Need help!

[Steve G]

Hey, can someone help my wife? I am in the UK for work and she called me at 4 AM my time and I have not been successful at talking her through this problem with the reef tank. I am desparate to catch a few hours sleep and want to give her a resource since I'll be out of communication for most of the time until I return to DC on Tuesday PM.

 

The problem is simple. I think the wire that powers the float switch and pump for hte autotopoff (which I labelled "auto topoff" for her) came unplugged. So the water level in the evaporation chamber in the sump fell to the point where the return pump (which I labelled "Eheim") started running dry and making lots of noise, which caught her attention.

 

I tried to just tell her to plug it all back in and let it self-correct. But she made it sound like there was a leak in the return plumbing (a drip coming out of ht ereturn going into the SCWD that I have plumbed coming out of the Eheim).

 

So I told her to unplug the return pump and the auto topoff altogether. I also told her how to break the siphon from the two return outlets in the main tank so the main tank water level wouldn't fall very much (and cause the display tank's powerheads to suck air and freak her out). Now the main tank is cut off from the sump. I told her to move one of the heaters to the main tank. I hope that should hold until I come back home on Tuesday night. I have an AC III with temp and Ph probe in the sump but hopefully that won't mess anything up.

 

Can someone please volunteer to backstop me since I will be cut off from internet and phone (and I want a few hours of sleep!) I just need someone to email her and give her your phone number and be available to talk. I don't think an in-person visit will be necessary. Just someone with more patience than I have right now. (I am cranky and she was impatient and we did not communicate well!)

 

Any volunteers out there? Just respond to this post, then copy the text of this message in an email with your offer of phone support to Mrs. Steve G at mjmodi@hotmail.com. I will owe you big time.

 

(Don't quote this part but I was cranky because I stayed up til 2 AM watching the NFL playoff games in a pub in York and I was desparately trying to get a few hours to sleep this off before my meetings first thing in the AM).

 

Huge thanks in advance to anyone who can help out.

[jason the filter freak]

sent email.

[Origami]

Good luck guys.

[reefhunter]

talk about worst possible time to go into dc!