank so I need to post some updated photos of all of it.
I'm having some crazy things happen right now thought that Id like some help with.
Over the past week or two my pumps have all been freezing up on me. I had all three of my PanWorld PX100's freeze up on one day. I took them all apart and cleaned the shafts, impellers, housings, etc. There was some pretty obvious calcium build up. They were all running fine after that for about a week and about a week ago one of them froze up solid. It took three days of soaking the impeller and ceramic shaft in vinegar to get them apart. I broke the shaft in the process and am waiting for a replacement. My Vortech's have been freezing up a lot as well and two out of my three wetsides are frozen solid where the ceramic bearing and shaft meet. The other one is so tight it keeps throwing codes on the controller. I am waiting for replacements for these as well. In the mean time, my water movement has been drastically reduced to the output of one Vortech (some of the time) and one PX100 return.
My first guess was that my CA was too high causing precipitation where the parts are rubbing. I tested tonight and found the CA to be at 390 ppm. Almost perfect. But my Alkalinity is out the roof at 17 dKH!!!!! :fun5: I turned off the CO2 to my reactor and will retest tomorrow. My MG was at 1110 ppm. A little low but not drastic. I added some MG salt and will test that again tomorrow as well. I am not sure why my Alkalinity would be so high and my CA be right at the target point. Any ideas? Could be that the test kit went bad but it has an expiration date of 04-2013. I will admit that it has been way too long since I last tested. Over a month I think. I'm afraid to look back at my notes.
All of the corals look fine. None of them are discolored and my polyp extension is normal. They are growing slowly but they have been growing slowly for a year now. So other than the Alk everything seems to be normal. Would the high Alk cause the Calcium to precipitate more than high Calcium levels would?
I'd love some insight here. I cant afford to replace all these parts and simply ignore the cause and/or have to replace them again in the very near future.
RW
I'm having some crazy things happen right now thought that Id like some help with.
Over the past week or two my pumps have all been freezing up on me. I had all three of my PanWorld PX100's freeze up on one day. I took them all apart and cleaned the shafts, impellers, housings, etc. There was some pretty obvious calcium build up. They were all running fine after that for about a week and about a week ago one of them froze up solid. It took three days of soaking the impeller and ceramic shaft in vinegar to get them apart. I broke the shaft in the process and am waiting for a replacement. My Vortech's have been freezing up a lot as well and two out of my three wetsides are frozen solid where the ceramic bearing and shaft meet. The other one is so tight it keeps throwing codes on the controller. I am waiting for replacements for these as well. In the mean time, my water movement has been drastically reduced to the output of one Vortech (some of the time) and one PX100 return.
My first guess was that my CA was too high causing precipitation where the parts are rubbing. I tested tonight and found the CA to be at 390 ppm. Almost perfect. But my Alkalinity is out the roof at 17 dKH!!!!! :fun5: I turned off the CO2 to my reactor and will retest tomorrow. My MG was at 1110 ppm. A little low but not drastic. I added some MG salt and will test that again tomorrow as well. I am not sure why my Alkalinity would be so high and my CA be right at the target point. Any ideas? Could be that the test kit went bad but it has an expiration date of 04-2013. I will admit that it has been way too long since I last tested. Over a month I think. I'm afraid to look back at my notes.
All of the corals look fine. None of them are discolored and my polyp extension is normal. They are growing slowly but they have been growing slowly for a year now. So other than the Alk everything seems to be normal. Would the high Alk cause the Calcium to precipitate more than high Calcium levels would?
I'd love some insight here. I cant afford to replace all these parts and simply ignore the cause and/or have to replace them again in the very near future.
RW
jnarowe
New member
wow...17 dKh? I would borrow another test kit to double-check. I would think there would be some mortality with the alkalinity that high. Kind of strange that those pumps would all seize at the same time. Have you tested for stray electrical current? I would assume that high alkalinity would cause some problems, but to have them go at once is weird. What about water temp? Normal?
I would post this in the chemistry forum, much better chance of getting the answer you need
There's another issue I haven't mentioned.I'm thinking about moving! I LOVE my house but it is only a two bedroom, one bath. I am engaged and we will be getting married next April. The house is already small and kids are only going to make it worse. So we are considering going ahead and taking advantage of this market and interest rates to find something a little bigger. At that point, I just don't know what I'm going to do about this tank. I would love to move it but I refuse to do so if I cant set it up in wall again with another fish only room with a drain in the floor. I'm spoiled now.
Didn't see you mention this again in your thread. Since this was posted a couple months ago, has there been any decision made in moving? The worst part of my move was taking down my three tanks......the best part was probably resetting them all up, with all the knowledge I had gained since I first set them up.
ReefWaters
Premium Member
I would post this in the chemistry forum, much better chance of getting the answer you need
Here's a link to my post in the Chemistry forum regarding this matter. Not a lot of responses yet.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1773597
I wont be moving any time soon. I looked for a long time but Im attached to my house. The tank will be a PITA to move but everything should move with it. About the only thing that will be wasted is some plumbing and then the sink and A/C which will have to stay with the house. I have definately learned from this experience that is for sure.
Do you just by the muratic acid off the shelf at Home Deport or somewhere like that? And when you say dilute, what is your rule of thumb? 50/50 water? 25/75 acid/water? Does it matter? Im like most people and the word "acid" scares me! :rollface:Especially when it comes to my tank! :lmao:
erics3000
Active member
Like this?
Exactly. Go figure Marc would have a pic.
When I mess with chemicals I try to have a little fan to help keep the fumes away from me.
leslie hempel
Member
very cool thread.. keep the pics coming.
Bax
Premium Member
I want to stress that when decide it's time to break out the muriatic acis, it's tme to be very cautious and don't take anything for granted.
Where safety glasses & gloves
use in a well ventilated space
Keep away from breathing fumes directly & spalshing
Always pour acid into water when diluting
And don't ever use it on the wife's (or significant other's) carpet or hard wood floors!
... Ever!
Where safety glasses & gloves
use in a well ventilated space
Keep away from breathing fumes directly & spalshing
Always pour acid into water when diluting
And don't ever use it on the wife's (or significant other's) carpet or hard wood floors!
... Ever!
ReefWaters
Premium Member
I'm going to try to stay away from the acid for a while!!! :lol:
Ive got some replacement ceramic bearings and shafts coming from EcoTech. They are sending them for free. They think the batch I got last time was bad. I don't know. I certainly cant complain about their service. It is top notch.
Ive also got a replacement shaft and housing coming for one PanWorld. That will fix the one that is 100% out of commission. #2 seems to be working okay but #3 has stopped a couple of times since my last post. All I have to do is unplug it and plug it back in and it starts pumping again but the minute I can get #1 back on line I will pull that one and disassemble it again to see if anything is messed up. When I started looking more closely at the currently off line pump, I found that the ceramic shaft had a chip in it which seems to have caused some problems.
I'll work on some pics in the next day or two I promise!
Ive got some replacement ceramic bearings and shafts coming from EcoTech. They are sending them for free. They think the batch I got last time was bad. I don't know. I certainly cant complain about their service. It is top notch.
Ive also got a replacement shaft and housing coming for one PanWorld. That will fix the one that is 100% out of commission. #2 seems to be working okay but #3 has stopped a couple of times since my last post. All I have to do is unplug it and plug it back in and it starts pumping again but the minute I can get #1 back on line I will pull that one and disassemble it again to see if anything is messed up. When I started looking more closely at the currently off line pump, I found that the ceramic shaft had a chip in it which seems to have caused some problems.
I'll work on some pics in the next day or two I promise!
