Gary's Oceanic Illuminata 57 build

[Gary]

Nuts! The fans came in. They are nearly silent, but they hardly move any air! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

 

[Gary]

Is this normal after 4 days? The foam is gone, but the water clarity has not changed at all.

 

[user 26995]

What do you have for flow. It looks like you are using a pretty fine grain sand. It is probably the dust from the staying suspended. Are you by chance running the overflow thru a filter sock? That will pull a lot of the dust out of the water.

 

[Gary]

What do you have for flow. It looks like you are using a pretty fine grain sand. It is probably the dust from the staying suspended. Are you by chance running the overflow thru a filter sock? That will pull a lot of the dust out of the water.

I'm using the Lifegard Quietone 5000. The documentation claims that there is about 1000 gph at 4 foot head. But, it is pumping through 2 90° fittings. Is it true that you need to add 3' of head per 90°? If that is the case it is only doing about 250 gph.

The outlet is running through a sock. I don't think that I was cleaning it enough though. You are correct that it is fine sand.

Per your earlier suggestion, I am going to do a 5 gallon water change tomorrow night.

 

[JJMoneyman]

It shouldn't stay that cloudy after 4 days. Make sure you are using a filter sock and clean it daily for a bit. You don't want your return blowing on the sand bed right now either so it can settle, and cutting back on the flow might help some as well. Once you get the really fine particles filtered out in the filter sock it should help it settle down.

 

[Gary]

It shouldn't stay that cloudy after 4 days. Make sure you are using a filter sock and clean it daily for a bit. You don't want your return blowing on the sand bed right now either so it can settle, and cutting back on the flow might help some as well. Once you get the really fine particles filtered out in the filter sock it should help it settle down.

I will clean the sock more regularly now. I have the return nozzles pointed pretty high.

It turned out that my new water was ready so I changed a little under 5 gallons tonight. Also, my son and I did water test.

pH 8.2
Ammonia .05
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Temp 75
Salinity 1.025

What test brand do you use? I have the API Saltwater Master Test Kit.

 

[user 26995]

API is good to start with. Its less expensive and you will be doing a lot of testing for the first few months. So far your numbers are looking real good.
Once your tank is cycled and running for a while you will want to use more accurate and reliable kits. Not that API isnt reliable, just not the best for accurate numbers and I think they go bad sooner than the date on the package. Anyway, I am using Salifert test kits for all tests.

Check out this article

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/content/71-testing-testing-equipment.html

 

[Crack31]

The Quiet One 5000 does seem like possibly too much for your tank.
I run a 3000 on my 90. However, I could probably go higher for my return.

 

[Gary]

The Quiet One 5000 does seem like possibly too much for your tank.
I run a 3000 on my 90. However, I could probably go higher for my return.

I think you might be right. My buddy started a new tank the same time I did. He has the Quiet One 5000 too, but his has a few more elbows than mine. His tank is clearing up slowly.

I have the parts I need to build a new return line with a ball valve. I will do that over the weekend.

 

[Raamiah]

It shouldn't stay that cloudy after 4 days. Make sure you are using a filter sock and clean it daily for a bit. You don't want your return blowing on the sand bed right now either so it can settle, and cutting back on the flow might help some as well. Once you get the really fine particles filtered out in the filter sock it should help it settle down.

+1 on the filter sock. My tank just finished cycling a week ago and I couldn't figure out why my tank was cloudy and I decided to put on one of the filter socks on my drain and in less than 24 hours it was clear. Mine wasn't as bad as yours looks but I'm sure in a few more days the cloud will be gone.

 

[Gary]

Progress!!! I stuffed a 50 micron pad in the sock filter and after only about an hour I can see a change! It turns out that my sock filter is 200 microns. Next time I will read the package before buying something!

 

[Gary]

What causes this pulsing? It's really annoying. I've adjusted the flow from min to max and adjusted the overflow from the minimum height to where the tank is nearly overflowing. The only time it gets quiet is when the water level in the tank is right at the top of the overflow slits.

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1708/r0h.mp4

 

[mcoomer]

What causes this pulsing? It's really annoying. I've adjusted the flow from min to max and adjusted the overflow from the minimum height to where the tank is nearly overflowing. The only time it gets quiet is when the water level in the tank is right at the top of the overflow slits.

Try opening up the air hole in your drain pipe a bit. If your air hole is too small the drain pipe will produce more suction, causing the water level to drop rapidly. Once the water level is low enough the drain pipe will ingest air and water which cuts it capacity to move water so the water level rises in the overflow. Once the water level rises the drain pipe returns to increased suction and the cycle repeats.

Mike

 

[Gary]

Try opening up the air hole in your drain pipe a bit. If your air hole is too small the drain pipe will produce more suction, causing the water level to drop rapidly. Once the water level is low enough the drain pipe will ingest air and water which cuts it capacity to move water so the water level rises in the overflow. Once the water level rises the drain pipe returns to increased suction and the cycle repeats.

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the suggestion! I will let you know how it works after I get a new tank! Also, thanks for your reply to this thread: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f14/help-my-illuminata-coming-apart-63533/

I will be draining the tank tomorrow after work.

Gary

 

[Gary]

I should be getting a new tank this week. Since it is so new and an air gaps appeared in several places between the front and right pane (link to that thread: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f14/help-my-illuminata-coming-apart-63533/) I decided to replace the tank with a new one.

Here is my temporary setup in the garage. It will be here about 2 weeks before I will have time to do anything with it.

 

[Gary]

How's the skimmer stuff look?

 

[eww]

Try opening up the air hole in your drain pipe a bit. If your air hole is too small the drain pipe will produce more suction, causing the water level to drop rapidly. Once the water level is low enough the drain pipe will ingest air and water which cuts it capacity to move water so the water level rises in the overflow. Once the water level rises the drain pipe returns to increased suction and the cycle repeats.

Mike

+1 on this. The drain is not getting enough air to allow the water to flow freely

 

[eww]

How's the skimmer stuff look?

It looks like the skimmer is pulling the sand debris out of the water. Your skimmer wont truly skim until you have a bio load, ie., fish and corals

 

[user 26995]

Just a thought. If your getting alot of dust from the sand in your skimmer, that dust is going thru your skimmer pump. You should clean your pump at least once a week to keep it clean of that dust. It might build up and burn up the pump.

 

[mcoomer]

Gary,
For your overflow, open that hole up as wide as you can, screw in a hose barb fitting, then attach a piece of tubing with a small air valve on it. The hole will be larger than necessary but the valve will allow you to tune the amount of suction you're getting from the drain pipe. Since suction is going to change over time due to calcium and deposits having the valve in the air line will allow you to make slight adjustments to compensate for this. This is a pretty standard setup for drain pipes.

Mike