By Joe I think I found the problem

[Fishfry]

OK so today I tackled the major water change. I would estimate I did about a 75% water swap. I was starting to fix my plumbing problem and I took my return pump out to clean it. I took it apart and had a hell of time getting the impeller out but when I did I noticed a crack in the teflon surface and it appeared as if the iron magnet it was covering was rusting and leaching it slowly into the aquarium. I think that is why it just seemed to get progressively worse. The algae was just a reaction to all the little critters dyeing I believe. I mean it shouldn't smell like low tied at city beach when I drain that much water out but man. So I have a tiny little rio 1100 pushing about 180 gph at the current 4 ft of lift it has to do.

As for my plumbing well it is fixed. Not the most cosmetic but it kept me from having to break it down all the way. What I did was make a PVC horse collar that is external to the side of the tank up against the wall. Water leaves the pump and to one of the lower ends of the collar travels up and at the top there is a split that diverts some water back into the overflow (not the most desirable but it works) and the majority goes down the collar and feeds the return lines at the bottom of the tank. I unplugged the pump several times and it instantly breaks the siphon, so at least I can sleep better knowing that part is fixed. As for everything else time will tell. Now I have to get me a new pump. Any suggestions? I was thinking of something around 750-1000 gph. My tank is a 95 show with a 20 gallon sump. last one was about 700 but just didn't seem to give me the water movement I wanted without putting power heads in the tank which is something I wanted to avoid.

 

[NWDiver]

Glad that you will no longer have to sleep with one ear cocked for the sound of spilling water!
Power heads are a bit unsightly, but a necessary evil for coral unless you do a closed loop. Water movement is what keeps detritus from landing on structure and feeding algae/bacteria.
It is not optimal to have the return be your main source of water movement for many reasons, not least of which, it is very hard to keep things suspended in the water to be removed by your filtration.
If you really want to avoid powerheads, have a look at doing a closed loop. Your coral will thank you!

-Todd

 

[Fishfry]

Thanks again Todd for breaking it down Barney style.. :O I figured as much though at least witht he power heads I can get current to the dead areas in my tank. Well a few hours down and it looks a lot better. Snails are out cruising around and I havent seen that for a while. I am hoping the corals will pull through but I am sure I will have to give them a few days to really open up.

 

[tat2z_21]

Dude, glad to see things are working out. I am sorry I missed you. I was assuming that the large water change was done from your PM, again sorry I missed you. I have the mother-n-law here right now and it has been chaotic to say the least. If you need anything else let me know. I have been wanting to get over there and check out that tank of yours anyways.

 

[Fishfry]

Thanks Floyd. All seems well again this morning. I still have algae I removed as much as I wanted to but didn't want to disturb the fish any more than that water change was going to be, but like I said the snails are out moving around so I hope they eat a bit more than they have.

The little Rio pump is a bit small but I am still looking around for a good replacement.

 

[NWDiver]

Even if you steal it's food, the algae will hang around for two weeks or so.
Give a shout this way anytime, it is always better to have another person around, that way you have someone to blame when water hits the floor

 

[ac7av]

What pump did you have and what exactly do you think the problem was. None of the pumps I have, have a coating on the magnets. I think I have seen some with a plastic coating but Im not sure why they even do that other then protection if the magnet were to break it wouldn’t tare up the pump.

You will still need other water circulation in the tank other then the return from the sump. A closed loop would be nice and you can put them together over the tank, you don’t have to have it drilled, or power heads. You really wouldn’t like the amount of flow you would need threw the sump to be useful in the main tank.

I have a quiet one 4000 pump you can have if you need something with more GPH. It runs at 600-700gph at 4 feed head. Its rated at 1050gph at 0ft

Let me know.

 

[Fishfry]

Now that I think of it I am not sure who made the pump. I think it was a rio or Odysea but the teflon (I assume bearing surface) on the magnet had cracked and the magnet appeared to be rusting. Since I am not going to uswe this again I might just cut it open and check it out further. I have 2 powerheads that I added about a month ago just to keep things moving.

As for the offer I woul dlike to try a different pump out. The last one was rather noisy. I still haven't placed and order yet. Send me a PM and we can work something out. Thank you.

 

[ac7av]

Well that sounds like something odyssey would due.
The quiet one 4000 is what I use on my 210 gallon tank and its not silent but its quieter then my skimmer pump by far. Its just a elcheepo pump with ceramic and plastic parts so there’s nothing to corrode and they can be run wet or dry. I like to run mine wet to keep it very quiet but if you need to run it dry its not bad. I live just south of down a few miles just past the drive in. Ill send you a PM so just give me a call some time if you want to stop by.

 

[bigblue141]

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