62g tideline lagoon AIO filtration issue

[mideast]

I have had this tank up and running for couple months now. Im having issues with the water level on the 2 separated chambers. They always change i think because they do not share. Its hard on my ATO to work properly. Has anyone found a fix for this? Any info helps.

 

[BryanM]

I have had this tank up and running for couple months now. Im having issues with the water level on the 2 separated chambers. They always change i think because they do not share. Its hard on my ATO to work properly. Has anyone found a fix for this? Any info helps.

I found this looking up the tank, maybe it will help:

** please note: the 62G Lagoon features 2 separate return pump chambers and 2 return pumps for improved circulation & filtration. One chamber WILL drain faster than the other. Be sure to put your ATO on the faster-draining chamber, or keep the water level at least 1/2" above both return pump baffles.

 

[mideast]

I found this looking up the tank, maybe it will help:

** please note: the 62G Lagoon features 2 separate return pump chambers and 2 return pumps for improved circulation & filtration. One chamber WILL drain faster than the other. Be sure to put your ATO on the faster-draining chamber, or keep the water level at least 1/2" above both return pump baffles.

I followed that as well, the faster one switches sides a lot. Wish there is a way to make them share

 

[mwar]

Any luck?

 

[mideast]

Any luck?

No I think there's is a mistake in how they built this tank.

 

[James Franco]

We had a conversation about this. (but I'll share my thought in this thread for others who might have this tank) My exact same tank (which I believe to be a newer model - from this year) has the baffles the other way around. High side closest to the center overflow and low side in the next chamber over. After thinking about this for a while, this issue would not bother me because I do not run the filter socks. However, I see why this is an issue for him. Water will simply overflow the sock and take the path of least resistance into the overflow to the next chamber. His design is good for surface agitation, the newer design is better for the socks.

On the note of the chambers draining at different rates - this is a problem. Especially with the pumps that come stock with this tank. Here is my issue with the pumps. First off they aren't great pumps. I bought my tank new with brand new pumps. The pumps rarely restart after unplugging them for a water change. I was always having to bump them to get them going. I did not want this especially if there was a power outage and I wasn't around. They are also matched pumps which also is a bad idea for chambers that dont equally drain at the same time. I upgraded to some cheap DC pumps. I run the side with the ATO on level 4 of 10 and the other side 1 or 2 of 10. This does keep my water level a little higher than desired in the read chamber however, it works, and keeps the chambers with enough water.

You seem to have enough rock and sand to not require the filter socks (I don't run any mechanical filtration in my tank). I would suggest trying that. If you absolutely need mechanical, I would suggest running some filter floss set against the overflow edge. This comes with a risk. If you don't replace or clean the floss every couple of days, it will restrict flow and cause the pump chambers to run dry or cause a larger imbalance in the pump chambers.

This is the pump I chose as the upgrade. Well worth the money so far, just dumb a $700 tank came with low end pumps.

 

[mideast]

Ty for the input I appreciate it

 

[James Franco]

A note on the socks. I tried running the socks at first. As they clog up the water overflows them anyway and you also reduce the flow to the pump chambers which increases the imbalance of the pump chambers.

I stopped running the socks after the ugly phase of the tank. If I waned to polish the water after blowing off rocks or disturbing the sand, I will occasionally throw the socks in for a few hours.

The mesh socks the tank come with clogs very fast. I purchased the round sock adapters to be able to run normal fleece socks from kreative reefer. The fleece socks did work a little better, but honestly, after my tank got through the ugly stage 4 or 5 months ago, I haven't used the socks since.

 

[NC AL]

You could put a simple/cheap ato in the lowest chamber coming from the highest chamber. The your main ato in the highest chamber. Sucks that the design is so bad, but this option could work.

 

[James Franco]

This was my original thought to solve this issue with imbalance. I chose to replace the pumps and keep the water levels higher in the pump chamber as one of the manufactures recommendations is to keep the level more than 1/2 inch about the pump. I keep it probably 3 inches above the pump.

Side note - since my return levels are higher Im going to put some egg crate (to keep the chaeto out of the return pumps) in those pump chambers and add chaeto and another underwater grow light. It will expand my chaeto growing from 1 large chamber to the 1 large chamber and adding 2 mini chambers to grow a little extra. I'm going to try this. This should add some more nutrient reduction but also the layer of chaeto will add some extra places for pods to live and catch some particulates.