Blog Comments

Well, my monti has taken a rapid turn for the worse. After showing rapid growth and great color for 6 weeks, it's started rapidly bleaching and loosing tissue on some of the tips. This started when I added sump last week, and my frog spawn isn't extending nearly as much as it used to. I've tested my water a couple times and everything is the same as it was before. I've filled a reactor with carbon in case there was some kind of contaminent in the plumbing. My skimmer has been producing next to nothing since adding the sump, but I've been told this is normal for a while since I've added almost 50% to the system volume with clean new water. I'll try to take a picture to post later. It's pretty sad right now.

Sort of (no really REALLY) off topic but what is that strut and wing-tip from?

It might be better water clarity, but more than likely it is change in flow and new stuff introduced in the water from the PVC, cement, silicone of the sump, etc. The coral will adapt when things settle down and the slime coat covers every surface.

Marc, thanks. I'm going to give it a few more days and see how things look. I could probably throttle back the return pump a bit and to help smooth things out too.

I'm also wondering if suddenly removing the surface scum layer is allowing more light through and if it's possibly a reaction to that? I also noticed that adding the overflow box drastically changed the flow pattern in such a narrow tank, so I repositioned one of my powerheads. Time will tell, I've learned to take a wait and see approach when nothing obvious is wrong (ie water parameters, parasite etc).

Yes, that's a concern with that very long drop into the return section that you are running so shallow. However, there's a way around that. You'll want a few pieces of acrylic or glass that are the width of the sump, but each one is 2" shorter than the last one. Glue them all together into the sump so you create a very narrow stair-step effect. This will stop the bubbles because the water falls 2", hits the little 1/4" ledge, then 2", then the ledge, then 2", then the ledge, then into the water of the return.

The stairs may take up 1" more area if you had to use four pieces.

The leather may just be a coincidence, or perhaps the return line flow has thrown it off for the moment.

I'm still getting some micro bubbles out of the return line, and Tuan pointed out that the water cascading into the return section of the sump is generating bubbles. I'm hoping this will go away after everything builds up a nice slime coat.

Also, my toadstool and Monti have both been looking a bit unhappy since I added the sump. I tested parameters last night and everthing was right were I want it. So I'll change out the phosban in the reactor today for a load of carbon, in case some contaminate slipped in during the construction.

@ Phil, lol.. Yeah I've read all the article at least twice on Marc's site, some more. I'm just trying to figure out which route to go with on building my sump. Or just by one; cheapest one I've seen for my size tank is 150.00 without the pump.

OK, I'll try that.

I should also note that the bottom shelf is reinforced to hold the weight of the sump. there are 3 2x4's with 1/2 MDF on top of them supporting it directly off the floor. the particle board cabinet was a quick and dirty solution, but if I was doing it at home I'd build a heavy duty one right from the start.

And one second thought, I may keep the bak pak even if the scrubber live up to it's advertising, just in case I get an event, like a spawning or something.

When you add images, it defaults to thumbnails. I guess that's great for smart phone users, but I hate it when I'm using my 24" monitor. All my posts use full size (770 x 512) images. To make them larger, when you are in the editor, run your mouse over the image. Click on the pencil that appears on the image, then click on the size you want them to be and click Save.

Oh, and thanks for allowing my photos to display full size.

I'm hoping to get rid of the bak pak before too much longer. It does a pretty good job on this tank when everything is tuned up right, it just doesn't hold those perfect setting for more than a day. Hopefully the turf scrubber will eliminate the need for a skimmer as claimed by it's proponents, otherwise I'll be upgrading to a Reef Dynamics (formerly Euro Reef) skimmer in the coming year.

Also, I tested the return pump at low water levels, and I can lower the return section level to where the top of the pump is exposed without loosing any significant flow.

I should note that I am getting occasional micro bubbles out of the return line, but I'm hoping that will stop after a few days of bio slime build-up.

An unpleasant alternative would be to lower the baffle and place the Bakpak in the sump at the proper depth. This would give you more water-holding volume.

Thanks Marc. Yes, I did shut everything down and check, 3 or 4 times. LOL I've got about 3/4" to spare. But I needed the level in the main section high for the hang one back skimmer, and also wanted to add as much volume as possible to the system. However, when I add the scrubber I may have to lower level of the ATO float switch in the return section since there will be a bit more water draining during a total outage.

Did you unplug the return pump to make sure the sump can hold all the water? It looks pretty full.

Other than that, I like it. You did a nice job!

I cut it with a table saw and an 80 tooth carbide blade. I've used a hand held circular saw with a cutting guide before too, but the table saw is definitely more accurate. Then I flame polished the top edge with a propane torch. Marc has lots of great acrylic working tips on his home page.

Water changes are simplest way to improve tank conditions I've ever found.

Hey was lexan easy to work with? How can you cut it to size? By the way, my tank readings are looking better with these water changes.

Yeah I looked at it for awhile. The turf scrubber really seems to work good at eliminating algae. I need that for sure!

the baffles are 1/4" lexan held in place with lots of silicon on both sides. I took a quick look at that link, I'll be reading more tonight. I want to get the scrubber set up soon.

Very nice Phil! What materials did you use for your baffles? Did ya see the link for turf scubbers on ya last post? That will give ya a bunch of ideas.

Ok, Slovak from this site told me about the algae turf scrubber. Here is a forum with info all about it. http://www.algaescrubber.net. I'm on iPhone so you may have to copy and paste URL.