Let's Talk About ~Equipment Maintenance~

[wrassehole]

ive never cleaned my return pump because if i turn it off i lose about 15% of water n my display tank. it all goes down to the sump. which would leave about 12 corals above the water line. in dont know about the reprocutions but i think corals shouldnt touch air, is this true?

 

[szidls]

ive never cleaned my return pump because if i turn it off i lose about 15% of water n my display tank. it all goes down to the sump. which would leave about 12 corals above the water line. in dont know about the reprocutions but i think corals shouldnt touch air, is this true?

So what do ya do in a power outage Wrasse?
Scott

 

[Maxx]

Depending on the coral, it will do just fine. Many SPS corals are exposed on reef flats during low tide...I've also seen many Zoo's exposed as well for several hours with no ill effect. What you really need to do is remove the return plumbing, (or set it up so it wont lose that much water) and plumb in a true union ball valve. This will allow you to stop water movement back down the line to your sump while you take the pump off line for service.
Nick

 

[NaH2O]

Is there any maintenance that should be performed on ballasts? I figure fans should probably be checked over, as well.

 

[CarlaW]

As far as maintenance on ballasts, I suppose you could pull the cover off and inspect to make sure all the connections are still connected, and all the wire nuts are tight.
Fans, you would want to pull the front cover off and do some serious dusting. If you have a fan on your sump, salt creep is probably inevitable.
Back to the TDS meter. Mine never came with any instruction as to how to calibrate. It is a "PRIMO". How do you calibrate them?
I clean the main parts of my skimmer with vinegar and warm water. It really cleans up well, and seems to improve the performance.

 

[Curtswearing]

Every couple of weeks, I lightly clean my pH probe with my wife's toothbrush.

If you have an emergency air pump that automatically turns on when the power goes off, switch out the airstone monthly or remove it altogether. Disaster Readiness This isn't really maintenance, but I would switch off the power periodically to make sure that the pump turns on.

 

[Scooterman]

Is there any maintenance that should be performed on ballasts? I figure fans should probably be checked over, as well.

If they are electronic I'd go as far as wiping dust off between all cooling surfaces, fins etc. My 250w E-ballast is usually warm to the touch, If it ever got hotter I'd check it out closely, otherwise not much else you should do with these. If they are properly wired, protected, & cooled as required. Now with the wiring from the ballast to the lighting fixture, bases, that should be dust free & inspected once a month, just because it is in your home

 

[dnjan]

How often do you clean your pipes?

My return flow seemed to be less than it was when I set up the tank (over 4 years ago), but I kept putting off doing anything about it because I was planning to run a new (larger) return line to feed a seaswirl. (orig. return line was 5/8" ID clear plastic - covered with duct tape where it was exposed to light to prevent algae growth. New line was going to be 1" ID spa-flex).

Well, the flow finally dropped to nothing (I had put an airstone in the tank as a precaution, since there was not much return of skimmed water from the sump, and I was worried about oxygen depletion). I tried to clean out the clear flex hose with a long wire, but the buildup of gunk (seemed like mostly precipitated calcium carbonate) kept me from getting the wire more than about 30" into the return line. So we slowly forced the new 1" spaflex through a new hole in the back of the hood, down behind the tank, and into the back of the cabinet. (tank is fairly close to a wall) Right now the return line is just cable-tied into the tank, so it returns about 1" below the surface. (Seaswirl needs some coral moving/trimming before it can be installed). The water level in the tank is 1" higher than it was! (overflows are overflowing again!) Hopefully next weekend will complete the seaswirl installation.

Conclusion - every four years is not often enough to clean main pipes. I'm thinking of finding a way to attach a bottle brush to the end of an electrician's tape so I can clean more often.

 

[NaH2O]

Don, good suggestion on the pipes.

Well, I turned all of the ball valves, and the one located right after my return pump had a lot of build-up, so I'm glad Chuck made the suggestion.

 

[wrightme43]

Wrasse hole can you put a siphon break in at 1/2" below standard water level? It doesnt have to be much, just a 1/4" hole drilled into the return pipe below operating water level. That will keep your return from being a drain back into your sump. Although when I do a water change my merlina, and montipora are both exposed to air for a long time. No ill effects that I can discern, I do splash water on them occasionally just to keep them wet. Steve

 

[Zephrant]

The type of external pump matters too- I had a LG4 (magnetically driven) that would calcify up pretty fast- 6 months was too long to wait to clean it. I replaced it with a shaft-drive Sequence, and have not had issues since. The sequence impellor runs cooler, so the calcium does not precipitate on it as much. I still need to pull it and clean it, but at least it is not wedging and failing at the 5 month mark.

As for heaters, cleaning them is a good idea, but would not affect efficiency. The heat has to go someplace, and passing though an inch of calcium on the way doesn't "use up" any of the heat.

As for the valves- I let mine gum up on me so much I had to replace them. I now use only dual-union ball valves, and love it. If they do ever seize on me, I can remove that individual valve and replace it with a spare, then go soak it overnight in vinegar. Thrice the price, but I’m thinking that it is worth it.

Zeph

 

[szidls]

Sedra 3500 pump for Euroreef 5-3 skimmer

Hey it's the first time I have had my sedra pump apart for cleaning. I removed the needle wheel shaft. Does the needle wheel pull straight out and is only held in by the force of the magnet? I don't want to break it apart trying to remove it.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[thetedinator]

Great thread!

How much vinegar do you use when creating a solution for soaking and cleaning? How long do let things soak? Lastly, what do you use on the inside of your skimmer?


Ted

 

[mattseattle]

to clean the inside of my skimmer i just put the whole skimmer in a bucket. i add about a gallon of vinegar and enough water to get above the pump. i let that run for about 30 minutes or till it's clean. works really well. i just cleaned my euro-reef today using this method.

for smaller things like powerheads and such i just use pure vinegar and run them that way.

 

[szidls]

Thanks Matt,

I'll try the vinegar. My sedra pump was really down on performance. After I took the venturi off I found the real culprit. 4 nasarus snails (spelling sucks) lurking inside.:eek2: Oh well time to get cleaning.
Scott

 

[mattseattle]

yeah, so was mine and it was acting weird. when i was cleaning it i noticed a piece of a sponge caught in the venturi. i don't know how that got in there but it came from somewhere. anyway the vinegar/water trick cleaned it up like it's new.

i also cleaned the hose for my return today. it hasn't been cleaned since i first installed it over 2 years ago. i put it on a pump and just stuck it in a bucket and let it run for about 2 hours. my god.....i was shocked at the coralline that was in the hose. it was probably a 1/4 inch thick or thicker in some areas. the entire bottom of the bucket was covered in bits of coralline that came out of the hose. no telling what type of nitrates was trapped in there! anyway glad i cleaned it......one more thing to add to my list to clean on a regular basis.

 

[thetedinator]

to clean the inside of my skimmer i just put the whole skimmer in a bucket. i add about a gallon of vinegar and enough water to get above the pump. i let that run for about 30 minutes or till it's clean. works really well. i just cleaned my euro-reef today using this method.

for smaller things like powerheads and such i just use pure vinegar and run them that way.

Thanks for info!

 

[wlaboda]

Euro Reef ES 3-5

I have a Euro Reef3-5. I changed sumps and now I cannot get it to work. The cup fills with water overnight. I am frustrated and have not gotten a reply to the ae-mail I sent to Euroreef. Can someone help?

 

[Scooterman]

Filling up quickly at first can be anormal thing, depends if you went a while without skimming. I know I would fill 3 or 4 cups a day even more at times until the skimmer catches up with itself.

 

[NaH2O]

wlaboda - welcome to Reef Frontiers!

Is the skimmer cup filling with skimmate or water? Is the skimmer set to the recommended height in the water, or anything restricting the pump parts? Have you started doing anything different to the tank after the new sump was added? I used a filter sock without washing it first, and my skimmer went crazy, nearly blowing the lid right off.