VACATION and Preparing Tank to Avoid a disaster

AquAttila

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I know there have been posts on this topic in the past, but I have a specific question regarding these roller fleece mechanical filtration devices. I am prepared to leave tank in my wife's hands to feed while I am away, but my main concern is changing out filter socks. I do change out filter socks daily, but my setup is quite involved and my sump, filtration, etc. is in the basement.

I wanted to get some feedback from folks that have used these filter roller devices. My main concern is the 2" drain PVC that drains into sump at an excessive rate. I am running a TigerShark pump as it has to go 12' high to my tank from basement. I even had to use the ball valves to adjust less return in order for my sump not to fill to the top and overflow! so wonder if I am asking for more problems then it's worth by just adding another piece of equipment. Besides, it seems that the inlet PVC for the two filter rollers I was looking at is 1 1/2". I can reduce from 2" to 1 1/2 but that may come with other issues - like further having to reduce flow. What if somehow the roller is jammed and then now I may have an issue with sump overflowing.

The two models I was looking at are:

(1) Bubble magus filter roll - LARGE


(2) Aquamaxx AF-1


Another option is to remove the filter sock completely during the 10 days I will be away, but I worked hard to keep nitrates and Po4 down and the last thing I need is to have these creep up and start loosing corals.

Thanks
 
Why would your sump overflow from a simple clogged sock? I would go sockless (or use 1 sock instead of two). Another option is a media cup with floss. I would not suggest new equipment you can't watch for a few cycles of use.
 
I think If its just 10 days, personally I would go no socks route. WC as soon as you come back if your nutrients spiked. I would say that's much less risk than trying a new piece of equipment right before you leave. I would leave the roller installation for when you can be present and can follow the results and fine tune it or react if necessary.
 
Why would your sump overflow from a simple clogged sock? I would go sockless (or use 1 sock instead of two). Another option is a media cup with floss. I would not suggest new equipment you can't watch for a few cycles of use.
Thanks ... I will take a pic and video of my setup as it would make sense why it would overflow :-) I just replaced a pump recently to Tigershark and it is crazy strong so the drain was so fast it started to overflow and had to dial it back. Normally I agree with you on clogged sock would not cause overflow. But watching some videos on how these roller socks function, it has a float switch so once sock is dirty it will roll to clean area. Let's assume something goes wrong with this float switch - as everyone here know, things seem to go wrong when not around to fix :-)
 
I think If its just 10 days, personally I would go no socks route. WC as soon as you come back if your nutrients spiked. I would say that's much less risk than trying a new piece of equipment right before you leave. I would leave the roller installation for when you can be present and can follow the results and fine tune it or react if necessary.
cool, thanks! yeah, I tend to agree ... I don't want to maintain a new piece of equipment, plus introduce another possible failure. I have automatic WC setup, so hopefully that will keep nutrients at bay.
 
cool, thanks! yeah, I tend to agree ... I don't want to maintain a new piece of equipment, plus introduce another possible failure. I have automatic WC setup, so hopefully that will keep nutrients at bay.
Having said that, do look into a roller when you are back. Best purchase I ever made for my tank. No more socks!
 
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I would go sockless. I’ve been gone 8 weeks. No3 and po4 barely detectable two weeks ago by ATI water test. You’ll be fine. I went sockless.
 
You could also do a very small amount of nopox while you are gone on a drip. And remove the socks.
 

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