Trouble using both pumps RSM 130

Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
Hi

Had my RSM a little over a week now... it's not a new tank. It's stocked with 3 clowns, a foxface, 2 cleaner shrimps a pretty big hermit and a few little ones. And plenty of LR.

The previous owner had seriously neglected this kit from what I can tell and after a week of problems and fixes my issues have reduced to 2... for now :D

1st is that the tank is prone to get very hot with the lights on.. I've kept the heater off for the last 3 day and it's barely dropped below 80. With lights on i'm hitting just over 82. For now though i'm not too concerned about this... I managed to get the fan working so i'm hoping it will go some way in helping remedy this.

Main issue is that both pumps can't simultaneously stay on for long without them pumping air into the tank.

I couldn't run them both at all at first but after giving the filter media in the skimmer a good rinse I was able to run both. But not for very long.

Yesterday I saw one beginning to pump a tiny bit of air so I topped up the pump chamber until it stopped. Was ok for a bit but then it just started again. So I overfilled the tank by a small amount and it seemed ok. It was fine overnight but then today after returning from work found a tank full of bubbles... literally full. Totally obscuring everything in there.

So my thinking is that the pumps are still pumping water too fast for the skimmer to fill the chamber. (at this point please bear in mind that i'm a complete noob to SW aquatics)

There are 2 black filter "pads" on top of the skimmer pump and a floss pad on top of them.. Also (if memory serves) there is a more blocky black piece on the bottom left of the skimmer. Sort of next to the thermometer sits (or pump chamber).

Would removing some or all of this be a good idea? I'm guessing it'll keep the flow up for the pumps to work properly.

Any advice will be gobbled greedily

Thanks
 
G

Gastel

New Member
Remove all of the filter pads. Use a bag of matrix for your bio filter. The tank also runs fairly hot with the T5 light so if you are in a warm climate you will need a cooler or go for an led retro kit like the one from rapid led. The rsm130 is a great tank but it does need some mods to get the best out of it.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
Gastel said:
The tank also runs fairly hot with the T5 light so if you are in a warm climate you will need a cooler or go for an led retro kit like the one from rapid led. The rsm130 is a great tank but it does need some mods to get the best out of it.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks Gastel.

I'm in the UK so a hot climate is exactly a concern... despite having a decent last week. Last night was quite cool and the temp fell to about 78 in the tank by this morning. So my provisional conclusion is that on a hot day the lights will run it up to about 84... which I think is about acceptable (???). The rest of the time I can rely on the heater to keep the temp up. Just need to keep a close eye on the thermostat.
 
RedSeaKev

RedSeaKev

RS Sponsor
Jasper McNoobin said:
Thanks Gastel.

I'm in the UK so a hot climate is exactly a concern... despite having a decent last week. Last night was quite cool and the temp fell to about 78 in the tank by this morning. So my provisional conclusion is that on a hot day the lights will run it up to about 84... which I think is about acceptable (???). The rest of the time I can rely on the heater to keep the temp up. Just need to keep a close eye on the thermostat.
Click to expand...

Hi Jasper, can I ask if you are using the water cooling fan at the back of your Max 24 hours a day, we have had some very warm weather here in the UK recently so good opertaion of the water cooling fans are needed.

If you cannot run both flow pumps it is likely there is a restriction in the mechanical filtration, are you using the ceramic bio media ? do you have the correct water level ?? if you contact me via our website using the UK drop down here http://www.redseafish.com/contact-us/ I'll be happy to send you some information.
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
RedSeaKev said:
Hi Jasper, can I ask if you are using the water cooling fan at the back of your Max 24 hours a day, we have had some very warm weather here in the UK recently so good opertaion of the water cooling fans are needed.
Click to expand...
Not 24/7... only really when the temperature has been hitting 82.

RedSeaKev said:
If you cannot run both flow pumps it is likely there is a restriction in the mechanical filtration, are you using the ceramic bio media ? do you have the correct water level ?? if you contact me via our website using the UK drop down here http://www.redseafish.com/contact-us/ I'll be happy to send you some information.
Click to expand...
Yes I am using the ceramic media.

The setup is like this:

Right side of the skimmer - square of floss, 2 squares of carbon resting on top of the skimmer pump. Then to the left of the pump underneath the skimmer there's a bigger piece of carbon filter.
Under the flow pumps - 2 bags of carbon filter then the ceramic media at the bottom.

Water level is slightly over ..as it's helping to run both pumps simultaneously.

I just went to my LFS to get hold of some matrix (crushed coral) as per Gastels advice. He hadn't any stocked at the moment but after explaining the situation he suggested replacing the carbon pads with "bags" of carbon and removing the piece sitting underneath the skimmer. He reckons it'll increase the flow enough to feed the flow pump chamber.

So i'm going to give that a shot today.. fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help.
 
RedSeaKev

RedSeaKev

RS Sponsor
Jasper McNoobin said:
Not 24/7... only really when the temperature has been hitting 82.


Yes I am using the ceramic media.

The setup is like this:

Right side of the skimmer - square of floss, 2 squares of carbon resting on top of the skimmer pump. Then to the left of the pump underneath the skimmer there's a bigger piece of carbon filter.
Under the flow pumps - 2 bags of carbon filter then the ceramic media at the bottom.

Water level is slightly over ..as it's helping to run both pumps simultaneously.

I just went to my LFS to get hold of some matrix (crushed coral) as per Gastels advice. He hadn't any stocked at the moment but after explaining the situation he suggested replacing the carbon pads with "bags" of carbon and removing the piece sitting underneath the skimmer. He reckons it'll increase the flow enough to feed the flow pump chamber.

So i'm going to give that a shot today.. fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Hi Jasper, ok, if you have at least 10kg of live rock there is no need to run the ceramic bio-media ( we don't supply it in the C series) we do not recommend the use of fine floss type material for permanent filtration, we supply a fine filter pad that is ideal for a little polishing, they blind quickly like floss, this then restricts the water flow.

Increasing the water level can lead to the aquarium running warmer as you take the water level slightly closer to the heat source that comes from the lighting, you will need to run your water cooling fans 24/7 whilst we have warm weather.
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
RedSeaKev said:
Hi Jasper, ok, if you have at least 10kg of live rock there is no need to run the ceramic bio-media ( we don't supply it in the C series) we do not recommend the use of fine floss type material for permanent filtration, we supply a fine filter pad that is ideal for a little polishing, they blind quickly like floss, this then restricts the water flow.

Increasing the water level can lead to the aquarium running warmer as you take the water level slightly closer to the heat source that comes from the lighting, you will need to run your water cooling fans 24/7 whilst we have warm weather.
Click to expand...

OK Will do... thanks Kev.

Not positive as to how much LR I have. I bought 4kg since I got the tank last week and there was already a little more than that in there already so i'm probably hitting around 10kg.

Update from earlier though:

I replaced all the carbon filter media. So that's 2 pads on top of the skimmer pump removed, plus the fine filter pad. I put a bag of carbon and a piece of floss in place. Removed the piece of carbon filter from under the skimmer and replaced the 2 carbon bags on top of the ceramic bio media with a fresh bag of carbon. Also gave the bio media a serious rinse.

Problem was not solved though. Still had air coming through when both pumps were on. Added to that the skimmer began to go mental... overskimming to the point where I had to empty it every few minutes. Managed to sort that out by taking some water out so that it's at the right level. Weirdly I can't slightly over fill it now (my previous semi fix for the pump prob) without the skimmer going nuts. If I push the skimmer comb down to the bottom level then it over skims... otherwise it's fine .. .. ..for now.

However...... I do have both pumps running now. I am getting some tiny air bubbles. I'm expecting it to get worse as the water evaporates. I'll monitor it tonight. Leave only 1 pump on when I can't supervise and then remove the ceramic bio media and get rid of the floss in a few days if I can't find another fix ...and see how that goes.

Cheers.
 
G

Gastel

New Member
The is another option. You can make up extentions so that both pumps sit lower in the water. I think this was offered to American owners. Not sure though. Google rsm130 return pump extensions.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
Gastel said:
The is another option. You can make up extentions so that both pumps sit lower in the water. I think this was offered to American owners. Not sure though. Google rsm130 return pump extensions.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Already thought of that. I had a look around our workshop at work yesterday for something that might fit the bill. I'll get my googling goggles on. Thanks
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
Haven't found anything yet but read on another forum that someone believes the air it being pulled through a gap where the black plastic tube clips to the bottom of the pump. Kind of makes sense. I'm thinking of sealing the clips onto the pumps. Other than cleaning problems can you see any other issues this might cause?
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
So I sorted out the problem with the water level dropping too low when both pumps are on together by extending the inlet tube with some piping of the correct size to slot straight over the existing pipe.

Problem is i'm still getting the odd spurt of micro bubbles through both pumps.

I sealed the inlet pipe to the pump which obviously had a small (wear and tear) gap where it clips onto the pump. The other pump seemed ok. But still i'm getting the odd quick spurt of bubbles through both.

I turned the skimmer off for a couple of hours but that made no difference.

The only thing I can think of to do now is really go to town sealing the pumps, inlet tubes and extensions together to try to eliminate any tiny gaps where air might be getting sucked in.
 
Hutchy007

Hutchy007

Member
No idea mate.
I had the same problem, but it was down to the fine filter i was using. It was getting clogged up and restricting flow. Now i just replace it frequently to stop the flow restriction.
Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Jasper McNoobin

Jasper McNoobin

Member
I replaced all but the bio media and got rid of the fine media but that didn't help for some reason. Maybe removing/replacing the bio media would have worked.

But i'm not too worried about the micro bubbles as long as it's only the odd brief spurt. It just looks like i've got a bit of extra debris floating around.
 
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