live sand

[lwilliams8]

i had a 60 gal cube break last week. we saved everything whew. my question is. do you guys think my sand will be ok. we left it in the tank with about 3inches of water covering it. i loved the tank we picked it up in bham 2 weeks ago from an individual and it cracked 1 week later. 2 am believe it or not.

 

[JR's Reef]

Glad you where able to save everything. Been sitting for a week in the tank not running correct? It should be fine but would set up new tank and give it a few weeks to make sure it dont cycle.

 

[lwilliams8]

yeah i couldnt run it for the crack in it. so i should put my live rock and sand in there and let it run a couple weeks???? thanks for the reply. weve been doing this for 3years and still learning all of the time.

 

[JR's Reef]

Thats what i would do if it was mine. It may not cycle or just go thru a mini cycle but would I would not take a chance on losing any fish or coral thats why i would wait to make sure everything is good. Ive been in the hobby for 6yrs and still learn something new all the time. Dont think its possble to learn everything about this hobby. Let us know how it goes.

 

[lwilliams8]

Thanks

 

[H@rry]

Moving a tank with substrate or water often causes problems like that.

I just set up some new tanks and used sand that had been in buckets for about 4 weeks. I expected a mini cycle but I tested after a few days and didn't find any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. We saw a few worm trails on the glass so everything didn't die.

You'll probably be fine but if you have time to wait several weeks that would be better.

 

[lwilliams8]

i was hoping to get my corals out of my nano tank and my fish and a few other corals out of a friends tank. i will gie it a week or so just to be on the safe side. thanks

 

[lwilliams8]

My new tank seems to be doing good. Have most everything in it except what friends were keeping for me. The only problem is this overflow. I had flex hose on it, alot of gurgling. Then I put an inline valve on there. still the same. Next I hard plumbed it with the valve also. I just cant seem to get this one regulated, so much gurgling. I havent ran into this problem before.

 

[gflat65]

Describe what you're trying to do. I'm assuming it is a non RR tank with an external overflow, right? What kind of overflow (brand, etc.)? What return pump are you running? If the external overflow is gurgling, then it sounds like it is trying to break siphon (draining more water than the U tubes can provide to the sump, or than the drain pipe from the overflow can handle, though this isn't usually an issue if using larger than 1" pipe), or something long those lines (U tube placement, maybe, etc.) With the U tubes primed, you should be able to just turn the pump on and close down the ball valve (on the outlet of the pump), slowly adjusting it open to match what the overflow can drain. Once it's running and adjusted initally, you shouldn't have any issues until the power goes off and the U tubes try to break siphon (and the return pumps water to the tank, but it can't drain, flooding). It sounds like from one of your descriptions of the U tubes that you have an air lifter, which helps prevent the siphon break, but I could be misreading your post.

Sorry for rambling, but my brain is drug addled right now, so it runs without reins right now (recovering from surgery). Give us some description of what you have (pics would help, too), and we should be able to give you enough advice to get it going. Whether it is good advice, I won't say, but you'll get plenty of it.

 

[H@rry]

we should be able to give you enough advice to get it going. Whether it is good advice, I won't say, but you'll get plenty of it.

Gary's right. We'll give you plenty of advice. It may not be worth any more than it cost you. :angel:

 

[lwilliams8]

it is a 60 gal cube from marineland. it has an internal overflow. the plumbing is something like ive never seen. it is plumbed a few inches down from the top. i will try and get some pics. the overflow is 1inch pvc and the pump is 3/4 inch pvc

 

[lwilliams8]

tank

ok here it is i hope

 

[lwilliams8]

everything looks ok. just put kenya trees, some zoas, mshrooms and ricirdia in. fish tomorrow friends kept for me!

 

[gflat65]

So is that the drain and return drilled high up? If so, which is drain and which is return (looks like return is high and drain low)? Are you draining straight through the bulkhead, or is there something inside the weir area I can't see connected to the bulkhead? What size piping? If the drain is really high up, you likely won't have room, but a DIY durso standpipe is one option for silencing the drainage. A stockman standpipe takes up a little less room, and can also provide a lot quieter operation. If it is constantly gurlging and draining only through the bulkhead (no other fittings), one of these options can reduce the sound for you.

If there is an issue with everything not draining properly, there are several things to look for. Since this is a new system, the drain line could have air in it, which will reduce the water flow until the air gets knocked out of the pipe. Sometimes, blocking the outlet of the tube with your hand, then removing your hand a few times can push the air to the bottom and out of the tube. Return pump sizing can be a problem, too. You only want about 8-10X turnover through your sump, generally (other turnover rates added through skimmers, circ pumps, etc.). A pump with around 600 gph (accounting for head loss) is roughly what you'd want.

I saw that you mentioned flex piping, then hard piping. If you get vibration, using flex piping at the pump or equipment connections, then going to hard piping can reduce sounds from vibration. The flex absorbs a little, reducing the rattle.

 

[lwilliams8]

drain is on the bottom. all it amounts to inside the overflow is a 90. it has a small tube going out the top right below the return. the drain is 1" pvc and the return is 3/4. my tank that cracked was the same except the return and drain were drilled through the bottom and you could adjust the drain where you cant on this one. It is a great looking tank. the company said that it is rated for 700 gph. If I can get this quitened down I think I will love it.

 

[gflat65]

Do a search for stockman standpipes and see if you think something like that will fit in the weir for the drain side. They are more compact and can reduce noise. One caveat is that as the stockman starts to collect solids at the suction point, it'll slow down flow (and eventually stop). I've had this happen with caluerpa getting sucked in, then not passing through the drainage pipe, allowing other solids to collect, blocking the 'inlet'. cleaning it out every once in a while reduces or eliminates issues. It may work for you...

 

[lwilliams8]

thanks.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I hope that you can see this picture of my modified stockman pipe. This one was on my 29 gallon tank and worked very well without clogging. It controlled the water flow and noise really well:

You cannot see in this picture, but behind the bulkhead is an 90 degree elbow turned upward. A tee fits on top of it. A tee looks like a side way T. The upper end of the tee is plugged. There is a small hole drilled in the middle of the plug for a tiny air valve to control the flow a la Durso stand pipe. Another elbow is connected to the horizontal end of the tee (this horizontal part of the tee actually control the water level in the main display tank.) This elbow is turned downward and a ball valve (the one you can see in the picture) is mounted on it.

Tomoko

 

[gflat65]

You must have that image hosted in the RC photo gallery? I don't think you can post pictures hosted on RC in other forums...

Here's a link to the Stockman.
http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/standpipe/standpipe-ken_stockman.htm

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Sorry about that. Here's another one of the bulkhead/modified stockman pipe:

Tomoko