+80g
- Thread starter houser
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Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
You must be exhausted...all that scraping!!
houser
Past President
I've been neglecting the tank for a while due to schedule lately, but grinding along. Ran out of Alk twice, not sure how long, really only pocci's showed the base recession, everything else seemed fine. Actually coraline on walls started fading. Spent time last two nights cleaning up in there - probably going to need another few nights. Been mixing a bunch of water lately, siphoning out sand - I'm going back to BB (mostly) in the tank. Lots of rock in the sump and there's another 40G plumbed in with rock and sand so I should be covered.
Unless I get a fish that's going to target my Caluerpa issues I don't see it going away. I should just set up a bigger tank with more room for a good grazer - shouldn't I?
Unless I get a fish that's going to target my Caluerpa issues I don't see it going away. I should just set up a bigger tank with more room for a good grazer - shouldn't I?
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Get up with the bigger tank!!!
houser
Past President
I'm getting into the spring cleaning mood here - about a month ago my skimmer drain bucket was getting full so I just turned it off rather than deal with cleaning it. I don't know about your tanks but mine certainly doesn't care about the skimmer being off for a month or more at a time. I've "gone skimmerless" a few times and can't tell a difference.
Cleaned up the cup tonight, emptied the drain bucket - ready to go. Probably should vinegar the pump next and she'll be shining like a brand new dime.
Siphoned up a bunch more sand. My RODI is working overtime lately between making water for a bunch of tanks worth of water changes and making water for rinsing ultrasonically cleaned parts at work.
Cleaned up the cup tonight, emptied the drain bucket - ready to go. Probably should vinegar the pump next and she'll be shining like a brand new dime.
Siphoned up a bunch more sand. My RODI is working overtime lately between making water for a bunch of tanks worth of water changes and making water for rinsing ultrasonically cleaned parts at work.
yardartist
Guest
What did you clean with the ultrasonic? Is it in water or are there other chemicals in the bath?
bondolo
Guest
Wouldn't shutting off your skimmer greatly reduce the amount of oxygen in the water? I've been tempted to run my skimmer only part of the time, 6-8 hours a day because it seems most efficient for the first two hours it's turned on. I've so far opted for 24x7x365 operation because the skimmer is also oxygenating the water.
Not_Now_John
Guest
bondolo said:
You ought to be able to tell with a pH probe if CO2 is building up. Easier than measuring O2
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Mike (bondolo)
I used to run skimmers on and off with the lights (when I had the store) on certain systems. Filter feeders like a "dirtier" environment. For you environment the amount of gas exchange would not be noticeable IMO.
I used to run skimmers on and off with the lights (when I had the store) on certain systems. Filter feeders like a "dirtier" environment. For you environment the amount of gas exchange would not be noticeable IMO.
yardartist
Guest
houser said:
I thought you were taking tank parts to work to clean. Got it. You are taking water to work to clean work parts. Still makes me wonder what DI water would do to coraline encrusted pumps? Could the motor take the shake?
houser
Past President
Richard -water is the universal solvent but I'll take the vinegar anyday when it's cleaning time. Or the HCl!
Mike - the only difference I can tell between skimmer vs. No skimmer is on my sump temperature. My skimmer cools my sump due to cold air injection. The skimmer pump is pretty efficient, so not much heating input there. If skimmer off I see a correlation with lower heater usage in the sump. I concede that I haven't gone past 6 wks skimmerless, already have some algae issues, and stock fish and feed the system light. But low O2 has never crossed my mind.
Mike - the only difference I can tell between skimmer vs. No skimmer is on my sump temperature. My skimmer cools my sump due to cold air injection. The skimmer pump is pretty efficient, so not much heating input there. If skimmer off I see a correlation with lower heater usage in the sump. I concede that I haven't gone past 6 wks skimmerless, already have some algae issues, and stock fish and feed the system light. But low O2 has never crossed my mind.
Not_Now_John
Guest
houser said:
Interesting, never would have thought the skimmer would cool the water. What is the temperature difference between your room and tank?
houser
Past President
Delta is typically 15 degrees.
I'm sure several of us experience the same. Guys by the coast, east bay across from the gate, especially a garage reefer or remote sump in those climates.
I've often debated making a plenum that containing some sort of external (to the tank) heater to warm the air before it hits the skimmer. Thought about by my lights, but I need the heat at night, when the lights are off. Convective activity from an external pump would work, but they're all internal to harvest the heat. I do have vortechs I could harvest I guess?!?!
I'm sure several of us experience the same. Guys by the coast, east bay across from the gate, especially a garage reefer or remote sump in those climates.
I've often debated making a plenum that containing some sort of external (to the tank) heater to warm the air before it hits the skimmer. Thought about by my lights, but I need the heat at night, when the lights are off. Convective activity from an external pump would work, but they're all internal to harvest the heat. I do have vortechs I could harvest I guess?!?!
Not_Now_John
Guest
The "less heat in your tank" aspect of the vortechs is usually touted as an advantage. Perhaps more of your favorite insulative foam around the dry side with an intake for your skimmer? If you ever decide to run it 