Second Time Around

Todd Black · May 28, 2018

I decided to try the Eshoppes sump with mixed results.

It became clear i wasn't going to get the plumbing complete, hence one line is PVC'd in and one is very dodgey. But i find the sound of trickling water disturbing, it makes me think the tank is leaking.

The problem is the overflow from the inlet chamber into the media section (see below pic) . i've put some left over marine pure balls in there which is helping, but it needs more. Its clear to me you can't run this sump with the top media tray empty but its not exactly in the easiest spot to get at either. I could run the water level much higher, but that renders the in sump ATO useless. I'm either doing it wrong or the design is a bit confused

Todd Black · Jul 22, 2018

My tank has been progressing along well, current stock list is

2 x bangii cardinals
3 x chromis
1 pair of misbar clowns
1 pair of coral banded shrimp
1 x coral beauty
1 x copperband
1 x lawnmower blennie
1 x bubble tip anemone
1 x long tentacle anemone
1 x urchin

I'm still trialling the eShopps sump, the major thing I'm interested in is how long the filter socks last with me turning them inside out once a week for cleaning.

Todd Black · Jul 28, 2018

Just a picture of the sump, I really need to do some cable management...

dowsetts101 · Jul 29, 2018

Todd Black said:
Just a picture of the sump, I really need to do some cable management...

I don’t think that looks too bad cable wise Todd...I won’t be sharing a pic of mine!!!

Todd Black · Aug 7, 2018

And just how am I going to get you out of there??

Todd Black · Aug 7, 2018

I've changed the emergency overflow hose from soft tubing to PVC. I can;t seem to get the hang of glueing neatly though

I also moved the main overflow pipe into the sump from the inlet nearest the window to the other one. I hope to mount the chiller outside and have it return feed into the sump ie

the pump for the chiller arrived to. It's much smaller then i expected

Todd Black · Aug 18, 2018

It took 11 days but my blennie finally swam into my trap and is now back in the main tank

dowsetts101 · Aug 18, 2018

Todd Black said:
It took 11 days but my blennie finally swam into my trap and is now back in the main tank

At least you’ve it where she belongs...have you made any changes to your weir overflow to prevent a recurrence ?

Todd Black · Aug 19, 2018

dowsetts101 said:
At least you’ve it where she belongs...have you made any changes to your weir overflow to prevent a recurrence ?

Not yet, no. I have to order in a replacement comb or redo the plumbing of the return. The current weak spot is underneath the return

Todd Black · Aug 31, 2018

It's done. I bought the last piece of equipment in the "ludicrously expensive" category. Everything else just ranges in the "overly" to " ridiculously" expensive categories

The old resun served me well, but when i got it out of storage it no longer worked.

Our house is not air conditioned, and with our summers being long and hot, getting a replacement wasn't optional.

I want to set it up outside, this location never sees direct sunlight or rain from even the wildest storm. It will be nice to have the noise and heat outside. i just need to now drill 2 holes in my house for the plumbing. I also really need to tidy those cables

Todd Black · Sep 1, 2018

i drilled the first hole today, everything lined up ok but the wood splintered quite badly where the spade bit broke through on the inside. Some putty and paint should fix it up though

dang that window sure needs a clean

dowsetts101 · Sep 2, 2018

Nice one...I was just starting to look at chillers...I figure I’ve got a couple of months before I need one here in Melbourne, but agree that it’s not an optional purchase for Our summers.

I’m also going to mount outside. I’d be interested in hearing about the one you got...

Todd Black · Sep 2, 2018

dowsetts101 said:
I’m also going to mount outside. I’d be interested in hearing about the one you got...

I purchased the Teco TK1000, there is a TK500 which i considered but decided to get the next size up. As i mentioned in a previous post, our house has no AC so thought paying the extra for the bigger unit was a good idea. Due to the bulk of the things, i wanted to buy locally as i don't want to pay couriers fees to send it back if it fails under warranty. The shop i buy from only stocks Teco, and as they haven't lead me astry so far, thats what i ended up with.

So far i have found the fittings to be smaller then i expected. So if i want to use the supplied elbow fitting on the chiller i end up with

So thats teco elbow > 16mm clear vinyl hose > 19mm clear vinyl hose

The other option i currently have is to forgo the teco elbow

While this allows me to run the 19mm hose all the way, the lack of an elbow means the unit needs to sit out further from the wall.

Todd Black · Sep 19, 2018

i walked past the tank this morning and thought "that doesn't sound right". It turns out my Vectra M1 return pump has failed. This exposes a major flaw in my process of buying things well before the tank was ready in order to spread the cost out. The pump has only been running Since January, but was purchased over a year ago so is outside warranty. I'm now waiting for my LFS to open to grab a replacement

dowsetts101 · Sep 20, 2018

Thats a bit scary...I must admit that I’ve been kicking around the idea of having a spare return pump for situations like that.

I’m thinking that I might get a second pump of the same make and model and use that to run the Chiller (am looking at the TK500 like you) and then if the main return pump fails at least I have a second one on hand to swap over. Would have the benefit of not needing to change any plumbing over.

Hope you got your replacement before anything untoward happened!!

Todd Black · Sep 20, 2018

Yep I managed to get everything back up and running by lunch time. The M1 has been sent off for inspection/repair and i decided to get a S1 as a replacement. An M1 is overkill for my tank, and the S1 happened to be $200 cheaper yesterday. It;s a bit smaller so i had to put a mat underneath it to make it work with the existing return hose

Thankfully the top return fitting on the S1 is the same size as the M1, so i was able to use the existing fitting.

The shop pulled my M1 apart but couldn't find anything obvious that was wrong. You can feel it vibrating when you power it on, but thats it. the impellor doesn't move. They mentioned that they had had some L1's returned but this was the first M1 failure they had seen.

Todd Black · Sep 23, 2018

I have been dosing Red Sea NoPox for awhile now and wasn't getting great results. So i re-read the instructions and checked the doser. I had intended to program the doser to dose 2 ml every 6 hours, but had infact only been dosing once a day. So i fixed that around the end of August. There is now a visible reduction of algae in the tank and the water testing also shows an improvement. Nitrate test Kit is a Salifert and Phosphate is tested with a Hannah.

Todd Black · Oct 1, 2018

I finally got the chiller hooked up this weekend, and whilst its functional I'm already planning on redoing it. I think i can do it neater in white pvc.