Guest clownfish4 June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 Is it safe to run my tank without the sump for a day or two? I have a small leak in the upper trim and need to silicone the inside but have to kill the return pump to keep the water level low enough. Tank is a 125 with 150 some odd pounds of live rock, 2ish" sand bed, 10 shrimp, yellow tang, hippo tang, fox face, two green chromis, sixline wrasse, orange linkia starfish, snails, and various corals. Water movement would be maintained with the oceans motions but the skimmer, kalk reactor, and fuge would all be off line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmeyer June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 Probably wouldn't be a problem. I've been known to forget to turn the return from the sump to the show tank back on after feeding and go to work. Never yet had a problem as a result. Of course that is only 10 hours or so, not 48. I would think that as long as the tank was in good shape going in it won't hurt anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 Mike, your tank should be fine for a couple of hours or so to do the repair. Just run a couple of powerheads to keep water movement/gas exchange near the surface for the time being. When the hurricane hit a couple of years ago, I kept my 30g tank going for 3 days with just occasionally scooping out a gallon of water with a bucket and keep dumping back in. Why don't you setup the 50g tank near by and run the overflows into it with a return pump WRAPPED in bubble wrap to keep it off the bottom temporarily? Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri Bui June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 clownfish4, Make sure that you have some circulation in the tank and don't feed too much. You should be fine of a couples of day. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeon June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 A day or two shouldn't be a problem provided you have some oxygenation coming from somewhere. What is in the sump? I might even suggest emptying the sump if it will make the repair easier. If you have rock, refugium items and so on in the sump, I would put them in a rubbermaid tub so you don't have any/much die off. I would also use GE II Window and Door Silicone. Per a comment from GE it cures faster... like the 2-day time frame you are shooting for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 June 2, 2005 Share June 2, 2005 I basically agree with everyone else. Add extra powerheads and drop in an air stone. Keep an eye on the temp also, with less water movement the temp may go up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishface June 3, 2005 Share June 3, 2005 Fenner and Calfo recommend that you can skip feedings for up to a week if you go away on vacation. They feel it a better alternative than having well meaning friend or neighbor dumping a ton of food into your tank while you are gone. So don't worry, and use that when planning the next time you go away... 1. Make sure you add a heater into the main tank if one isn't in there. 2. Silicone: Read the labels. Carefully. You want: a. 100% silicone. Anyting less will harden in a few months and split. b. You done want anything formulated with the Mildew retardant. FF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Stearns June 3, 2005 Share June 3, 2005 the only note not mentioned is to make sure your grounding probe is in the main tank vs the sump- because when they are diconnected then you may now have stray voltage in the main tank. Funny how well one can remember some things learned through experience :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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