lmeyer

The rebuild was fine. Things were going okay until the seals gave on my hammerhead running the closed loop while we were asleep (about a month ago). I came downstairs to a tank with virtually no water. Trying to recover (yet again).

I tried, but I can't seem to upload a picture any longer. It wasn't a very good picture anyway. The crack starts at the drilled hole for the uniseal and is a fairly straight line for about 2 inches.

I should never underestimate my ability to make a bad situation worse. I was changing the uniseals on my GSA standard 8 (http://wamas.org/forums/topic/79326-uniseal-replacement/) I was having trouble getting the union to turn so that I could remove the water outlet pipe. While trying to turn it, I managed to crack the skimmer body. Is the skimmer toast? Can it be repaired? And yes, the union is still stuck together!

I have an old GSA Standard 8. I have never replaced the uniseals, but one is leaking. I saw on another post that they should be replaced every 18 months. I bought the replacement seals from BRS and am ready to replace all of them. When I removed the old uniseal on the water inlet, it had a rubber o-ring between the outside of the skimmer body and the uniseal. The replacement uniseals did not have any o-rings. Should I use the o-ring on the replacement or leave it off? Do I need any sealant for the uniseal? Any other hints? Thanks!

Thanks, Rob. Good idea. Draining the sump will take some time, but I think that will be the right approach. Thankfully, I have the closed loop running so the main tank is at least still being aerated.

Could be that simple. I did that as soon as the leak started, which slowed it down. The leak appears to be coming out at a rate of a couple of drops per second. Unfortunately, due to poor design on my part, the bulkhead is really hard to reach.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to do maintenance. The Iwaki Pump that was running my protein skimmer/open loop was making a lot of noise, so I decided to take it off line to clean and see if I could quiet it down some. I was having trouble opening the union between the sump and the pump and was trying to get a better grip on it when the whole of the pipe turned and now the sump is leaking. I can't tell yet if I have cracked the sump or just the bulkhead. Fortunately, the tank is in a dedicated fish room, on a concrete floor with a built in floor drain. If the issue is w/ the bulk head, it won't be a terrible fix. but if it is in the sump, this is going to be a major pain. The leak isn't coming out too quickly, there is about 100 gallons in the sump and I would guess less than 10 gallons have leaked so far, although I can feel water coming out by the bulk head. My guess (wishful thinking??) is that the issue is just a broken bulk head. Not sure how I will figure that out. If it is the sump itself, I am going to need a 180 gallon tank to replace the existing sump. I don't suppose anybody has one they are trying to get rid of? Any thoughts/suggestions?

I don't have one and don't plan on getting any. I don't have enough personal knowledge to have a valid opinion, but I have always accepted Bob Fenner's assertion that these fish don't have a place in the hobby. See http://www.wetwebmed...m/labroide.htm

Just got an e-mail back from them, it should be back in stock next week Thanks!

Unfortunately, everything on the page except the Refillable DI Shell is out of stock. I'm beginning to think the stuff just isn't sold any longer.

I do have a TDS meter. I just like having the ability to glance and get a ballpark of when I need to change my resins. I prefer the separate from the mixed bed as they get used up at vastly different rates. I double checked with BRS, they only have mixed bed.

I've always purchased the KENT Marine color changing resins, getting the cation and anion separately (not mixed bed). I need to re-order, but it looks like KENT doesn't sell this any longer. Champion lighting has the separate resins, but they are not color changing. BRS and Air Water Ice only seem to have mixed bed. Anyone know where to get these?

Sorry, that sure looks like ick to me. I would especially want to start treatment on the powder brown asap. If they are anything like a powder blue, they can succomb quickly.

Love my large tank, but I do have three issues. 1) Just can't reach all of the locations of the tank easily. I have bubble algae growing on two intakes to my closed loop, but I can't reach the intake. My access is blocked by the large glass brace. 2) Likewise, getting light to the bottom is more of a challenge on a deep tank. I really wanted a tank that was 2'6" deep, but that size isn't what came available at the right time. My 3' depth is more than I want. 3) In some ways I would have more flexibility with 2 smaller tanks than 1 large tank. I would love to do seahorses, but I'm not setting up yet another tank and they wouldn't do well in my reef.

Welcome back. Been wondering where you went off to.