Temp Increasing

Tangstr, interesting recommendation. The LFS made the same recommendation this weekend.

I pulled them on Sunday, here is what I have noticed, temp rise is only 2 degrees now and makeup water usage jumped from .5 gal/day to ~ 2 gal/day (75 gal tank with a 25 gal fuge). Also noted, the pH change during the day has dropped to ~ .2.

I have not yet, installed any fans.

New problems: there is now salt building up on the T-5 lights and reflectors and the make up water system which use to go more than a week on 6 gal, needs attention every other day...... I'll have to rethink this design.....

Thank you;

Joe

 

The CO'2 where causing the PH swings as for the salt creep lights may be to close to the water.. Evaporation is a cooling thing LOL and about two gals a day is average here where I'm at if you have a sump might want to add a float and auto refill it .. that what I do less to worry about and less swings in Salinity. As for the LFS I'd stick with them myself' most are to busy trying to sell the tops as a gota have to ward off evaporation and salt creep I call it the Cha ching factor ..

 

Tangster,

Interesting, 2 weeks ago I added a float switch to the refugium-sump and another in the bottom of a 6 gal polly bucket along with a very small fountain pump (~1 gpm) to act as a DI makeup water system. This is connected to the reef keeper controller and turned on for only 30 minutes 2x/day.

You are correct, this has reduced my SG swings & my worry about running my sump pump dry.

OK, back to topic, with the top glass removed, the temp swing is still holding at ~ 2 deg F. The hood on this tank has the lights ~3(+/- 1/4") inches of the surface of the water, assuming that evaporation is the driver for the salt creep, then the hood fan will help in the reduction of salt (here with in the hood, likely to start condensing on the wall behind the tank)....

Looks like I still need that fan....

Thanks;
Joe

 

get you a good coaxial 4in fan and put it behind the tanks hood and blow it into the hood.. Unless the room is really cool then condensation should not be a factor. never was for me or anyone I know of as for salt creep if its getting on the lamp sockets ? just rub some Vaseline on then or the tanks rim won't harm anything and stops the creep Lights are a tad close for my liking at just 3 inches I like mine a Min. of 3.5 to 4 on VHO's or P/C and I'd say the same for t/5's never used them on a tank myself or P/C's either.

Is the fuge near the sump ? might be a better way to do what you are doing with less moving parts . I always let the drain line from the tank to the sump feed my refugium I just add a tee and valve at one end to feed the fuge and drain it at the other end Gravity suck's . I set the fuge on a few wooden blocks or or what ever to allow the water to just gravity drain to the sump from the fuges bulkhead and just use a Kent's float from the R?O D/I unit in the basement to the main sump .. I just run the 1/4 Polly tubing to the float valve then that feed the sump and also the fuge as the levels never change feed one you fed them all. After all the yrs I sent in my trade I have seen many elect float switches burn out and the spdt contacts have a 50/50 chance of sticking open or closed..Thars a bad thing if they stick closed ):

 

I don't recommend using glass panels either and my lights are only 4" above the water. IMO glass tops cause more harm than good.

 

The refugium-sump that I'm running is "an all in one" system placed in the base stand of the tank. Briefly, it has four internal dividers.

The first runs the depth of the tank (front to back) taking the over from the tank. There is a filter sock here. This area has a gated flow through to the refugium which runs the the remaining length of the tank and about 1/3 of the depth. For the remaining 2/3 depth of this area, there is a lower edge to over flow water into the 'equipment' section of the sump.

The refugium gate is set with a very, low flow into the fuge. How much.......enough so that the overflow from the fuge (a 3/4 pvc pipe) is about 1/3 full......??? I have no mangroves here as the depth is about 18", so there 4 different macro algies, 20#s of sand, snails, hermits, a small star fish (likely a bad one), and lots of tiny "bugs".

The equipment section of the sump houses my skimmer, heater, temp & pH probes for the RK2, the make-up level float switch, & a mechanical sponge filter through which all water must flow to reach the sump return pump. The sump pump is rated for 850 gph, plumbed back to the tank with 1" pvc, likely making at least 700 gph.

The 5+ gallons of DI make up water is also in the tank stand with the sump. The system is balance such that when the power is off, the full sump still has ~4 gallons of reserve capacity. If the makeup water demand sticks open the the sump will not overflow, if the power stays on, the SG swing will be minimized as the total system capacity is 100 gallons and this will be (worst case) a 5 - 6% system volume change.

My perfect storm is to have just filled the make up water, have the switch fail, and then lose power after the makeup bucket is empty. I have a very good chance of overflowing the sump.



I'll get a fan going on the hood....