Well sump is installed!

[MrMonkeyFingers]

Well today was the day and I got a sump installed finally! Due to space I had to get the Proclear Aquatic Pro 75 (http://www.proclearaquatics.com/pro_wetdry.htm) sump. It's a little smaller than the one I wanted to get but whadda' ya gonna do??? It comes with a overflow box but it seemed kind of cheap and small and once I hooked it up I noticed a small leak, lucky I knew that NOTHING goes right when working on the tank so I also picked up one of the Marineland Tidepool SOS overflow boxes and it worked like a charm! The sump comes with kind of a cheapo skimmer but I decided to use it anyways plus my current skimmer, so I have it skimming before the biological media and then the other skimmer in the last chamber with the return pump. I pulled the bioballs out of it for now and just have some leftover live rock that I pulled out of the tank sitting where the bioballs are. This will probably be just a temp thing.

I also redid all of my LR and I think I must of had too much rock or not enough flow because the crap that came off of the rocks when I moved them around was HORRIBLE!!! So for now I also left the canister on untill a lot of that crap is gone.. the sand got stirred up a bit too. Thought I think I might leave the canister with just carbon in it.

So I think with the salt change [sure it wasn't it], the sump, the canister just running carbon, 2 skimmers and redoing the rock so there is more flow I hope and I mean hope my nitrates finally go down... if not... 40 gallon tank up for sale ;)

Sorry if there is bad grammer and spelling.. it's late!

[mothra]

Cool. You might want to look for a filter sock to put under your overflow in your sump, then you can get a turkey baster and blow the rocks off with it and all that crap will get trapped in the sock, which you can pull out after the water has cleared.

What return pump are you using?

p.s. you'll probably get some short term negative effects from moving the rock around and disturbing things, so don't get discouraged if things don't look better right away.

[MrMonkeyFingers]

actually things are really clear right now and some stuff looks like it's responding good to the change and move... except the little rose anemone.. he'll move around for a week before he'll find a spot [probably where I don't want him to be ;) ] but I still ran the canister and I left the filter in it just until everything settles down.

As far as the return pump I'm using a Rio 1100

[MrMonkeyFingers]

Well some good news to report! It's been a week that I've been running the sump and I'd like to report that my nitrates have went from around 80 down to almost 20!!! And I didn't loose anything in all of the shuffling around. I think it was more than the sump though... I redid my LR did help get rid of the dead spots. I added the sump obviously. I also added another PH to help with cirulation and I'm still running the canister at the moment because of all of the crap that got stirred up when I was moving the rock. Plus I did 2 water changes this week. I think I'll still run the canister but just do the carbon and I'll probably pull the filter floss next week and see how my nitrates are doing then. Thanks for all of the help and tips from everyone! Oh... anyone want any bioballs? I got a lot of them, not using the bioballs... got a bunch that came with the sump.

[Bdimas]

Glad to hear it's working out.

[MrMonkeyFingers]

yeah for the most part I am really happy with it... now it's just dealing with evaporation level in the sump... I haven't figured out if it's evaporating that much or if the overflow/return pump are in sync.. after a few days I notice the water level is getting low in the sump but I also notice a big air bubble in the J tube of the overflow, so I'm not sure if it's the air bubble that is causing less flow into the overflow box so the level in the sump is lowering because the return pump is now out of sync or if it's a combo of both?

[mothra]

I bet Bryan has a solution for the air bubble issue. You will see more evaporation after installing a sump because of more surface area of water exposed to air, but you're probably correct in your observation of flow rates bouncing around a little contributing to unstable operating level in the sump.

[Bdimas]

Greg have you tried any of the tips i gave you?

[MrMonkeyFingers]

yeah Bryan suggested to me about drilling a hole in the J tube and then inserting a air tube flush with the hole and then using silicon to seal it.. then run the airline to your sump and start the siphon that way.... I think I'll want to order a another J tube before I go drilling into this one that I have and try that!

[MrMonkeyFingers]

just ordered another j tube off of marineland's site, should be here in a week!

[cyclebrkr]

you should have asked on here first, i have a couple laying around i would have given you!

[MrMonkeyFingers]

DOH!!!! that's how it always happens doesn't it!!! Well if I screw this one up I'll be getting a hold of ya! It was only 15 bucks with shipping would almost cost me that to drive to tracy right?? [trying to justify the 15 bucks ;) ]

So you have used the Marineland Tidepools before? Did you have the same issue with the J tube collecting air?

[cyclebrkr]

No, i've never used one before, just have the stuff laying around from equipment i've collected over time. I really should get rid of this stuff, maybe I'll bring some to the next meeting and see if anyone needs it.

[MrMonkeyFingers]

well I'd definately take some of it off of your hands if you are looking to get rid of any of it, or sell it.. whatever.. I'm sure I'll need more parts down the raod somewhere