A little situation....

[peachygirl]

I am writing on behalf of my 13 year old (SwampFox), as he is trying to go to sleep after fretting if his tank is going to be okay. He has a 72 gallon bowfront, with sump.

I am new to this and don't know all of the lingo, so please bare with me, and insert the correct terminology in place of "thingy" where applicable. :doh:

His sump has 3 chambers. His DT is no longer draining into the sump, and it appears the return pump is "dead" and is not kicking on at all. The water in the middle chamber where the skimmer is located was the same temperature as the DT when we noticed the issue, however the chamber with the return pump is at LEAST 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the middle chamber.

I have unplugged the return pump and moved the heater up to the DT. Is there anything else that needs to be done right now. Any other concerns I am overlooking? He does have a new return pump that he got for Christmas that I haven't hooked up, because quite frankly, I don't have a flippin' clue what I'm doing.

Thanks for any help, insight, trouble shooting, etc. anybody has to offer. I am starting to feel like we're in over our heads. :confused2:

Laura

 

[rolo65]

as long as the temp is stable ya should be good....if you can point one of the powerheads toward the surface of the water to help keep it oxygenated....that will get ya till you can get the return pump on tomorrow

 

[superclown]

Your largest concern at the moment is "flow" The water has to be moving to be oxygenated. If nothing else you will need to throw an air pump in there. If you have powerheads (thingys that look like fans that move the water) you can run those to agitate the surface of the water to create oxygenation of the water.

I doubt it will hurt anything to go like this for a couple of days until you can get a replacement pump

 

[superclown]

rolo65;605000 wrote: as long as the temp is stable ya should be good....if you can point one of the powerheads toward the surface of the water to help keep it oxygenated....that will get ya till you can get the return pump on tomorrow

didn't mean to copy your comment was not there 2 seconds ago when I started responding but pretty much same thing I was thinking

 

[peachygirl]

Amici;605005 wrote: As long as the display has flow and heat it will be just fine. I would highly suggest draining the sump for any bare bottom compartments as the stagnant water can cause a spike in ammonia when you kick the system back on.

Should I turn the protein skimmer off then? I guess it's just skimming the same water over and over at this point. There is some live rock rubble in the sump, but this might be the perfect opportunity to "fix" the leaking sump as well, eh? Not sure how it'll come out of the stand, (other than the sawzall).

Someone tell me this gets easier, or at least less complicated, or at minimum that I will understand it all better at some point.

Thanks for the help. He has 2 powerheads in there now, so hopefully that is enough until morning. I will check it first thing, and do have a air pump ready if needed.

Laura

 

[mtmcghee]

my mag 7 does this some times, i have to take it out and take the front housing off and pull the impeller out then put it all right back in and hook it back up and it works fine for a few more weeks then out of no where it does it again... his pump may have a thermal overload inside (when it get so hot it shuts down to save its self)... but just keep the tank water moving somehow if he doesn't have power heads then you could chance just setting the new return pump in the main tank and plugging it in...

 

[redpacus]

yes i would take apart the pump might have something like a snail or small piece of rubble in me causing the problem

 

[ralph atl]

rolo65;605000 wrote: as long as the temp is stable ya should be good....if you can point one of the powerheads toward the surface of the water to help keep it oxygenated....that will get ya till you can get the return pump on tomorrow

exactly.

 

[ralph atl]

what return pump do you have? soak it in vinegar for 24 hours, take it apart, clean...hopefully it will be good to go......

get a spare, so you can clean one without going down.

 

[basscyn]

Hey,
I work in Buford. I am happy to come by after work sometime and take a look if you need some "hands on" help.

Just let me know. :up:

 

[rbredding]

The display will only drain if the return pump is pushing water up to it...


Sounds like the return pump is done for.. (look into the marineland utility pumps for a replacement to the mag pump you've got - they're more efficient and quieter)


let me know, I can come by and take a look at it if you need me to.

(the skimmer pump isn't in danger of overflowing its chamber, is it?)

 

[jef4y]

I'd go ahead and turn the skimmer off as it isn't doing anything at this point, and if the water level in the sump raised a bit, it could start overflowing.

As everyone has mentioned, so long as your DT has heat & flow, you are good. The top of the water should ripple like it's boiling, but realize that this alone does NOT oxygenate the tank. So long as you get the pump replaced in a day or two it will be fine.

And yes, it will get easier as you understand more =)

 

[rbredding]

for the record... if you do need to oxygenate the water, you can always take a powerhead and set it up so that it's intake (or venturi hose, if so equipped) is partially out of the water... when it starts shooting microbubbles... you're oxygenating the water...

 

[peachygirl]

Thanks everybody for all of your help/suggestions. The always awesome Chris from Fish Scales came over this morning and switched out the return pumps for a very thankful 13 year old. All seems to be fine again. Thanks Chris, you rock!!

Laura

 

[basscyn]

Peachygirl;605376 wrote: Thanks everybody for all of your help/suggestions. The always awesome Chris from Fish Scales came over this morning and switched out the return pumps for a very thankful 13 year old. All seems to be fine again. Thanks Chris, you rock!!

Laura

Chris does indeed...rock. :up:

 

[fish scales2]

Thanks guys, Trey is a wonderful young man who is patient and listens extremely well.

His tank is amazing for being so young. He waited sooooooo long before adding anything to the tank and it is thriving.

Great job Trey!!!

 

[mapleredta]

I think pictures are in order.

 

[peachygirl]

hahaha. I'm a scrapbooker, so my saying is always "If it's not in the scrapbook, it didn't happen". I'll try and help him get some pictures up soon. He is fighting a little cyano issue currently. Thanks for all of your support and help through this journey. Hopefully updating our 37 to a 65 will go smoothly and properly break us in for the "Monster family build". (Monster by our standars, maybe not y'alls.).

Special thanks to Chris and Ron for always being available to troubleshoot for us. You both are a credit to both the hobby, and the ARC board. If we ever win the lottery, you both are on our short lists.


Laura

 

[fish scales2]

Short list? Reeaaaalllllly.:sad: I am 5'5" although I often act 10'

I AM NOT SHORT! Vertically challenged MAYBE!:yes:

Really just my way of showing my appreciation of you and your family Laura.

 

[peachygirl]

Fish Scales2;605743 wrote: Short list? Reeaaaalllllly.:sad: I am 5'5" although I often act 10'

I AM NOT SHORT! Vertically challenged MAYBE!:yes:

Really just my way of showing my appreciation of you and your family Laura.

Seriously, is there compensation for the keyboard i just spewed soda all over? :lol2:

So sorry if I offended you in my short-sidedness Chris. It was beneath me to make such low blows. People of your stature are in short supply in this world, and I for one, appreciate you. It takes a big person to step up to the plate and apologize for their shortcomings, so I apologize wholeheartedly for my small minded insensitivity.

See ya soon!
Laura