Sump/fuge plans....will this work?
- Thread starter ilektrik22
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ilektrik22
Well-known member
the idea behind proping up the pump was
1. to ensure that it was well above the sand level so no sand want it.
2. to so that the inlet would be above the bottom of the second baffle.
I've kinda done a quick fix, I've wedged a rock to support the first baffle so that it's not moving( not tightly, just enough so the glass has some support). I've also moved the sand behind the rocks so no sand is moving towards the return area. I'm making more water so that both the the return and fuge area have the same amount of water so there isn't as much pressure on the first baffle, I've checked and have room for about 1 more gallons with space remaining for the "power outage" situation( half of the bottom and the one side is still siliconed in place). This will keep the bubbles and sand at bay, without having to take apart the fuge, I really don't want to, worried that the same thing will happen as last time ( I lost my sps frags, to LPs, which i was pretty attached to ) so hopefully this will work for now.
1. to ensure that it was well above the sand level so no sand want it.
2. to so that the inlet would be above the bottom of the second baffle.
I've kinda done a quick fix, I've wedged a rock to support the first baffle so that it's not moving( not tightly, just enough so the glass has some support). I've also moved the sand behind the rocks so no sand is moving towards the return area. I'm making more water so that both the the return and fuge area have the same amount of water so there isn't as much pressure on the first baffle, I've checked and have room for about 1 more gallons with space remaining for the "power outage" situation( half of the bottom and the one side is still siliconed in place). This will keep the bubbles and sand at bay, without having to take apart the fuge, I really don't want to, worried that the same thing will happen as last time ( I lost my sps frags, to LPs, which i was pretty attached to ) so hopefully this will work for now.
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I forget; do you have a skimmer on the back of the fuge? If so you will want to keep the water level of the fuge constant, without that baffle you may incounter problems.
If you are worried about shocking your system, you can always keep the water you have now in 5gal buckets for a day, while the silicone drys. Just make sure it gets back up to temp.
Also, did you mount the baffle with silicone on all three sides?
If you are worried about shocking your system, you can always keep the water you have now in 5gal buckets for a day, while the silicone drys. Just make sure it gets back up to temp.
Also, did you mount the baffle with silicone on all three sides?
ilektrik22
Well-known member
yeah I mounted it with silicone on all three sides, I guess I just didn't use enough on the front ( I tried too hard to make it look neat I think). most of the bottom and the back are still attached, so It's still doing it's job. And the evap is still only occuring in the return section ( I marked both areas to monitor it. My skimmer pump is a good 4 inches below the fuges water line at present so even with the daily evaporation it's still okay. And with the extra water addition it will be atleast 6 inches under water, and I will still have room for the display water to syphon back down into the sump if a power outage occurs.
The levels in the fuge are constant at the moment ( the rock is holding everything in place) but what I'll try to do is make the level in the return area the same as the fuge, this way the baffle will not have as much pressure on it ( rather then having the return areas water lower).
I'm really nervous about taking the fuge apart, even for a day, since when I attached it I lost half my corals, no one seems to understand why that happened exactully, ( since the fuge was allowed to cycle for a while before it was attached) but I'm worried that some freak occurance will happen again, since I seem to have that kind of luck.
This is probably not the best way of fixing it, but I'm just not confident enough to take it apart right now, to much weirdness going on with my tank lately, I will probably do it at a later date when I'm confident that the tank has settled down for a longer period of time.
The levels in the fuge are constant at the moment ( the rock is holding everything in place) but what I'll try to do is make the level in the return area the same as the fuge, this way the baffle will not have as much pressure on it ( rather then having the return areas water lower).
I'm really nervous about taking the fuge apart, even for a day, since when I attached it I lost half my corals, no one seems to understand why that happened exactully, ( since the fuge was allowed to cycle for a while before it was attached) but I'm worried that some freak occurance will happen again, since I seem to have that kind of luck.
This is probably not the best way of fixing it, but I'm just not confident enough to take it apart right now, to much weirdness going on with my tank lately, I will probably do it at a later date when I'm confident that the tank has settled down for a longer period of time.
Haole
"Village Idiot"
I’m glad to hear that you do plan to take this down some day to fix it properly. You saved me from typing a big long spiel on “if it were my tank yadda yadda yaddaâ€...
Good thinking on your part to raise the level in the return section closer to what the refugium level is. That’ll definitely help to relieve some of the pressure on that refugium wall.
Ya know, after reading back through this monster thread and your other threads as well, trying to pinpoint a reason why your corals reacted so badly, if I were to point any fingers it would have to be towards the live sand you put in the fuge. There’s just something about those prepackaged bags of live sand that I just don’t trust. I mean something that sits in a bag for God knows how long... How diverse can it be? I know... Many people claim that they’ve had no problems with it, but that’s just my opinion. Plus you made mention of inadvertently stirring up the sand bed in your display tank in your other thread. How deep of a stirring would be the question here. Oh, and let’s not forget the newly added live rock. Your tank has gone through some pretty wicked changes lately... You may have provoked a mini cycle that sent some of these corals over the edge. Just a thought...
Keep your composure up, Yvonne!
Good thinking on your part to raise the level in the return section closer to what the refugium level is. That’ll definitely help to relieve some of the pressure on that refugium wall.
Ya know, after reading back through this monster thread and your other threads as well, trying to pinpoint a reason why your corals reacted so badly, if I were to point any fingers it would have to be towards the live sand you put in the fuge. There’s just something about those prepackaged bags of live sand that I just don’t trust. I mean something that sits in a bag for God knows how long... How diverse can it be? I know... Many people claim that they’ve had no problems with it, but that’s just my opinion. Plus you made mention of inadvertently stirring up the sand bed in your display tank in your other thread. How deep of a stirring would be the question here. Oh, and let’s not forget the newly added live rock.
Your tank has gone through some pretty wicked changes lately... You may have provoked a mini cycle that sent some of these corals over the edge. Just a thought...Keep your composure up, Yvonne!
ilektrik22
Well-known member
yeah the bag of sand ( which did settle for a while before the tanks were attached, my original sand was the same, except expired, and I never really had an initial spike) and the pistol shrimp chaos, okay so it wasn't all his fault he was just being himself and moved the pvc pipping my rocks were sitting on and the rock became super unstable so I had to take apart the tank, the live rock, i figure that didn't really effect much as it was basically directly from one tank ( where it sat for 5 years) and straight into mine ( which is where most of my rock came from anyway) and then the 75% water volume addition of the sump( although I did test it before attaching the two tanks and they both tested similairly there was no nitrites, ammonia, similar pH, same salinity, temp, calcium was higher in sump, alk was similar. And then I added a skimmer just to mix it up a bit
that being said, there's a reason i'm afraid of taking apart the sump.
..aka stirring up the sand. I didn't stir it that much, the clowns were in the tank and didn't die just where the pvc was to make it upright again. I will be moving within the next year, so when that happens I will take apart the sump and I will glue it like no ones business...there will be glue all over the glass and i don't care how it looks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks guys
I kinda freaked out when this happened on the weekend, I'm hoping my bad luck has changed ( although now I have some weire looking hitchhiker i'm hoping to get an id on)
that being said, there's a reason i'm afraid of taking apart the sump.
..aka stirring up the sand. I didn't stir it that much, the clowns were in the tank and didn't die
just where the pvc was to make it upright again. I will be moving within the next year, so when that happens I will take apart the sump and I will glue it like no ones business...there will be glue all over the glass and i don't care how it looks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thanks guys
I kinda freaked out when this happened on the weekend, I'm hoping my bad luck has changed ( although now I have some weire looking hitchhiker i'm hoping to get an id on)
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Haole
"Village Idiot"
lol... Hopefully everything will hold together until then...
