The Upgrade Build... From 110 to 180

[Dj City]

Ok...
I have to get a float switch for refilling my ato with freshwater.
I had one on my old ato container but not on the ato section in the sump.
Icecap makes a magnetic ato float switch that I am going to get.

I was refilling the ato section of the sump and somehow, I convinced myself that I had turned the valve to "off" when I had NOT.
About 2 or 3 hours later...

Ugggggh!

Sooooooo much water pouring down to my basement.
Salinity went to pretty much zero.

There is an upside to this drama.
I was using the canister filter so the return pump was off. Salinity did not change in the display.
I drained excess water out the sump, added salt and let the skimmer and manifold mix the salt to the right salinity.
This was a process and a half! Not easy at all but I got it done and hopefully got it done before bacteria died off in the biological section of the sump.

Ordering float switch tomorrow!

 

[TheWB]

Ok...
I have to get a float switch for refilling my ato with freshwater.
I had one on my old ato container but not on the ato section in the sump.
Icecap makes a magnetic ato float switch that I am going to get.

I was refilling the ato section of the sump and somehow, I convinced myself that I had turned the valve to "off" when I had NOT.
About 2 or 3 hours later...

Ugggggh!

Sooooooo much water pouring down to my basement.
Salinity went to pretty much zero.

There is an upside to this drama.
I was using the canister filter so the return pump was off. Salinity did not change in the display.
I drained excess water out the sump, added salt and let the skimmer and manifold mix the salt to the right salinity.
This was a process and a half! Not easy at all but I got it done and hopefully got it done before bacteria died off in the biological section of the sump.

Ordering float switch tomorrow!

I feel for you man. I’ve had a run in or two with my ato system and with water on the floor. It’s no fun.

 

[Dj City]

Float switch ORDERED!

I won't be going through the flood from filling my ato again.

 

[Dj City]

I have not been taking pics like I've wanted to.
The ambient light in the room from the windows ruins most shots during the day and by the time night comes, I forget to snap pics.
I will take some pics today and get them posted here. Bad light or not.

I found one TINY aptasia anemone today in my sump. It's super tiny and pretty much transparent. It's on the glass baffle between the biological section and the return pump. I'm sure it came in on old bio media I used from my old tank.
It is being removed TODAY!
I will try to be very careful because I don't want it to release spores and spread but it's coming out today!

 

[Dj City]

Horrible pics but it's what I could right now

 

[Dj City]

YES!!!!!
Finally have Trident doing controlled dosing!

I'm also trying to get ahead of what looks like the beginning of dinos. It could very well be just stringy algae on the sand and rock and back glass. It could also be brown cyano. No mater what it is, I'm getting a jump on it.
I covered the tank this morning and will have it blacked out till Thursday.

 

[Dj City]

I uncovered the tank yesterday. It looks waaaay better.
I will be doing another 3 day blackout in a very few days to further knock the problem algae / dinos back.
I've ordered the quartz sleeve and new bulb for my UV so that should help as well.

I will have to rebuild my manifold to accommodate the 1 inch plumbing that will be for the manifold.

 

[Dj City]

I am 99% sure I have Dinos.

I ordered the quartz sleeve and a new bulb for the UV so when I hook it up with the 1 inch pipe, I should be good.
I plan on putting the pump directly in the display on the sandbed. I'm going to take a powerhead and blow everything into the water column so the UV can get to work.
Pics to come tomorrow.

 

[Dj City]

I can't get the pics to load.

I started the 3 or 4 day blackout with the UV sterilizer installed.
I have 1017 gph going through the Pentair Smart 40UV. That's the right flow for what i'm trying to do. I have taken a powerhead and blew the rocks RELLY well dislodging a lot of "stuff". I wiped the glass down and wiped the powerheads down along both the return plumbing. I turned all the sand.
I pretty much made the biggest mess I could and got as much into the water column as possible,
I've done this twice so far and will continue to do it at least twice a day for the duration of the blackout,
After 3 days of this, I will let light into the tank for a day or two while keeping the UV going and continuing to blow the rocks and turn the sand.
Then I may go with another 3 day blackout but this time without blowing the rocks off twice a day so I get a TRUE 3 day blackout.

 

[Dj City]

Finally. I don't know why I had such a hard time posting these pics.
This stuff was EVERYWHERE! I'm convinced it's dinos. I hope the properly sized UV with the correct flow along with the blackouts knock the dinos out!
I will probably dose Vibrant after the blackouts.

wish me luck.

 

[lilchris_357]

If its Dinos, you need to raise your nutrients levels. Once you start seeing hair algae growing they will out compete the dinos in no time. Then dose microbacter 7. A black out is not going to do anything to the dinos. They will disappear while the lights are off bout once you add lights to the tank , the dinos will come back.

 

[Dj City]

If its Dinos, you need to raise your nutrients levels. Once you start seeing hair algae growing they will out compete the dinos in no time. Then dose microbacter 7. A black out is not going to do anything to the dinos. They will disappear while the lights are off bout once you add lights to the tank , the dinos will come back.

Yeah. Blackout alone will do absolutely nothing.
The properly sized UV with the correct flow rate should help a lot along with the blackout to weaken them.
I have been blowing the crap out the rocks with a powerhead, turning the sand, brushing and wiping the powerheads in the tank as well as wiping the return plumbing and cleaning all the glass.
I'm getting as much as possible into the water column so the U.V. can get at it and do it's job.
After blackouts, I will be adding Dr. Tims Waste Away, Microbacter 7 and Vibrant.

Nitrates.....0 - 5ppm (Closer to 5ppm)
Phos..........0.04 - 0.08
Alk.............8.16 (Trident)
Cal............393 (Trident)
Mag..........1398 (Trident)
Ph.............7.95 (Apex probe)
Salt...........35.5 (Apex probe)
ORP..........339 (Apex probe)
Temp.......80 (Apex probe)
Nitrate test is API reagent via Reefbot
Phos test is Red Sea reagent via Reefbot.

For kicks and giggles I tried Chemiclean for process of elimination. It is NOT cyano. I have my microscope but don't feel like going through all that because i'm 99.9% sure i'm dealing with Dinos from my established bio media.

 

[Dj City]

I ended the blackout this morning. I had the UV in temporary install. It is now removed but ready for redeployment.
Of course tank looks fabulous but the next 72 hours will let me know if this was very effective, slightly effective or not effective at all.
Vibrant dosing restarts today via Apex Dos.

 

[Scott71]

Im having a hard time getting my water as crystal clear as it should be.
I am using a Clarisea SK-5000 filter roller. Can't figure out yet why the display is not as clear as it should be.

I'm still getting a "toilet bowl flush" from the drain every now and then.
I have a lot of microbubbles in the clarisea and the water level is always right to the top just under the overflow opening.

I'm wondering what I can do about this.
Flow from the return pump to the display is 650gph through 1 inch pvc.
Drain is 1.5 durso.

How about just running your return directly into the return section, not through rollermat. Then run a separate pump to feed rollermat from the same return section. This will decouple the return flow From rollermat feed and allow you to Adjust each separately. I know in theory it’s nice to run straight into rollermat, but it might solve other flow problems.

 

[Dj City]

How about just running your return directly into the return section, not through rollermat. Then run a separate pump to feed rollermat from the same return section. This will decouple the return flow From rollermat feed and allow you to Adjust each separately. I know in theory it’s nice to run straight into rollermat, but it might solve other flow problems.

Thanks.
I honestly had not thought of that.
I got the flow situation together and pretty much got the tank clear with very minimal microbubbles.
If i wind up doing as you suggest I will run into a filter sock that dumps into the drain section with a separate pump from the drain to the rollermat.

 

[Dj City]

Dinos...

The blackout along with the U.V. worked (somewhat).
It knocked the dinos way back but of course it did not kill them all. I had to order another quartz sleeve because I broke the one in the U.V. (again).
The dinos are just beginning to slowly re-emerge. I've ordered Dr Tim's Refresh and Waste Away to continue my attack and I will follow his dinoflagellates regiment.
My thought is that by hitting them from multiple sides,, I should be able to eradicate them.

So, its gonna be...

3 day blackout with U.V. (already done)
•
Vibrant and Microbacter7 (currently dosing)
•
3 day blackout with Dr Tim's Refresh
•
Dr Tim's Waste Away liquid
•
Dr Tim's Waste Away Gel
•
Redeployment of U.V.

That should do it.

 

[DS204]

The blackout along with the U.V. worked (somewhat).
It knocked the dinos way back but of course it did not kill them all. I had to order another quartz sleeve because I broke the one in the U.V. (again).

How did you break the quartz sleeve with the UV out of curiosity? I have a UV that will be plumbing soon, and worried about this too. Just wondering how fragile it is, or how you accidentally broke yours? Maybe I should be keeping a spare on hand...

 

[Dj City]

How did you break the quartz sleeve with the UV out of curiosity? I have a UV that will be plumbing soon, and worried about this too. Just wondering how fragile it is, or how you accidentally broke yours? Maybe I should be keeping a spare on hand...

I pulled it from the tank and dropped it from about a foot off the floor.
Totally my fault.
They are not fragile but handle with care.

 

[DS204]

I pulled it from the tank and dropped it from about a foot off the floor.
Totally my fault.
They are not fragile but handle with care.

Okay thanks for the reply. The manual says not to insert the quartz sleeve to the housing with the bulb in it already, but with the way I mounted mine inside the cabinet that is exactly how I need to install the bulb. With the sleeve already around it. Otherwise I need to remove the plumbing and take the entire housing out of the cabinet, which seems like a royal PITA.

 

[Dj City]

Okay thanks for the reply. The manual says not to insert the quartz sleeve to the housing with the bulb in it already, but with the way I mounted mine inside the cabinet that is exactly how I need to install the bulb. With the sleeve already around it. Otherwise I need to remove the plumbing and take the entire housing out of the cabinet, which seems like a royal PITA.

Which UV do you have?