wet dry and ultraclear

[reedlog]

I am currently running a magnum canister filter and an aquaclear HOB on my 75gal, but want to get rid of the canister and replace with a wet dry. I am a little nervous about setting up the wet dry, as I know someone who had to replace their carpet 1 day after setting one up (I assume inappropriately), so my first question is does anyone have any suggestions or helpful hints before I begin trying to learn how to set it up on my own?
My next question is.. my LFS suggested some stuff called "ultra clear" which I am having trouble finding much out about online. Although my tank is already established and everything is healthy, the lfs suggested to leave my canister running for about a month and add some of this ultra clear as a supplement to help the wet/dry obtain its biological filtration and cycle before removing the canister. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with the product and/or suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[reedlog]

I was told that there is a possibility that if I lose power, and the HOB pre-filter of the wet/dry looses syphon it could flood, this really scares me. Can anyone who has a wet/dry with a hob pre-filter please advise me for how to avoid this from happening?
Thanks!

 

[saltfan]

This doesn't happen anymore if done right. SCSINET, should jump in here, he's good at explaining this stuff. But basically when power goes off, the siphon stops because of the water being lowered in the tank, and the anti-siphon you need to break by drilling a hole in the return just below the water line, to keep the water from back siphoning to the sump, when the pump stops, the water left in the line will back siphon to the point of the hole you have drilled, then nothing else. The hob overflows are made so that the siphon doesn't break, but the water stops entering the chamber and will not allow anymore water to go over into the U. Thus you need a 4-5 gallon more than you think sump, so that the water coming from the return does not overflow the sump. When the power comes back on, the pump will start to return water, the water lever goes back to normal, and back into the overflow box at the point where it will overflow into the U-box again.

 

[reedlog]

Okay.. I have the wet/dry set up.. and I am glad to see that when I shut off the pump the syphon seems to stop, which I am still sort of scratching my head wondering how that manages to work. But, My god the pump is loud, any suggestions for quieting it down?

 

[saltfan]

The pump in the sump? Or external? You may have a air pocket stuck in there, not likely but maybe. What kinda pump are we talking about here? IF its one of the big ones, all you should hear is the fan on the back of it.

 

[reedlog]

It is submerged, and internal. It is a CA 1800. It is almost creating like a loud vibrating sound, when I push down on the tubing it makes it a bit quieter. Would raising the water level or maybe lifting the filter off the stand somehow help?

 

[fishntx]

did the pump come with suction cups and if it did are you using them this helps with the vibration noise

 

[reedlog]

it did actually, i was going to put them on this morning, but didnt have time. I will definitley do that when I get home

 

[reedlog]

I managed to quiet down the pump, and big thank you to everyone's help. But, now I am concerned about quieting down the syphon from the overflow box into the pre-filter. I have heard of drilling a hole into the u-tube and connecting to a powerhead in the tank.. this seems difficult to me, and hopefully not the only solution. I know I can lower the overflow box lower into the tank and that may help a bit, but that also raises the water level in the sump, and right now that is about perfect. Plus, the main problem I feel is the water level in the pre-filter, and sound of it sucking water and air down, maybe making some kind of contraption to cover the hole at the top of the prefilter to buffer the sound?