New 240 Tank

[Warnberg]

Alright, the tank is up and running and I have two minor problems I am trying to resolve.

1) once in a while I get a surge of noise from one of the overflows, I have tried adjusting the ball valve to slow the flow down a bit and it worked for the other overflow, but this other one keeps doing it. Almost like a toilet flushing, if I turn it down to much the tank of course starts to over flow.

2) Micro bubbles, I put a filter in the wet/dry to attempt to trap them. I still get them once in a while. It's like it traps them for a while them all of the sudden it releases them and it only comes out of one of the returns.

Any ideas?

Dave

[SZHTTM]

Dave,

Would it be possile for you to provide a picture of the inside of your overflows?

Sounds like a siphon is being generated and then pulling the water down from the overflow until it is broken when it starts to pull air down through it. The noise could be from when the siphon begins and ends. Just a thought...

Is your skimmer new? If so, maybe the bubbles are coming from the skimmer. If they are, then they should slow down is go away completely after the skimmer has a chance to work for a few days/weeks. You can also try placing a filter or sponge in the sump where the skimmer discarge is going.

Good Luck and Have Fun!!!;

[Warnberg]

Well I'll have to get a picture of the over flows later. I'll try to describe the overflow/silencer kit.

There are two overflow boxes, each has a 1 inch drain in the bottom of them. There is a stand pipe (1 inch pvc pipe) with a threaded fitting on one end (this screws into the bulkhead fitting) the pipe is cut off about 4 to 6 inches from the top or the over flow box. On the top of this pipe there is a piece that is about 4 inches tall, it has a pvc coupling to attach it to the stand pipe, then there are slots cut into the pipe on both sides about 1 to 2 inches from the top. Over the top of that there is like an upside down cup made from clear acrylic over it and the lip goes down past the cut outs in the piece of pvc. I had to put a very small hole in the lid otherwise it acted like a upside down cup in water, no water could get to the stand pipe, so what would happen is the tank would just continually fill until it overflowed. Once I put the small hole in the top of the cup it allowed the water to come up under the cup and go down the pipe.

Anyway, as far as the micro bubbles go, I think I found what it is. 1) when the stand pipes start to suck air along with the rate at which the water is flowing into the wet/dry where the bio balls are, that is where the micro bubbles are being produced, so I figure if I get a fitting to go into the drains (where the bio balls are) and then put a 25 micron sock filter over them it should fix the issue. Either that or put a 25 micron sock filter over the 3 inch pipe that goes between the two wet/dry sumps (yes there are two in this system) here is a picture where you can see what I am talking about.



Dave

[Warnberg]

I have also inherated a couple new little buddies. The neighbors wife bought them the other day for her husband, well hubby doesn't have a salt water tank and it was late so she couldn't take themr back so they asked me if my tank was ready.... well it is, but not for fish. Well I ended up taking the little guys ( juvinile 2" long tank raised ocellarius clowns) off their hands (they gave them to me). Looks like I'll have to set up a QT tank just in case ammonia or nitrite levels get too high. One sure is curious about what I am doing all the time and follows me around they are even eating very well already, I bet they feel like they have the whole ocean to themselves in there.

Dave

[BigReepher]

Looks great Warnberg. I'm glad Tenecor was able to end your frustration and concerns. BTW 25 micron sock filters will clog really fast, are a pain to clean, and wear out alot faster than I thought.(actually I'm using 50 micron socks) Just something to consider.

[cheeks69]

Dave I'm curious about the bio-balls are you planning to keep them ? How much LR will you add ? Are you planning a reef or a FOWLR ? I don't remember from your first post what your plan was. Bio-balls provide no denitrification and your rock will be inefficient because of it.

Your argument that diffusion through a rock is probably low and water will not really travel an appreciable distance, however, in terms of bacteria, it doesnt really have to.One of the things to consider is the formation of biofolms, and mixed layer biofilms. I think that the surface of all inert structures are coated with a two layer biofilm, the inner is comprised of anaerobes, breaking nitrates to N2 and O2 while the outer is aerobes. The aerobes protect the anaerobes and provide the nitrates. Such proximity of growth leads to a remarkably efficient system. This system is negated when we add a wet-dry type filter. In this case the anaerobes predominantly grow on the filter. Since the oxygen is extremely high at the filter they are unable to mask the anaerobes and we get a an uncoupled nitrogen cycle. The nitrates build up.

live rock as bio filter

[mkpaulson]

Dave most of the time micro baubles are caused by a air leak on intake side of the pump I would put more teflon tape on the fitting going into the pump and check the hose clamps and make sure they're real tight.

I don't like the sounds of that particular design for your drain. I would highly suggest that you convert them over to a dursol standpipe system like in this link.

http://www.rl180reef.com/180/pages/standpipe/open.htm

[Warnberg]

Well we put the live rock and live sand in last night and man there is life all over the place now. As far as the bio balls are concerned the plane was to leave them until I got a complete cycle, then to start removing them. I was thinking of replacing them with small pieces of base rock (less than 3 inches in diameter) but I'm not sure yet. There is currently 120 lbs of base rock and about 50 lbs of live rock and about 50 lbs of live sand.

The micro bubble issue is resolved, what I did was two things both of which I beleive contributed to the problem. First the tube from the bio ball filter to the sump was covered with a nylon sock (one of my wifes, don't tell her I took it) and I cut the left stand pipe off 1 inch and replaced it. That took care of my flushing problem and the micro bubbles are virtually gone. I'll have to look at it more today when I get home but they where gone last night.

I turned on the protien skimmer last night as well to help clear the water. Should I leve it on or turn it off until the tank cycles for the first time?

Dave

[Warnberg]

Here is life in the tank after the water cleared last night....

[Warnberg]

One other thing, I have been told several times now to get rid of the bio balls. Ok, lets say I remove them, then what do I do with that space? Would small rock be ok? or should I just leave it bear? Also I am going to make the Durso stand pipes tonight so I'm replacing the current ones should be much quieter from what I understand which is always a plus.

[SZHTTM]

The space where my sump is able to hold the bio-balls is empty. If you can additional LR would be beneficial, but not required. If you do use LR in that area, you would just have to make sure that they will be at least splashed by the water falling in to the area to keep them wet. That is, if they are not constantly submerged.

Good Luck And Have Fun!!!;

[cheeks69]

The space where my sump is able to hold the bio-balls is empty. If you can additional LR would be beneficial, but not required.

Yes what he said^^^ Don't forget the pics

[Warnberg]

Guys, now I have yet another question. I was doing my testing last night and here are the results, keep in mind this is 24 hours after adding the live rock and sand.

Ammonia 0.0 ppm
Nitrite 0.1 ppm
Nitrate 7.5 ppm
PH 8.1
SG 1.024

Now my question is this, how am I seeing Nitrite and Nitrate levels and have never seen any Ammonia? Should I still expect to see an Ammonia spike?

Here is the latest pic of the tank.

[Woodstock]

You can expect a mini cycle when adding new live rock. Remember there will be a few things that have died off on the rocks. In the future, you may want to place new live rock in a large container (with heat and circulation) for a few weeks before adding it to your tank.

You missed the ammonia spike... keep checking the levels daily but it sounds like you are nearing the end of the cycle.

[Warnberg]

mkpaulson, well I made the new stand pipe.... and let me just say WOW what a differance... very nice and very quiet, all I hear now is the slight humm of the pumps..

Sweet sound of silence....

Thank you very much...

Dave