lmeyer
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Posts posted by lmeyer
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Share a picture of it with the crack... Depending on where it's at you may be able to use some silicone or another sealent... But depends on where it is..
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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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
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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.
Just got an e-mail back from them, it should be back in stock next week
Thanks!
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http://www.spectrapu...t_replac_p5.htm
Toward the end of the page:
STRONG BASE COLOR-INDICATING ANION RESIN
STRONG ACID CATION COLOR-INDICATING RESIN
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.
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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.
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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?
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was away for the weekend and came back yesterday and noticed the spots, preying it isnt that word noone likes to say.
Today both look alot better today and the spots are fewer/smaller on the tang and lighter on the anthias....
anyone have any ideas, they are both eating just fine and arent scratching or anything so i just dont know.
the anthias was in qt for about 6 weeks while the tang was in for 4 after a two week qt at the store.
hoping for a good prognosis, as i dont want to drain the tank in order to catch these two and try a hypo and 3 day change qt cure.
thanks
hopefully i hear from you guys soon so i can try to catch them tonight, if not it will have to wait till tomorrow.
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.
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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.
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Welcome back. Been wondering where you went off to.
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I've been too busy to document anything, but I can at least post a couple of pix.
From inside the room
From outside of the house looking in
Still a lot of work to be done.
The rock was thrown in, have yet to begin aquascaping. Got another 100 lbs of small rock in another tank waiting for the aquascaping.
May paint the back of the tank, haven't decided yet.
Contractors broke the pump for the water change, need to try to fix or replace.
Haven't set up auto-top off yet.
Haven't set up kalkstirrer or calcium reactor yet.
Lights aren't set up yet, just running a pair of lumenarcs sitting on top, manually turning them on and off.
Almost none of the livestock survived from the old house. We made it about 4 months with me out of the house, but at that point the contractor started destroying my equipment and things went downhill quickly. Over the next 4 months, we lost all but two fish and most of the coral.
OM is jammed and I need to clean it out
Current livestock:
2 pencil urchin
2 blue chromis
pair ocelaris clown
tomini tang
assorted snails
couple of frogspawn
couple of candy cane corals
couple of cup corals
closed brain coral
green star polyps (just try killing them)
Capnella
Fish stocking plan:
Round 1:
Foxface
6 additional Blue Chromis
Yellow Jawfish
Pistol Shrimp/Watchman Goby pair
6 Firefish
Blackcap Gramma
Round 2:
Male and Female Banggai Cardinal
Male and Female Flame Angel
5 Bartlett's Anthias
4 Lyretail Anthias
Round 3:
3 Heniochus diphreutes
Male and Female Mandarin goby
Powder Blue Tang
Purple Tang (maybe)
Sixline Wrasse
Lawnmower blennie (maybe)
Copperband butterfly
Melanurus wrasse
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Is this an established tank that we're talking about - one that actually has some organics to remove? If so, has he tried adjusting the flow adjustment knobs (they're normally black and at the top of the exit tubes)? I used to run my flow adjustment tubes at the 9 o'clock position (when viewed from the top) to skim rather dry, or I would leave one at 9 o'clock and set the other to 11 o'clock to skim wet.
I only saw one knob for adjustment. There were two spots that looked like there could be knobs, but one was fixed. We did try to adjust the one that was adjustable.
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I have a co-worker who just bought a HOT Turbo Floater 1000 Skimmer. He is not getting any bubbles to rise into the cone of the skimmer, but there are bubbles in the chamber. When we move the pump closer to the surface of his tank, we start to get some bubbles in the cone, but we can't seem to get consistent bubbles with the pump in a spot where it can be mounted.
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OR! To avoid power outages look into buying a UPS unit. Hook up your return pump and a heater. That should give you enough wiggle room to take action.
Good idea, but not a good answer for this purpose IMO. Yes an UPS will keep the return pump working in an outage, but for how long? What if the power outage happens while you are on vacation? The UPS will power down eventually. What if the return pump fails? I wouldn't rely on the return pump as my means of avoiding flooding. Unfortunately, I've never run a RR tank, so I can't answer the original question.
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Does anyone even still use a plenum?
Actually I do, just not necessarily for the traditional reason. I just set up my new tank. It is deeper then I want to deal with and I wanted to raise the floor. Using a plenum allowed me to raise the floor with less sand then I would otherwise have used. I've always had a plenum in my large tanks, never had a problem that I could blame on the plenum (nor success that I could attribute to it). No reason not to continue.
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Looks like most of you guys are using mag-float
I have half circle 144g Ocranic glass tank which is 1/2" thick
I guess I'll just search online for the best price
Thanks everyones
Sid
Sid,
Look in the member section/Product Reviews. I gave my impressions of several magnets in a post entitled Floating algae magnets for acrylic tanks. The post is a little over 2 years old, but nothing has really changed.
Larry
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Is this the GSA Dan? If so is there any chance I could possibly get it as well. I sent an email also about a week ago inquiring about purchasing an item or two and haven't heard anything.
Last I heard, Dan had changed his business model and wasn't selling direct to hobbyists any longer. You will have to find a retailer who can order from him for you. I don't know if anyone is selling his equipment yet, but I would probably check with Blue Ribbon Koi. They might be able to order his equipment for you.
As for his phone number, sorry, I can't help you. I sent him a PM around the same time. He hasn't been back on WAMAS since Oct. 30th. I'm sure he is busy with his new venture.
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I wouldn't have an LFS test my water, I prefer to be able to do it myself, can do it at anytime that is convenient. I only take it to an LFS if I have a reason to doubt my test and want to verify the results.
That being said, I test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate during initial set up/cycle. After that I wouldn't bother unless I have an event that might kick off a new cycle. I would still always keep the kits on hand as a sanity check. Just remember to replace them if they get past their shelf life. If you know that your nitrates run high, then you will need to test for that regularly. I don't tend to have a nitrate problem.
If you are keeping coral, then I would have pH, alkalinity, and calcium test kits. There are those who recommend testing for magnesium as well. I've never tested for magnesium (perhaps I should).
If you dose with copper in any system, you will need the appropriate copper test kit.
Anything else you are dosing in your system, you would be well advised to have a test kit to know if you are getting the correct dosage.
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Update and current question -
Closed loop is complete and running (turned on Saturday morning). There is a good bit of cloudiness. We'll see if it settles down.
Sump has been drilled, baffles installed, and moved under the stand. When I filled the sump with water (before moving it under the stand), the baffles started to bow. The acrylic obviously wasn't thick enough. I installed some pvc between the baffles to reinforce the acrylic. It won't win any beauty contests, but nobody needs to see it except me.
When I got the sump under the stand (resting on a sheet of plywood and some styrofoam), the top of the sump is within 1 1/2" from the bottom of the stand supports. I can't get the drain pipe directly into the sump as planned. I'm going to have to re-do the drain pipes to go under the stand and then turn up to go over the top of the sump. I hope to have that done and get the sump and protein skimmer complete by the end of the week.
On Saturday, I picked up 166 lbs of live rock from Marine Scene. This was rock that they got in on Thursday and put in their system until I picked it up. It is currently in the tank, where I plan to cure it, then add my rock from my old tank. The odd thing is that I am expecting the tank to cycle based on my adding this rock. I tested for ammonia this morning and got a reading of 0 ammonia. The temp of the water in my tank was way cold on Saturday (about 68 degrees) since we still haven't hooked up the HVAC in the house. I was running space heaters in the house and threw some heaters in the water, and the tank is now 80 degrees. The specific gravity is 1.022. Is it possible to add that much live rock and not kick off a cycle?
I know, I know, pictures. If I remember to bring a camera the next time I go to the house, I'll take some pictures and post them. It just hasn't been a priority in going to a mostly empty house.
Cracked Skimmer Body
in General Discussion
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).