Wife needs help with tank: RJinct is actually in China!

[rjinct]

Hi there!
This is RJ's wife, Ruth. (Thankfully we have a mac and his browser history came up so I can ask for help here.) He has a 125 gal tank upstairs and earlier this evening, bubbles came out of the hose that pumps water back into the tank from the sump he has set up downstairs. That hasn't happened before. I don't know about the inner workings or what things are called, only that it's not right. We were on face time when it happened and RJ said he'd try to call back, but he's attending a conference today and I can't get a hold of him again.

Upon inspection of the basement barrels (he has 2 55-gallon drums with a filtration system - one to distill the water and one to mix up the salt water), the one that is supposed to have RO water is completely empty. I *think* this is the cause of the bubbles, but I have NO idea how to make more RO water. Help!

He has it all completely automated (usually), so this is the first time I've ever had to deal with something like this. And I think the stress of the air in the pipes has caused a small leak because I also found a little bit of water near the acrylic sump. What can I do?

Thanks for your help. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Dr. Reef]

bubble in tank are not exactly due to ro/di bin being empty but is indirectly the cause of it.
ur sump is low on water due to evaporation and due to automation when sump runs low ro/di bin refills the sump to keep it at set level.
now due to ro/di bin being empty there is no replacement water thus causing ur sump return pump to run dry or with less water sucking in air.

can u post a pic or give me more detail how and what automation he has on ro/di unit. does he have genesis renew or storm or rvoc system?
is there float sensors inside the ro/di bin?


Note: ro/di water is what u called distilled water just to keep us both on same page.

 

[slapshot]

The bubbles are because the water level Iow. Probably the R/O water is empty and evaporation has lowered the level in the sump. If you know how to test the salinity do and and post it here. If you don't I would add some fresh water until the bubbles stop. You should be able to see the full line in the sump. Then tomorrow take a sample to a local pet store or get a hold of a local reefer. It's very important you get the bubbles to stop or it will stop pumping and burn out the pump.

 

[Dr. Reef]

for mean time i would unplug the return pump from electric till u get the rest figured out. this will cause no bubbles and also maybe save the pump from burning up by running dry. but we cant leave it down for very long time maybe few hours.

 

[Breadman03]

Pictures could be very helpful. Try to get the side of the sump where they may be markings for the water level.

Do you know where the RO filter is at? It will probably look like a bunch of clear, round pitchers mounted to a metal bracket with a few thin tubes (slightly bigger than yarn) going into it. The tubing is typically black, blue, red, or clear.

If you can get and post pictures, we can probably ID the valves and how to get you running.

For posting pictures, I upload them to Photobucket. Then one just needs to copy the IMG code into the textbox on ReefCentral. The code will have "[IMG ] the photo bucket link [/IMG]", but without the spaces in the brackets.

 

[Dr. Reef]

also u need to refresh ur browser otherwise u wont see any new posts and will still keep seeing the same old ur post thinking no one replied