my upgrade journal/journey

[smitten with ocean life]

i am hoping to go look at it tomorrow. anything i should ask about or be sure to check?

 

[Calmwaters]

i am hoping to go look at it tomorrow. anything i should ask about or be sure to check?

Not that I can think of. Make sure it has a lid...

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok! thanks amanda!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i have literally hundreds of those micro star brittle fish things. their legs are sticking out EVERYWHERE! it got me to wondering. ive been wanting to get a harlequin shrimp but was always afraid of keeping up with the food supply. do they eat the micro brittle stars?

 

[tharbin]

i have literally hundreds of those micro star brittle fish things. their legs are sticking out EVERYWHERE! it got me to wondering. ive been wanting to get a harlequin shrimp but was always afraid of keeping up with the food supply. do they eat the micro brittle stars?

Jill,

I've never heard that they do but maybe someone else knows for sure.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ive been feeding rods food. everything seems to really like it. but i have been noticing that i get a yucky scum on the water surface the more i use it

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok guys i need you to rescue me again! i have no idea what is going on or how to fix it. just got done with a regular water change. didnt mess with or adjust anything. now you can hear what sounds like water filling up in the overflow box, and then a whoosh as it suddenly drains. (i guess) thats the best i know how to describe it. im wondering if a snail or something has a pipe plugged?

 

[UncommonSense]

ok guys i need you to rescue me again! i have no idea what is going on or how to fix it. just got done with a regular water change. didnt mess with or adjust anything. now you can hear what sounds like water filling up in the overflow box, and then a whoosh as it suddenly drains. (i guess) thats the best i know how to describe it. im wondering if a snail or something has a pipe plugged?

This is indeed a probable clog!

Remember that gate valve I taught you to tune? Open it all the way, as many turns counter-clockwise as it can go… see if the clog drains through, then close it back down/retune!

Your plumbing is a bit weird… so, If opening the gate valve all the way doesn’t unclog the primary drain, it’s a snail or similar large object stuck in that 1.5” to 1” reducer right before your primary drain gate valve!

(If the latter, you should power off both return pumps, let display water fully drain down, then decouple primary drain plumbing using the union fitting to blast the primary drain plumbing out in reverse outside with a garden hose! [gate valve wide open while blasting it out from the sump side of the plumbing])

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok before i touched anything it suddenly stopped doing it. safe? or a problem still?

 

[tbrown]

ok before i touched anything it suddenly stopped doing it. safe? or a problem still?

Depends. If it was a snail on top and it moved you're clear for now until it climbs back on the pipe/tubing. If it was a clog and it cleared you're good.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

gaaaa! it doing it again now!

 

[UncommonSense]

gaaaa! it doing it again now!

It sounds like you might want to take a peek into that overflow box, along with the aforementioned drain unclogging methods!

The problem will keep happening until you fix the source! In this case, is there any way for snails to get past the weir teeth? A missing tooth? Or, baby snails growing out in the overflow box?

 

[smitten with ocean life]

no missing teeth. i dont know how anything could get back there thats big enough to plug a pipe! yes, i think im going to have to tackle it. i held my phone up and looked into the overflow box but dont see anything

 

[UncommonSense]

no missing teeth. i dont know how anything could get back there thats big enough to plug a pipe! yes, i think im going to have to tackle it. i held my phone up and looked into the overflow box but dont see anything

Start by opening that gate valve all the way to see if whatever it is blows through into the sump!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

just make sure im not mistaken- you mean this one, right?

 

[UncommonSense]

just make sure im not mistaken- you mean this one, right?

I do!

Turn it counter-clockwise as many turns as it will go, this fully opens up the pipe, ideally flushing the clog out into the sump!

Though I see that the plumbing reducer is immediately after your gate valve; less than ideal… if whatever’s clogging the pipe doesn’t get flushed through into the sump, it will get stuck right at that white reducer!

(If the drain still sounds like a toilet flushing repeatedly even with the valve fully opened, the white reducer fitting has something trapped against it which cannot fit through… this calls for physically removing the plumbing to unclog it in reverse as mentioned above!)

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok. got it. wish me luck!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

another question! do i shut the return pumps off first?

 

[UncommonSense]

another question! do i shut the return pumps off first?

— Only turn them off if opening the valve all the way fails to unclog the pipe, and you need to escalate to removing the pipe completely for unclogging!

— it will go to a constant straw slurping sound once unclogged/valve wide open, vs. rhythmic toilet flushing sound if still clogged/valve wide open! (You can also just check the sump to see which drain pipe is dumping bubbles out!)

 

[smitten with ocean life]

well, nothing blew out and its still doing its toilet flushing sound