The 40b Sps Dom

dorky · Jan 6, 2013

okay fellow reefer Im in need of your wisdom or advice. The problem that i have right now is the noise from the sump. it producing lot of bubbles. My friend and I try a few things it didnt work out well unless we dial down the pump and we cant really do that because it only main flow for the tank. i was reading one the build thread couple months ago it called bubble silencer. That was the time i wish i bookmark it.:roll:anyway what im asking is how can i silence the bubble or at least reduce the sound without setting up the baffle. if u build one of those please post a link to ur thread build. thanks

dorky · Jan 7, 2013

While me n my friend r trying to find a way to reduce the mirco bubbles n noises i order a snail guard strainer for the overflow n ato it should be here soon. The next step it to make an ats (algae tuff scrubber) or the up flow algae scrubber. In the meantime I've decided what tht I will go with for this tank. It be a d.i.y dinmmable LEDs with the makersled heatsink. Instead of having one big heatsink I will go with three 12" pendents. Reason is If I upgrade my tank all I have to do is add another one pendentss

Isoprene · Jan 7, 2013

Might be a dumb question but do you have a bubble trap in the sump? IDK hwo to reduce noise but bubbles a couple simple acrylic sheets placed in there to catch bubbles works good usually.

occ_motorcycles · Jan 7, 2013

Isoprene said:
Might be a dumb question but do you have a bubble trap in the sump? IDK hwo to reduce noise but bubbles a couple simple acrylic sheets placed in there to catch bubbles works good usually.

There are no panels in the sump. And it's the air coming in from the tank that's causing all the racket. Maybe reducing the flow by dropping a 1" to a 1/2 " would be better?

SPS Samurai · Jan 7, 2013

I think you may be referring to a Durso overflow. Try looking it up on youtube and see if that's what you recall. If the noise is truly coming from the fall of the water into the sump, you can try extending your overflow with a piece of flex tubing so that it drains under water. This worked on my big tank. Good luck!

occ_motorcycles · Jan 7, 2013

SPS Samurai said:
I think you may be referring to a Durso overflow. Try looking it up on youtube and see if that's what you recall. If the noise is truly coming from the fall of the water into the sump, you can try extending your overflow with a piece of flex tubing so that it drains under water. This worked on my big tank. Good luck!

It is already extended underwater. Just flushes and dumps all water out all at once

occ_motorcycles · Jan 7, 2013

SPS Samurai said:
I think you may be referring to a Durso overflow. Try looking it up on youtube and see if that's what you recall. If the noise is truly coming from the fall of the water into the sump, you can try extending your overflow with a piece of flex tubing so that it drains under water. This worked on my big tank. Good luck!

Similar to that only not in the tank. We driller the tank then on the back of the bulkhead put a t. At te top of the t put a small section of pipe with a cap and an air line into the cap. Then ran our pipe to the sump and submerged the end of it.

dorky · Jan 8, 2013

While me n my friend trying to solve tht noisy mircobubble issue I order a 1" bulkhead strainer n ato n will be building algae scrubber n somewhat next week will work on light for this tank

dorky · Jan 8, 2013

With temporary light

alberthiel · Jan 8, 2013

dorky said:
With temporary light

Nice ...

occ_motorcycles · Jan 8, 2013

dorky said:
<img src="https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47568"/>
With temporary light

The photo looks a little more blue than it actually is. Cameras are funny things with lights.

dorky · Jan 11, 2013

Little update got the strainer and ato but having issue with it so next step is the light going to go mh till I save enough money for some cool DIY led

occ_motorcycles · Jan 11, 2013

dorky said:
Little update got the strainer and ato but having issue with it so next step is the light going to go mh till I save enough money for some cool DIY led

Seems like the ato may have a bad relay. I will be sent a new relay from the manufacturer.

Kinda frustrating but it will work out.

alberthiel · Jan 12, 2013

occ_motorcycles said:
Seems like the ato may have a bad relay. I will be sent a new relay from the manufacturer.
Kinda frustrating but it will work out.

Gee sorry to read that it was defective. I use a simple gravity fed one with no relays or any parts that can go wrong ... just a container with water and airline tubing that when the end of it is not in the water, it drips RO/DI in the tank ... The container is air tight so it cannot empty itself but only dispense when the level in the tank goes down ... works well for me.

occ_motorcycles · Jan 15, 2013

Update. Today dorky and I worked on a nutrient issue we had. After a good bit of costly water changes to lower it we decided to build an "algae tough scrubber". Now I am not well versed in ats but dorky says he knows what he is doing. So today we built one.

We used the water coming from one of the 40br to the sump. And also built it in the sump as my ten gallon tank is apparently tempered.

So once we got it built we turned it on and got it at least going. We will see how this does. I don't have high hopes for it but we will see.

As for the tank itself.

Tomorrow some new friends will be here before noon.

And also on Thursday we will have proper lighting.

alberthiel · Jan 16, 2013

occ_motorcycles said:
Update. Today dorky and I worked on a nutrient issue we had. After a good bit of costly water changes to lower it we decided to build an "algae tough scrubber". Now I am not well versed in ats but dorky says he knows what he is doing. So today we built one.

We used the water coming from one of the 40br to the sump. And also built it in the sump as my ten gallon tank is apparently tempered.
So once we got it built we turned it on and got it at least going. We will see how this does. I don't have high hopes for it but we will see.
As for the tank itself.
Tomorrow some new friends will be here before noon.
And also on Thursday we will have proper lighting.

Scrubbers work real well. IME water should not flow thru it too fast and it has to flow over a rough area so if you put some screening material in it on the bottom that the algae can easily adhere to, they will grow there. Or you can use mesh like this and make it rougher than it is by using some sandpaper on it. These plastic pieces are sold at sewing shops and cost 99 cts. Here is a pic of one :

Lay that on the bottom, cut to the right width after you rough the surface up and let the water flow over it and the algae will grow there rather than in the tank. When well set up they will work for you and do the job. FWIW ..

dorky · Jan 16, 2013

roughing up the mesh is not fun at all :cry: but manage to get it done i will do a better one on my next off so when it need to be change can use a better rougher cactus like mesh

alberthiel · Jan 16, 2013

dorky said:
roughing up the mesh is not fun at all :cry: but manage to get it done i will do a better one on my next off so when it need to be change can use a better rougher cactus like mesh

No it is not indeed. I agree, but it makes the algae adhere far better, and I used rough sanding paper from the Hardware store, and just rubbed it over the mesh I got a couple of times, then rinsed it a few times under hot water to get it clean, and then placed it in the trough that served as the scrubber. Some even add a cement like material on top of it to make it even rougher.

And of course once algae have started to grow, some will need to be removed from time to time to prevent them from dying off due to being overgrown by more algae, and polluting the water if and when they die. How often depends on how much growth there is, which I guess depends on how many nutrients there are in the water that it can use to grow.

Put a low intensity light over it on a reverse cycle with your tank lights and they will help stabilize the swings in the pH as if the light is on during the night, and they produce O₂ and uptake CO₂, there will be less variations in the pH. Algae like the low K degree type lighting like incandescent bulbs or for less heat the CFT?CFL spiral type bulbs. You can get some with a 2700 K rating which should really enhance algae growth in the scrubber. CFT/CFL are also energy efficient and last a lot longer than incandescent ones. You can put them in one of those clip on type shop lights which is what I used. FWIW