RED SEA 88g FIRST TANK. SUMP QUESTIONS

[gabrielquissak32]

Hi lads I’m new to the hobby. Day 10 of cycling my fishless ( at the moment) tank (88g).
Equipment I have running at the moment
2 Red Sea wave makers 45
1 skimmer reef octopus 130 essence
2 filter socks
1 heater
1 return pump
1 media block
2 Red Sea led 90

This is the first tank/ sump I set up and just want to make sure everything is at the right place/chamber.
At the moment I have return pump/skimmer/heater in the same chamber
Also skimmer is overflowing a bit. Bought second hand so don’t think it’s breaking in.
Just wanting some opinions if it’s a good setup or what has to be changed.
Thanks

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Looks fine to me, but I have never had a sump, so not to sure.

Your skimmer won't start to produce skimmate until you get fish, and start to feed.

How long ago did you install your skimmer? Did you adjust water level and air intake yet?

 

[gabrielquissak32]

Installed couple days ago since I saw the first signs of bigger waste. Im actually not sure what to do with that blue part. Is that the air intake? Not sure how to adjust that.

 

[Pod_01]

Something seems off. I have RedSea Reefer 250, the layout of my sump is as follow.
- return chamber
- water from here flows into socks chamber/ I don’t use socks I just have the media cups in there and use GAC (granular activated carbon).
- this flows into fuge section (not in use so the divider between fuge and equipment section is removed)
- from fuge the water flows into equipment compartment, where I have heater, skimmer etc…
- last compartment is the return chamber where the return pump goes. In this compartment I have a float switch that controls the gravity fed top of water (I am not seeing the water reservoir in your picture).

Return pump and top off should be in its own compartment away from the equipment/skimmer section. This way you maintain the water level in the skimmer section at all times.

Also as was pointed out skimmer helps to remove fish waste. If there is no fish you can run the skimmer with out the collection cup for now. Eventually you might need to find the manual online on how to tune your particular skimmer or someone who knows that particular skimmer can help out.

As an observation you seem to have a lot of filtration (skimmer, socks and block). For example I only use skimmer and GAC as mentioned.

Good luck,

 

[TX_REEF]

Something seems off. I have RedSea Reefer 250, the layout of my sump is as follow.
- return chamber
- water from here flows into socks chamber/ I don’t use socks I just have the media cups in there and use GAC (granular activated carbon).
- this flows into fuge section (not in use so the divider between fuge and equipment section is removed)
- from fuge the water flows into equipment compartment, where I have heater, skimmer etc…
- last compartment is the return chamber where the return pump goes. In this compartment I have a float switch that controls the gravity fed top of water (I am not seeing the water reservoir in your picture).

Return pump and top off should be in its own compartment away from the equipment/skimmer section. This way you maintain the water level in the skimmer section at all times.

Also as was pointed out skimmer helps to remove fish waste. If there is no fish you can run the skimmer with out the collection cup for now. Eventually you might need to find the manual online on how to tune your particular skimmer or someone who knows that particular skimmer can help out.

As an observation you seem to have a lot of filtration (skimmer, socks and block). For example I only use skimmer and GAC as mentioned.

Good luck,

Agreed with this, but for the first section I'd call it the "drain chamber" to avoid confusion - return chamber is what I'd call the final chamber with the return pump. You want the return pump in the final chamber, alone.

 

[gabrielquissak32]

Agreed with this, but for the first section I'd call it the "drain chamber" to avoid confusion - return chamber is what I'd call the final chamber with the return pump. You want the return pump in the final chamber, alone.

That part where the return pump goes is where it’s not working for me. If I put the return pump there water drains really quickly and it goes to basically no water in that chamber so not sure what to do?

Something seems off. I have RedSea Reefer 250, the layout of my sump is as follow.
- return chamber
- water from here flows into socks chamber/ I don’t use socks I just have the media cups in there and use GAC (granular activated carbon).
- this flows into fuge section (not in use so the divider between fuge and equipment section is removed)
- from fuge the water flows into equipment compartment, where I have heater, skimmer etc…
- last compartment is the return chamber where the return pump goes. In this compartment I have a float switch that controls the gravity fed top of water (I am not seeing the water reservoir in your picture).

Return pump and top off should be in its own compartment away from the equipment/skimmer section. This way you maintain the water level in the skimmer section at all times.

Also as was pointed out skimmer helps to remove fish waste. If there is no fish you can run the skimmer with out the collection cup for now. Eventually you might need to find the manual online on how to tune your particular skimmer or someone who knows that particular skimmer can help out.

As an observation you seem to have a lot of filtration (skimmer, socks and block). For example I only use skimmer and GAC as mentioned.

Good luck

 

[Allenh427]

Then it sounds like you don't have enough water in the tank. Take the white bio brick out for now to see where the water level is sitting. Keep adding water to the tank until the return chamber doesn't empty out anymore.

Also what is that tube coming out from your skimmer and going over to the filter sock? If that's a drain tube, you don't want then junk the skimmer collects flowing back into your tank.

Edit*. That white "biobrick" I called it above might actually be used to elevate your skimmer out of the water more. There's a chance you need to sit your skimmer on it so that it sits at the correct water level once you add more water to your tank.

 

[gabrielquissak32]

Then it sounds like you don't have enough water in the tank. Take the white bio brick out for now to see where the water level is sitting. Keep adding water to the tank until the return chamber doesn't empty out anymore.

Also what is that tube coming out from your skimmer and going over to the filter sock? If that's a drain tube, you don't want then junk the skimmer collects flowing back into your tank.

Edit*. That white "biobrick" I called it above might actually be used to elevate your skimmer out of the water more. There's a chance you need to sit your skimmer on it so that it sits at the correct water level once you add more water to your tank.

Makes sense. I need to do a 5% water change in a couple days and will add more water then. The return pump is sitting where the skimmer is for now. Will move into its own chamber when I have more water
Thanks mate. Also I’m not sure what that blue tube does that’s why I put over the socks. Some water comes out of it but not much.

 

[Allenh427]

Can you send a picture on the other side of the skimmer so we can see what the tube connects to? If it connects to the bottom of the skimmer cup, you actually need to remove the tube and plug the hole. Those drain tubes are for people who have super high waste and want to collect skimmate (thick brown crap aka fish poop) in a container much larger than what the cup can hold.

The cup should be empty since you have no fish, but it kind of looks like yours is full of tank water from the picture. The skimmer should slowly collect thick brown crap in that cup little by little. You might want to watch a video with that skimmer to see how to dial it in so that it only collects thick brown crap and no excessive water. With no fish, it will have no waste to collect right now though.

 

[gabrielquissak32]

I’ve turned the skimmer off. you are right it’s collecting water from the tank . I’ve tried to find a video on that exact skimmer octopus reef essence 130 but had no luck finding one. The blue tube connects to the back of the cup like you’ve said