Hotdog's Maxed Out Reef 650
- Thread starter hotdog83
- Start date
Haha, easy enough. My return pump is external though, only a pipe going through sump glass into sump picking up water in the sump.
Oh, then elephant trunk it...
On the inside, 90 degree elbow facing down. With about 5mm gap between fitting and bottom glass. Previous tank I've done that on my internal return pump.
Other problem might be your water level being relatively low in the last chamber. Causing the waterfall into it being able to pull bubbles down far enough for the return pump intake to suck it in. That's the reason why turning my pump sideways worked, as the intake was then further away from the bubble below the waterfall.
On the inside, 90 degree elbow facing down. With about 5mm gap between fitting and bottom glass. Previous tank I've done that on my internal return pump.
Other problem might be your water level being relatively low in the last chamber. Causing the waterfall into it being able to pull bubbles down far enough for the return pump intake to suck it in. That's the reason why turning my pump sideways worked, as the intake was then further away from the bubble below the waterfall.
Already have that downward 90 degree elbow. Water level around 25cm, same level in final chamber as in other chambers. It only leaves 2cm to top of sump if return pump is off. Hence the reason I am so frustrated, not a water level issue, and can't change return pump inlet to be lower down.
It is a Water Blaster 12500. It splits off to also run pellet reactor and external skimmer. There is a second split in it that I am currently not using, maybe I should divert that back into sump to reduce flow to display. Although first prize would be to keep the high turnover going into tank. The gap is probably around 4-5cm if I had to guess.
You sure the pump is not cavitating?
Trying to pump out more water than what it actually can pull in? Might result in some extra noise as well.
What happens if you turn that elbow a bit so that the gap under it increases? Flow into it is less restricted?
Trying to pump out more water than what it actually can pull in? Might result in some extra noise as well.
What happens if you turn that elbow a bit so that the gap under it increases? Flow into it is less restricted?
Is the pump sucking in bubbles from the return chamber and making them micro bubbles? If not then I am wondering if there is not some air in one of the splits which gets sucked into the line going to the tank.
I can see the bubbles going down into the pump inlet, just think there is not enough contact time with the water before they get sucked up. There were 3 UV sterilizers stacked on top of each other on the main return line, suspect taking them out and replacing with a straight pipe probably doubled the flow to the tank.
I can see the micro bubbles going from under the algae scrubbers down into inlet, so the micro bubbles are already in the sump when they get sucked up. In retrospect I should have built algae scrubbers on the other side of the sump a bit further away from pump inlet. Other option is to install a base tray for scrubbers with a drainage hole that is on opposite side as pump inlet. Like a big Tupperware container underneath made out of glass with only one outlet away from return pump.
Got glass for a bubble trap that runs right to left (instead of back to front). Return chamber is quite narrow, but sump is 40cm back to front, so maybe having a trap that maximizes chance to scrub tank of bubbles will work. The previous one ran back to front, so only had 9cm left to right, bubbles still came through all that.
I squashed in 2 filter mats into the chamber, and it reduced bubbles, but didn't eliminate it. I think issue is the scrubber guard goes down to water level to avoid any salt creep, so in effect it is forcing water through gap between scrubber guard and last baffle, and although gap is around 15cm high, it still probably makes bubbles go down more than it should.
Tank looks semi ok again, just the micro bubbles. Fish look ok, just big longnose that is probably still not out of the woods, although it did eat today:
Took out biopellets, as scrubbers seem to be working at reducing nitrates. So if anyone wants any Zetlight biopellets, I have probably around 400ml, busy drying it out and will then weigh it, will swap for Euphyllia (or other lps) frag.
Nope, it is going to take another week or 2. Lost the big longnose butterfly over night, and only remaining badly affected fish is the mitratus butterfly, hope it pulls through. Surprisingly, the powder blue and regal tang is not that badly affected.
Guess I have to share bad news too on here. Been a horrible few days, lost most of the fish, and worst of all is I am not 100% sure what it is. Currently narrowed down to Brooklynella or a toxin in the water. Where the brook came from I have no idea as everything gets qt-ed. I am really struggling to see a way where I am going to continue in this hobby unfortunately, it has been a devastating few days, more than I can handle at this stage of my life.
So will put up the hardware for sale soon, as soon as I have figured out the way forward, maybe just a nano for now, or complete cold turkey. But if anyone might be keen on the hardware, let me know, can let all the hardware go for R30k, which is a bargain. It has not been an easy decision, but there are other things in my life that needs to take priority now, this crash was the last straw.
So will put up the hardware for sale soon, as soon as I have figured out the way forward, maybe just a nano for now, or complete cold turkey. But if anyone might be keen on the hardware, let me know, can let all the hardware go for R30k, which is a bargain. It has not been an easy decision, but there are other things in my life that needs to take priority now, this crash was the last straw.