Tank Installed Today, Have Some Questions

[Squishie89]

90g tank was installed today with a sump.
1. The sump seems to have a smidge of a leak. I have a Aqueon proFlex Model 3. The leak is at the join of the water intake tubing to the sump (chamber 1). Would plumbers putty solve this? The mechanism is as tight as it can get. I have included a picture to show the area of the problem.

2. The skimmer was overflowing, even when I put the flow all the way down. I called the LFS and he told me to just turn it off for now since there was so much going on. How long should I leave this off? The tank only has live rock and sand in it.

3. When should I start testing the water?

4. I am going to have live sand, how do I care for the sand? Do I irrigate it from time to time to loosen debris? Or do I just leave it alone and let the creatures do their work?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

1) Sorry, I do not have an answer for this. I am not good with plumbing.
2) I do not install my skimmer until after I add the first livestock. IMO, there is no need to run the skimmer while the tank is cycling. The idea of the skimmer is to help remove excess organic materials and in a brand new tank you do not have to worry about this.
3) Some people let the creatures do the work, but I like to help them out a bit. I will stir up a small section of sand with each water change to help get rid of any excess debris.

Good luck with the tank!!!

 

[uall8up]

Try teflon plumbers tape

 

[H2O]

Take the drain hose off in the area it leaks put teflon tape around it and tight it again .
Leave the skimmer off during the cycle period, u don't need to test water yet, cycle takes around 4 -6 weeks then u test it to see if amonia is at 0 u can get a small cup of sand and a piece of live rock from an established reeftank that will get the good bacteria growing faster and it will speed things up , be patient don't rush to put fish in there let it cycle 100% it will save u ton of $ $ $ in the long run, don't use any chemicals ether everything thats a quick fix in a bottle is a waste of $ .ask questions most pets stores will try to sell u things u don't need so always have your BS radar ON.

 

[MBG75]

If the skimmer is brand new, it will overflow until it breaks in. Sometimes can take up to a week

 

[ritter6788]

Make sure the skimmer isn't submerged too deep in the water. Depending on what type of skimmer that may be why it's overflowing.

 

[EmilyXLC]

Make sure the skimmer isn't submerged too deep in the water. Depending on what type of skimmer that may be why it's overflowing.

^ this.

I used to run a Coralife Super Skimmer on one of my tanks & that beast would overflow HORRIBLY if I didn't have the water level just right.

 

[Squishie89]

Well, I will say this has taught me more about my equipment, which is always good. After I took the piping apart and did the plumbers tape, it still leaked. Did a test to make sure I was addressing the right area, and I was. Double checked the directions, and turns out the rubber washer is supposed to be outside the sump, not inside. So I just fixed that, and I am hoping that solves the problem. I restarted the skimmer, and despite the water level being about 1/2" lower than what the install guy said was the minimum, it still overflowed. So I put in more water, and just took the lid off, and I am letting it run like that, hoping it is just the fact it is a brand new skimmer and needs to work itself out.
I also rinsed out the 2 filter socks while I was back in the sump, and I was really surprised and amazed to see little creatures inside the socks! I wish I had taken pictures, but I just wanted to get it done. I did not get them fully clean, but I at least got rid of the large debris and creatures.
I have premium, already cured live rock. I was told I did not need to cycle the tank. I am waiting to add fish/other critters anyway due to other reasons.

 

[greenbleedin]

if you had not added live rock to your tank then you don't need to let the tank cycle. Just test to make sure all levels are good before buying fish

 

[redtop03]

1. with the leak issue,try the teflon tape or a little silicon,the plumbers putty will probable work too,main thing is to not add anything that will make it a permanent bond except maybe glue in a union there,you will sometime or other need to be able to remove plumbing there for cleaning or whatever

2. skimmer is unnecessary until you start adding livestock,just shut it down for now

3. I would probable test the water once weekly during the cycle,no real concern until after it has cycled and you start adding livestock

4. depends on how deep your sand bed will be and what sand sifting creature you have in there,if your sand bed is an inch or so deep,it's OK to kinda sift it around,if you go for a deep bed,do not stir more that the top inch or so,over time,deep inside a deep sand bed will have hydrogen sulfide(I think is the correct gas...please someone correct me if I'm wrong),which is a direct result of anaerobic bacteria,anaerobic bacteria is what consumes nitrates...the hydrogen sulfide,if released into the water column,can wreck your tank

I recommend,if you're gonna have a deep sand bed,to have it in a remote location where it is easy to remove from the system,if it ever encounters a problem

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Got any photos of what she is looking like?

 

[tomstechnic]

I also rinsed out the 2 filter socks while I was back in the sump, and I was really surprised and amazed to see little creatures inside the socks! I wish I had taken pictures, but I just wanted to get it done. I did not get them fully clean, but I at least got rid of the large debris and creatures.

Are you going to have a fuge or any live rock in the sump? If yes, I would not use the filter socks for a while to let the critters seed the sump as well.

 

[jonnye46]

[h=2][/h]

hope everything is working out for u so far, but if its not then here's a few tips (i have the same sump as u do)
1.rubber goes on the outside. (u already figured that out so no need to worry, i made the same mistake :/ lol)
make sure u use teflon tape, and make sure there's a good layer on there. when u go to screw it on make sure its tight but dnt over tighten it cus the rubber grommet will get flexed and get pushed out to the side. that should fix that problem cus thats exactly what i did with mines and its running great (so far) hahaha

2.skimmer overflowing, it depends on what skimmer u have, but try adjusting the pump for now and see whats happens from there. i usually run my skimmer as soon as i started adding water to the tank, even though u have only live rock, there are going to be some die offs during transport so its not harm to start running the skimmer, running from the beginning also helps u prime it.

3. start testing water from day one before u add anything else into the tank make sure the perimeters are on point, there are going to be some high nitrate/phosphate levels cus its a new tank and its cycling. be patient thats my best advice do a water change after about a week for so.

4. live sand is great. add it leave it and dnt worry about it, but you are going to have to get a CUC (clean up crew) they will be the janitors of the tank

hope this helped you out some feel free to ask and look around, im still learning myself, so im just spreading the knowledge

btw,
if u haven't done so you should do a overflow check and mark ur water levels, that way u wont have an over flow if ur power ever goes out. test it like 2-3 times just to be safe​

 

[Squishie89]

Not planning on a fuge nor having live rock in the sump. Moving the rubber washer did solve the leak. Skimmer is still over reacting. I did tests last night but I do not have the numbers in front of me, but only half were in the normal range. I have contacted a local aquarium help guy in hopes he can help me out. One weird thing was that my powerheads just stopped working. One of them all it took was a slight bump and it started working, the other one took quite a few taps to get going again.

 

[jonnye46]

what kind of powerheads are you running? and skimmer

 

[Squishie89]

This skimmer- Super Reef Octopus 1000 In Sump Protein Skimmer - SRO1000 | CoralVue
And these powerheads- http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23592 Evolution 1050

 

[Toomnymods]

Try the plumbers teflon paste i have had a lit better luck fixing leaks using that over plain teflon tape..

 

[Squishie89]

The leak is fixed, thankfully. It ended up being the rubber washer was on the wrong side of the sump.

 

[jonnye46]

might be a default powerhead.. idk if its safe if it keeps going in and out
as for the sump theres a lever on the skimmer that lets you adjust the power of the pump try messing around with that

 

[Squishie89]

Yeah I had put it to the lowest setting, but still had problems. It was even worse today. I am just going to keep it off for now as I know there has been a lot of changes in the tank, and it could be all the chemicals from the water purifiers and buffers. Luckily i do not need it on, so all is seemingly okay =) Thanks so much.