Start of one "BIG" SPS tank

goodwin9

Active Member
A few new things, (NOT FISH), picked these up today at the LFS.
Some Flower Pot corals...



Some Zoanthus...


I think that there might be a little SPS attached in the middle of this one???
 

goodwin9

Active Member
Learned once again from one of my mistakes, if it's not working...FIX IT. Don't procrastinate and expect it to fix itself. A small problem has now mushroomed into a much larger, and probably more expensive problem as a result of waiting...........
 

goodwin9

Active Member
I can't remember how far back I posted the fact the long ago, the calcium reactor solenoid had stuck in the open position and melted much of the media in the reactor.
 

goodwin9

Active Member
I ordered and had received the new media to change out in the reactor, but it sat on the shelf and I kept finding reasons not to change it out....(very stupid on my part) Sometime between Thursday and last evening it caught up with me. The recirculation pump on the reactor finally gave out.
 

goodwin9

Active Member
My first thought was that something Willy and I did the other night didn't hold, or we knocked some fitting loose in the project. I checked all of the fittings and it didn't appear anything was leaking from them, or anything near them.
Then I noticed that the construction paper I had wrapped around the calcium reactor was soaked completely through.
I'm not quite sure yet where the leak occurred, but it appears that water feeding into the reactor had no way of going through the reactor and into the sump, rather it either leaked at a fitting or out the top of the reactor. The reactor was being fed off a line in the closed loop and as this water leaked out onto the floor, it drained the sump. (70 - 80 gallons) The chiller loop is fed from the sump and with no water, the temperature climbed to 82 degrees in the tank.
 

goodwin9

Active Member
I closed the feed to the calcium reactor and filled the sump. Turned on the pumps and the chiller loop fired right up. THANK GOODNESS! Unfortunately, the other pump which provided flow to the sand filters, GFO reactor, refugium, and one return to the tank DID NOT. Locked tighter than a drum.....
__________________
 

goodwin9

Active Member
So now I have two problems. First, the Blueline 20 pump recirculating the calcium reactor is locked up. I need to take it apart to see what damage has been done. The second problem is to remove and inspect the Bluline 70 pump at the end of the sump. It is screwed directly into the bulkhead in the sump. It looks like I will have to drain the sump to be able to remove the pump........


 

goodwin9

Active Member
LESSON LEARNED....Fix today what needs to be fixed and don't put it off until tomorrow. Looks to me that if I have to replace both pumps, the price tag is going to run around $350.00, not to mention the frustration and anger I have with myself for letting this happen.
 

goodwin9

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2668186
Holy moley. Thats alot of problems all at once. Is the livestock ok while all of this is happening? Best of luck to you.
Thank goodness the other pump attatched to the sump for the chiller loop ran once I refilled the sump. The temperature had climbed to 82 degress but was back down to 78 in the morning. Everything in the tank was fine, the closed loop and filtration loops were uneffected by the waterless sump and kept water moving in the tank. Problems were cause by my not addressing the issue of the melted media right after it happened. Shame on me.....
 

goodwin9

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2668006
By the way it does look like a little sps something is growing the middle there.
I should have taken a better picture of it before I placed it in the tank. Will be interesting to see if it grows. I set the piece in a fairly high flow area in the tank...
 

fishkid13

Active Member
I am sorry what happened. Do you have a million or so dollors and it seems more like a tang tank than a sps tank. Oh and how many gals is the tank again?
 

goodwin9

Active Member
Originally Posted by fishkid13
http:///forum/post/2668245
I am sorry what happened. Do you have a million or so dollors and it seems more like a tang tank than a sps tank. Oh and how many gals is the tank again?

There are more tangs than SPS corals. Water just isn't good enough for the SPS corals. There are a few, but the softies, zoos, mushrooms and some LSP are doing well in the tank. If I had a choice between fish or SPS corals, I would take the fish anyday.
 
A

alexmir

Guest
Originally Posted by fishkid13
http:///forum/post/2668245
I am sorry what happened. Do you have a million or so dollors and it seems more like a tang tank than a sps tank. Oh and how many gals is the tank again?

l
 

goodwin9

Active Member
Good news! The impeller in the Blueline pump on the calcium reactor is in one piece. I am hopeful with a little cleaning it will fire back up!

 
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