jason the filter freak

My evap swings significantly throught the year depending on AC use, Heat use, open house vs closed house, whether or not im cycling my lights etc.

Yep got some pipe hanging solutions

Thanks for the advice on the gate valves i think between price (i can replace 5 ball valves for the coat of one gate of comparable quality), their size vs gate valves, and their lack of unions theyre not worth it for my application. So it seems to be fairly common practice to end ones emergency flow discharge pretty high up from the sump so they'll hear water cascading/splashing if its the route for water instead of the siphon drain. Is this necessary/advisable? As for ending the primary drain level "under water" is best practice a straight entry. Using a "reverse durso", or something else.

So im going set up my kalk reactor and want to avoid an OD. I dont want to lose my ATO abilities if my pH goes too high. So normally ATO vessel, to kalk reactor, to sump. But i want to set up a way to have water bypass the Kalk reactor if my tank pH climbs to high (as determined by an Apex). How do i do this? simply, cheaply, and reliably (i know sometimes you have to pick just two of factors. Im guessing something with a solenoid? Two pumps for water supply? What?

Im not following on what the diagram is? Ive always had durso so this is new to me.

Man Dan I aint got that kinda money for gate valves. Whats the deal with check valves though? Ive read the theory but if i set my sump and returns up properly to prevent siphon and have a sump that can handle the surge why install a float?

I have never seen a write up or photo where the gate vavle on the Herbie wasnt within a few inches of the drain bulkhead. Could you provide a link to the style you're talking about?

The 4" socks from my LFS dont fit and neither do the 4" from bulk reef supply. Anyone have a link to quality 3rd party filter socks that fit in a red sea sump?

I cant find a grey krylon thats close enough in color. Its way off as a matter of fact. Which is a real shame because i painted one fitting to test and now im left with an ulgy battleship grey spray paint that i cant return/use

It wont actually be schedule 80, a 4$ can of krylon fusion grey will make everything look "good enough"

Ive put together a loose mockup Looking for feedback on fluid dynamics not quality of materials, etc. 1. I will remove the slope from the return line in the final iteration. 2. I dont want to rely on any sort of check valve on my return manifold, so dont worry about that. Thank you.

Wow thank you for the incredibly well thought out reply. I really appreciate the thought and info. I failed to do my research and had been excitedly buying gear, fragging my current corals to raise funds, and my brand new 80 gallon got delivered today ? im dreading the cost of shipping it back to SCA but unless i hear positive things when i reach out to the LFS on the island i think i should just shut my reefing aspirations off for a few years.

Getting ready to PCS to Hawaii (Oahu) but info on reefing as a hobby there is scarce.

Aside from bulk reef supply. Which online store has the best rewards?

Im pretty sure this will be a 6 one way half dozen the other debate. But WAMAS has rarely steered me wrong. Im looking at picking up an SCA 80 gallon 32 x 24 x 24. If i go external overflow ill have 4 holes in the back of the tank (2 drain 2 return) and 4-5 pieces of plumbing running down the back. If i do external, nothing running down the back but i loose tank space but lose the external plumbing. ALSO. A couple of weeks to get the internal overflow tank 3-4 MONTHS to get the external overflow tank. We're moving to Hawaii for next PCS soon so this will be my last tank for a while as there really arent economical options for getting a tank on the island.

Im looking to get some reactors from them but their inbox is full. Anyone shoot them a tect for me?

How do i turn off auto renew/auto billing for wamas

Yea i was just considering the salinity tonight. I did have my refractometer checked within the last year but its been a while. I tend to get the cyano blooms every time i try adding macros and it starts to die off. I think the cyano comes from nutrients released as the macros die. So ive tried and failed to keep macros 3-4 timed since moving to the 40 and am going to give up on tjem at least for a while.

My last test mid sept was Mag 1400, Alk 6.3, Ca 400, and pH runs in the 8.1-8.3 range in the last 3-4 weeks since adding a CO2 scrubber

Ill wait a couple of days and test this. I did s large water change and dont think the results will be accurate if i do it today or tomorrow

This would possibly seem to account for macros but not the anems and lack of coraline (didnt have that problem in my previous tank)

I have an IM 40 of which all the contents were transplanted from an IM 30 that was doing relatively well. I get cyano blooms here and there, i cant keep macro algae alive at all, coraline algae doesnt grow, and every bta i add to the tank shrinks to almost nothing (baseball size shrinks to grape size but doesnt die off all together)., and my pod population is nil despite adding pods a few times. I did not have these issues with my IM 30. The setup: IM 40 gallon Radion XR30Pro 4th gen 10 hours on, coral lab setting, 30-40% max for about an hour. Vortech MP10QD around 40-50% max flow Tunze 1073.05 return at 50-60% Tunze 9004 skimmer (running faily wet) Biopellet reactor Aquamaxx FRS GFO reactor (running BRS recommended amount of media) Apex controller (tank runs around 79 degrees and 8.1-8.3 pH depending on time of day) Live stock: two ocellaris, 1 royal gramma, 1 cleaner shrim, 1 emerald crab, misc clean up crew. Corals: rock flower x 2 (lost one recently), maxi-mini (has shrunken considerably but not died after 9 months), BTA x 2 (same shrinking), misc rics, zoa, mushroom, grogornia, euphyllias, acans, duncans I feed 3 times a week and sparingly, change water monthly (20% with redsea coral pro and 0 TDS rodi), and run an ato to keep salinity consistent. The tank has been up for around a year and just isnt doing as well as it should. I can not freaking figure out whats going on im about ready to throw in the towel, tear down, and sell off after 15 years of reefing. 

There is stray current (induced vs leaked based on testing) but according to the threads I've read it is at "negligible levels" but still considering a ground probe

Yes, it's a radion 30 gen 4 on an IM 40 running at 30 % max

I am loosing my mind trying to figure out what's going on with my tank... anems have shrunk to 1/3 their size, LPS growth is stagnant, sps and macros die, pods are nonexistent after adding multiple batches (tank has been up 1yr plus), coraline growth is non-existent... red sea test kits say the parameters are ok, so does apex, and my hanna checkers. I use O TDS water, do a %20 water change every 3 weeks to a month, feed lightly, light bioload. So I want to do a send out lab test looking for things like copper, heavy metal, etc.