New Basement Sump System

[Sherri]

So after a helpful chat with Mike, I decided that the first thing to do was to clean out all of the basement tanks. I had a 75g tank that had a lot of live rock in it and coral skeletons thinking that this would all help the water. I know what you're thinking and you're absolutely right -- what a stupid idea! The 75g tank is in an awkward spot that's hard to see let alone get to but we got to it and I took everything out of it. It was disgusting. There was absolute sludge in the bottom of that tank. Took too long to clean it but everything seems to have survived ok and it looks so much better today!

I have a 55 gallon tank which the upstairs tanks empty into -- I'm going to be removing everything from that too. There's a purple tang, two clowns, some nems and a filefish. They are all getting moved to the tanks upstairs. Fingers crossed that the purple tang and the chevron tang in residence don't fight to the death. I'm going to be removing all of the rock from that tank too. If anyone is looking for live rock, I have lots!

Then the 35 g tank that has a couple of corals is going to be emptied as well and I will use it to house the ATS. That will be pretty easy to set up as I already have the lights. Just need to figure out the bar at the top, get the mesh and that will be off and running.

I think I will take off the RDSB as it is only a 20l that is half filled and it creates a lot of salt creep and is impossible to clean out. So I'm simplifying everything in the basement to see if this will all work to deal with the problem. If it does, that means that the sand bed upstairs is fine.

So while it might have been interesting to see how I rebuilt my basement system, instead I am cleaning up and simplifying what I have.

 

[mchartier]

Sounds like a plan, but you did not say what the problem is that you are trying to correct

 

[Sherri]

My water quality took a huge nose dive -- have lost many corals, several fish, and am growing hair algae more than anything else. Didn't know what the problem was -- thought it might be the sandbed in the 180. It looks like it was my basement mess that was causing the problem.

The only thing I'm hesitant about is adding the fish to the upstairs tanks -- the system will handle it I'm just not sure there's psychologically enough room. I'm thinking of adding 2 clowns to the 65g which already has a tomini tang, a CBB, a toby puffer and a filefish in it. And then the above mentioned potential conflict between the chevron tang and the purple tang -- both aggressive.

 

[choff]

Awesome Sherri! No pictures?? I can only imagine how bad that was. Glad our talk helped.

~mike

...stupid auto correct

 

[reefstarter]

With all that cleaning going on wonder if it is a good idea to do a little at a time as not to shock the system

 

[Sherri]

Yea -- Mike pm'd the same thing. You're probably right but I'm on a roll. I will take a few weeks to get all of the bits for my ATS together and built. I also have to give myself time as I need a few more kicks in the you know what. Sheesh! I should have done pictures Mike while I was cleaning it -- I can get a few -- got buckets of junk. I'll take a video...

 

[Sherri]

Cry with me but still hold hope in your heart!

Here's the video...

http://youtu.be/Cn98g8kGkHc

 

[PSU4ME]

Have you ever thought about getting the triton test done on your water? I'm not saying they are the greatest or anything but it will give you some directional insights to your water so you know what you're working with.

 

[Sherri]

I have actually. I want to fix what I know is wrong and then take that step. I have done some testing but their way of testing looks amazing. Once I get the yucky stuff down, then I can concentrate on the basics. My tests show things ok although I haven't done it in a few months. I use the ESV B-Ionic salt that comes in four different steps to put together. I did have some questions about their quality control as for some reason the mag was high. That was my first thing to look at when things started going awry. I worked hard to get the balance right but things just kept getting worse. Then I started looking for the source and was not even looking in the right direction. Sigh. Fingers crossed that I'm on the right path now.

 

[PSU4ME]

Cool I think it is a good step. I'm not too concerned about the CA/mg/alk levels, more about the heavy metals you can't test for......that could be the cause for the sudden decline.

 

[Sherri]

Yea -- I think the decline could be attributed to the terrible mess I cleaned up yesterday but their tests do reveal a lot more. Our well water is heavy in iron so it would be interesting to see if there's something because of that yuck.

 

[choff]

Did you smell rotten eggs at all during cleanup? If anything a sulfur gas pocket probably released or was seeping. I'm assuming you took the tank offline to clean it. Ill watch the vid later.

...stupid auto correct

 

[Sherri]

The whole system was shut off for probably an hour and a half to two hours while it was cleaned. Yes, it smelled terrible. Not so sure about rotten eggs -- I think my nose just shut down! My daughter said it just smelled like fish. I kept smelling something off and on in the basement -- it was bad that's for sure...

 

[choff]

Just watched the vid . Well on your way!

 

[Sherri]

Another basement tank cleaned and converted to a turf scrubber...

 

[PSU4ME]

Very cool!

 

[Sherri]

Like my ghetto light stands? Haha

 

[PSU4ME]

Looks like they work!

 

[Sherri]

Just had an electrician here -- looks like it might be a neutral issue on the GFI... The real teaser is the sink! He's going to solve it for me though... Next step is the parameters.

 

[choff]

Great Sherri. No more shocks is a good thing



...stupid auto correct