COR 20 Return Pump Quit While On Vacation

Globalbutterfly · Jul 11, 2019

Critical URGENT Question: How long can my tank safely run without a return pump relying only on in-tank powerheads?

Tank: 133gal DT (5’ x 2’ x 2’)
2 WAV pumps on back wall (currently on 15%)
2 Gyre 350’s at either end
4 AI Hydra 26 HD lights

Livestock:
1 Blonde Naso Tang (med. ~7”)
1 Yellow Tang (small - med)
1 melanarus wrasse (~4”)
1 flame angel (2 ½”)
3 chromis
1 lawnmower Benny
2 Clowns
Goby - pistol shrimp
1 RBTA
Miscellaneous LPS & soft corals

Secondary Questions:
1. What is causing the problem?

2. What can/should I do to fix it remotely (or when I get back)?

Here’s what happened & what we’ve done to troubleshoot:
On vacation, got call from my nephew (16yr) that tank level looked “weird” this morning. Looked at Fusion on my phone and COR 20 return pump is showing “Volt” error and he confirmed it is NOT running.

He did a hard reset of everything by unplugging everything from the wall. COR did not come back online. The COR is plugged directly into the wall (as recommended by Neptune) and it DOES have power (the lights are on and blinking) so I don’t think it’s the power supply.

What is weird is that even though it is displaying the “VOLT” error and is NOT running, the skimmer IS running even though it is controlled by the Apex and is programmed to shut off whenever the Cor is running at 50% or less.

infinite0180 · Jul 11, 2019

Not sure but curious how this will play out for you. Hope everything turns out ok. How long are you away from the tank for?

Globalbutterfly · Jul 11, 2019

Not supposed to be back until Sunday.

EmdeReef · Jul 11, 2019

It will be fine for a while as long as the powerheads in tank are running and the temperature doesn’t go out of whack. You can probably do it for several weeks...

Silver14SS · Jul 11, 2019

You have your heater, skimmer, anything else in the sump? You may want to turn them off through your controller if there is no water moving through the sump.

Kudos · Jul 11, 2019

And even the Temperature is not a big deal if it's still in the 70's depending on the coral you have in there. Softies wont care for the most part, LPS barely will care, the sps are the only ones that might get upset.

Globalbutterfly · Jul 11, 2019

Thanks for the reassurance. I feel much better.

My nephew was able to move one of the big heaters (that has its own temp probe and controller) up from the sump (DT was already down to 73F!) so that should help.

He double checked salinity and then marked the waterline with a sharpie so that he can manually top it up.

Thought I’d run the skimmer in the sump if only to put a little movement and oxygen into the sump. Already turned the heater off down there.

Figure I’m in for a big water change on Sunday. In the meantime think I’ll start looking into how to set up a redundant return pump before the next trip!