I know just enough to hurt myself and some fish...

[lmforbis]

Couple things
SW fish get a different kind of ich than FW but a bigger issue because once it gets into your tank it isn't easy to get rid of and with coral you can't treat it in the main tank.

Fuge lighting doesn't have to be expensive. I use a 23W fluorescent bulb in a 5$ clamp on fixture from homedepot. Cost around $12 total.

There are inexpensive ATO options. I use a 7 gallon plastic container plumbed to a float valve. It is gravity fed so no issues with electrical. The outlet from the reservoir has to be higher than the water level in the sump. I doubt it cost more than $30 for everything. It makes life so much easier.
There are inexpensive options for some things on a tank and there are other things not to go cheap on. Just depends on your goals with the tank. I put my money into lights.

 

[beaslbob]

Hopefully you have added some macro algae like chaeto to therefugium

 

[one-fish]

Got to stand up for Brando31 concerning ich the author of the book he just read states sw fish do not get fw ich but suffer from a disease called cryptocaryonosis often called marine ich, saltwater ich, and whitespot Guess this might be one of those things like calling scooter blennies a blenny might be more then one answer
Got to Love it..

 

[jay0705]

Agreed. Lol

 

[Brando31]

So, I had my sump pretty well balanced to the tank. It ran about a week without any issues. I would add water due to evap and it stayed stable. Then the skimmer came in the mail so I put it in the sump in its own factory designed section.

Now the pump is sucking the water out faster than its coming in. It seems to run okay for a while. Sometimes it will run for minutes or sometimes hours but then I hear it sucking air again.

Something is causing the siphon to slow down...any ideas?

( it's an overhang style that flows down to the sump via an exterior hose)

 

[lmforbis]

Is your waterlevel in the tank higher than normal?. I'd check to make sure there isn't an air bubble in the tube that goes over the tank back. If there is restart your siphon. If there is a piece of foam anywhere in the overflow box I'd remove that. They get clogged and can cause a tank overflow, usually when you aren't around.

 

[one-fish]

Good info above I do not have HOB overflow my overflows are in the DT siphoned over the rim and down to the sump...DIY design. It would make sense that the skimmer is using up a certain amount of water volume making you need to readjust your top offs. Without any experience with your set-up wont be able to help but I did add a ball valve to throttle my pumps return to the DT

 

[Brando31]

Thanks. I heard it slurping last night about 2:00am. So I got up and tinkered with it until it settled and it was time to go to work. Adding a little water, adjusting the flow, adjusting the level of the overhang unit...whatever seemed logical. I just ran home for lunch and its still fine. I did re-start the siphon as mentioned and that seemed to help. Also, I noticed the skimmer seems to haver settled down into a constant flow compared to yesterday...maybe that was part of the problem as well.

Gotta say...I have tried some different forums for other topics and they are not always as friendly or responsive. You seem to have a good group of guys here....

 

[2quills]

Just tout touch on what Imforbis, said.

If your skimmer is in the same compartment as your return pump what can often happen is micro bubbles from the skimmer output can tend to get pumped into the display.

If these bubbles or any air for that matter get picked up by the HOB overflow they will tend to get trapped and build up to the point they slow down the drain as mentioned above.

Definitely something to keep an eye on with HOB overflows going forward.

 

[beaslbob]

I use a powerhead with the "bubbler" and tube in the output. Just hook up the tube to where the bubbles congregate in the overflow. Not sure but think I used a maxijet.

To test I killed the power , let the siph9on break, and on startup it took about 30 seconds to suck out the air in the u tubes and reestablish siphon. In another test I pumped bubbles into the u tube intake. the bubbles caught in the u tube were sucked out by the powerhead.

Being as most of us use powerheads I was very pleased with the results. I even glued a diy pvc tube with a venture tube to the intake of another brand powerhead. That worked also.

my .02

 

[Brando31]

1. Overflow box siphon issue: I saw a guy online who hooked up a aqua lifter pump to suck accumulated air from the overflow as a fail safe. I bought one today.
2. I bought a Eshopps gravity fed auto top off container to supply the Eshopps sump I installed last week. The sump has a built-in float. Hoping this helps with the fluctuation of water level in the pump compartment of the sump.
3. Yep, bought some cheato and live sand for the refugium.
4. Also bought this pretty trick little curved LED light that mounts to the Eshopps sump.

Now I have all this cool new equipment on a 20 year old tank....the obvious daydream...."I should just get a new tank"...so I looked...yeah new reef tanks are silly expensive.

 

[xuanle]

Mine. maybe

 

[Brando31]

Quick update: Everything is running fine. Water parameters are good for PH, nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia. I have read that I need to start testing for calcium and magnesium. Bought a Flame Angel and was given a really beat up yellow tang. My brother in law owns a pet store and this particular fish was getting beat up in every tank he tried to hold him in, so he gave him to me. Been a week and the blood mark in his eye is almost gone, his dorsal fin has grown back enough to cover the front boney part and he is eating great. He's the most personable fish in the tank.
Refugium is showing signs of algae growth, not sure how to tell good algae from bad yet, but the Cheato seems to be doing well.

Seems like in my research I read about these "heater" catastrophes...what is the forums advice on brand/set up? Are there clues or maintenance practices that show signs the heater is getting worn out or about to malfunction?

 

[jay0705]

I like eheim heaters myself. Warning signs not many

 

[one-fish]

Buy two heaters 1/2 required wattage for your tank. If one goes bad you'll have a better chance to avoid a catastrophe.Use a GFCI outlet on all electrical equipment

 

[Brando31]

Thanks, yeah I did the two heater thing as I came across that suggestion before. And yes, everything is on gfi's. I have heard more than once about a heater getting stuck and overheating the tank...that's what I'm worried about. Sounds like having some type of controller with wifi water condition warning abilities is the only real option. Seems like they would make heaters to fault "off"

 

[one-fish]

I try to keep things simple less to go wrong. Keep in mind we are trying to replicate Nature she doesn't have wifi...Lol... but I do see your point

 

[lmforbis]

I use a reef keeper lite for my heaters. I turn the heaters all the way up and plug them into the reefkeeper. I have a temp range set and an alarm set. The controller turns the heaters on and off. If the temp goes outside that range by more than a couple degrees an audible alarm goes off. It's $100 well spent.

 

[Brando31]

Well , It was bound to happen...I had my first major rookie mistake. About 8:30 Friday night, laying on the couch watching the fish when I notice a spot on one of the damsels. Without hesitation, I treated the tank with "paraguard" thinking it might be a parasite. Immediately, I mean with seconds, the anemone and the Xenia started to wilt. I called my brother in law who owns a fish store, and he tells me I basically just poisoned all my invertebrates. Turns out it says not to use that product with tanks containing invertebrates right on the bottle. So on his advice, I did a quadruple dosage of "prime" and a 40% water change also with prime. Thank goodness I installed an RO system last weekend and had almost enough RO water made. I ended up with about a 25% water change of RO and then used warm tap water to make up the rest and match the temperature.

Two days later the anemone looks fully recovered. The Xenia looks terrible but is still alive. The urchin lost half of its needles but is still moving around. An emerald crab died, but I don't know if that was because of the Paragaurd or not.

The spot on the fish that started all this. well it was gone by the time I completed the water change. I think it may have been a piece of sand...oh geeze......

 

[one-fish]

Hopefully all will survive and hopefully you learned a lesson always read the directions when adding any chemicals to your DT. I went thru a similar experience I thought one of my fish had Marine Ich turned out to be an injury from diving into the rocks. If you don't have a QT now is the time to get one don't wait till you need one. Live and Learn..you'll be fine.