Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[Crabby48]

How did the cleaning go @Katrina71

 

[Katrina71]

We are up to our elbows in vinegar. It's cleaning up beautifully except the monti skeleton. Might have to use muratic acid on it.

 

[Katrina71]

Almost clean sump

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Wow lol you can clean my sump any day .

 

[Katrina71]

Hello,

Wow lol you can clean my sump any day .

That part was the hippie kid's work. I have the tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have another plumbing question. I'd like a shut off from the DT to the sump. In the event we have an oh crap with the sump. What should I use?

When I turn off my return pump , nothing happens.
The water level goes down in the DT to he level of the overflow, the level in the sump rises slightly.
I ran the sump and DT seperatly for a month or two a while back when diagnosing a problem.

A gate valve might be handy though to restrict the pump to prevent cavitation. Pumps like a little back pressure to work better. But if the plumbing is like 1/2 or under the backpressure might be fine already.

10-15x tank volume minimum... 60 gallon tank... you'll want 600-900gph. But you have to think of head pressure. I think the Jebao DCP5000 would be a good fit. It's 1450gph.

Jebao DCP Sine Wave Water Return Pump (DCP-5000) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTVIZSF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_08eyCbFP62ZP9

Good call.
I have that one.

I'm not worried about my turnover but I was under the impression that if you do more than what your skimmer pump can handle, then your just over doing it....?

Couple theory’s. Slower turnover (3-5/6x) allows time in the Refugium to Clean the water and let organics settle. Basically the sump is the gut to digest.
In triton (and likely older methods) , the whole tank is the gut, and the reccomendation is a 10x turnover.
The additional benifit (of all sumps too) is the sump is a gravity filter. Particles get trapped in the water , go down and get trapped.
This keeps detritus out of the DT.

Too slow a return rate the particles settle in the DT and never get to the sump.

As far as the skimmer goes , most aren’t great at heavy particulates anyway so I’m not sure it would be effected really.

I run the higher return rate just for that. Blow off the rocks and scrub the algae and it’s gone in a few minutes. The only time I really run socks is when I’m scrubbing. Lasts 24hrs. Lol.

On thing to look at on the return pump size is what’s the overflow rated for? What did he have in there before ?
Makes the dc a good choice again as it’s variable.

 

[Katrina71]

A messy work in progress...tank

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Awesome.

 

[Katrina71]

Almost got the monti scrubbed off!

 

[Katrina71]

I'm nervous to pull this loc line out. Will I mess anything up if I do?

 

[Crabby48]

Couple theory’s. Slower turnover (3-5/6x) allows time in the Refugium to Clean the water and let organics settle. Basically the sump is the gut to digest.
In triton (and likely older methods) , the whole tank is the gut, and the reccomendation is a 10x turnover.
The additional benifit (of all sumps too) is the sump is a gravity filter. Particles get trapped in the water , go down and get trapped.
This keeps detritus out of the DT.

Too slow a return rate the particles settle in the DT and never get to the sump.

As far as the skimmer goes , most aren’t great at heavy particulates anyway so I’m not sure it would be effected really.

I run the higher return rate just for that. Blow off the rocks and scrub the algae and it’s gone in a few minutes. The only time I really run socks is when I’m scrubbing. Lasts 24hrs. Lol.

On thing to look at on the return pump size is what’s the overflow rated for? What did he have in there before ?
Makes the dc a good choice again as it’s variable.

This is a good write. It’s amazing the info this thread has amongst all the shenanigans

 

[Katrina71]

This is a good write. It’s amazing the info this thread has amongst all the shenanigans

Agree 100%

 

[Fudsey]

You can pop the lockline at the point that the T joins to the elbow. The piece that screws in can also be removed from the elbow too.

 

[Katrina71]

You can pop the lockline at the point that the T joins to the elbow. The piece that screws in can also be removed from the elbow too.

I was hoping. It's got crud in it.

 

[Fudsey]

If you have a large adjustable that will fit over the nut of the screw piece you can unscrew it and take the whole thing out to clean

 

[Fin]

Is that PVC elbow or pipe glued in? You might be able to pull that apart if it isn’t glued.

 

[Katrina71]

I'm not sure... it's all pretty stuck together still.

 

[Katrina71]

Got it apart. Now I'm soaking the overflow.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

That's pretty crummy... sounds like fun I wish I was there!

 

[Katrina71]

I should have gotten more vinegar.