my upgrade journal/journey

[smitten with ocean life]

do these help?

 

[UncommonSense]

do these help?

They do!

That looks like biofiltration, or a bubble trap!

I’d leave it, unless you have a bunch of rock rubble you want to toss in that chamber!

— also, your sump water level is WAY too high! You should pull at least 15 gallons out of there to leave enough reserve space for display water siphoning in a power outage!

 

[tharbin]

do these help?

Looks like a bubble trap to me, it keeps bubbles from your skimmer, etc. from getting back into the tank. Nice to have and a very nice sump!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

They do!

That looks like biofiltration, or a bubble trap!

I’d leave it, unless you have a bunch of rock rubble you want to toss in that chamber!

— also, your sump water level is WAY too high! You should pull at least 15 gallons out of there to leave enough reserve space for display water siphoning in a power outage!

i know. i overfilled it the other day and was just waiting for it to go down so i dont need to add anymore media stuff to the other chambers?

 

[UncommonSense]

i know. i overfilled it the other day and was just waiting for it to go down

Hehe I’m guilty of doing this too, from time to time! — just note that it will slowly increase your salinity until it gets low enough for the ATO to start operating again!

so i dont need to add anymore media stuff to the other chambers?

Not really, it looks pretty good!

Assuming you have enough rock in the tank itself, it isn’t strictly necessary in the sump!

— hopefully you got the Cor-20 pump controllers worked out, too?

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thank you! no not really. i tried turning them down and now ive developed a little leak around here. not sure why. i definitely like the noise level better if i shut one of the return pumps off. but then

i have no water movement out of the left nozzle and i worry about not enough oxygenation

 

[UncommonSense]

no not really. i tried turning them down

Here’s the least cluttered instructions I can get for operating the pump controllers:

I recommend reducing both to low flow, like 20-30% power, tops.. they are very oversized for the application!

ive developed a little leak around here. not sure why

The leak is likely actually from the union fitting directly above that circled bulkhead! — water goes downhill until you find it!

— Union fitting have a rubber sealing O-ring; just like your overflow bulkheads, these can get old and harden!

— start by trying to hand tighten those union fittings to see if they’re just loose…

— if that fails, you can replace the o-ring in each!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thank you! i felt up around that bulkhead but nothing is wet. ill try though

 

[UncommonSense]

thank you! i felt up around that bulkhead but nothing is wet. ill try though

interesting!

Well, first step in chasing a leak would be to dry the area out well with a towel/etc…

then, wait 30-60mins, and re-examine using a tissue to wipe plumbing, looking for the tissue to darken where it absorbs any moisture!

It isn’t common for water to go back “uphill” from inside a bulkhead fitting, so I’d be willing to bet it’s coming from above and dripping, or leaking down the plumbing to end up there!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok its oozing up around that far left gasket thing thats against the sump

 

[UncommonSense]

ok its oozing up around that far left gasket thing thats against the sump

Interesting! That is an unusual spot…

well, that’s actually a bulkhead fitting and associated gasket! — hand tightening that bulkhead’s nut should prevent further oozing, though it is likely only a product of the high sump water level!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok maybe i will drain some!

 

[UncommonSense]

Haha in the meantime… keep me posted on the RO pressure gauge debacle, as it unfolds?

— I’m curious what the booster pumps factory preset pressure is, and want to make sure it isn’t as high as mine was out of the box (95PSI!)

 

[smitten with ocean life]

help! im trying to find the post where @UncommonSense said there is a tool to use to get into tight places to tighten a big nut. ive developed a leak and hand tightening isnt cutting it!

 

[UncommonSense]

help! im trying to find the post where @UncommonSense said there is a tool to use to get into tight places to tighten a big nut. ive developed a leak and hand tightening isnt cutting it!

Channel lock pliers work pretty well for tight spaces!

Alternatively, a “jaw” style oil filter wrench!

 

[tharbin]

Or a strap wrench

Strap Wrench

 

[UncommonSense]

ive developed a leak and hand tightening isnt cutting it!

Given the multiple issues so far with the overflow box gaskets, I took the liberty of doing a bit of independence research:

— You’ve got a Modular Marine external overflow box, rated for 2,400gph…

— this box used 2x 2” bulkheads to pass through the tank wall…

— Modular Marine supplies a 3” diamond hole saw to cut the pass through holes in the tank, this is minimum gasket ID…

— Lifegard Aquatics happens to also have a 3” ID gasket on their 2” bulkheads, and sells replacement gaskets!

https://fishtanksdirect.com/lifegar...XtamFOeiQJsYa6MZ4EjZgWjYi22RDIg4aAm_jEALw_wcB

— Two of these gaskets to use in place of the old ones inside the tank should resolve the troubles you’ve been having with the overflow leaking!

 

[Marquarium]

One of my overflow kits came with a really small wrench that's perfect for tight spaces. Wonder if this is a common tool at some LFS.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thanks! for now the leaks are pretty well stopped. there is just one and it is so extremely slow i think i can relax a bit to figure out my next move. i got my husband to tighten them for me. i was holding my breath while he was doing it because i was just waiting for the plastic to snap! so heres what i think happened. first of all i was still trying to figure out why it is so loud. and here there are supposed to be 2 pipes in the overflow box. water is only supposed to be going down the center drain.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

so i installed the two pipes and now the overflow box is full of water. i think the weight caused it to leak. cause it wasnt leaking before. still havent got this fine tuned yet. one thing after another! lol. the thought of taking stuff apart to change the gaskets looks huge right now. but it might indeed be what i have to do