Reef Discussion

[ezza]

i have been using an Aqua Medic 3700 for some period of time.... I'm not sure how long actually, I just know that my last pump also died in the middle of the night between a Saturday and Sunday. There was water spraying all over the room from the wave makers as the level went down. My bloody husband was meant to get my glass covers down from the storage spot when I brought home my wrasse from @Aquariums@Asquith but he never bloody did it and I can't get them safely. Then the sump overflowed and flooded everything. I had taken a sleeping pill because I have had severe insomnia for a couple of months. Matt had to wake me up to sort the mess out and now I am wide awake again.

I guess now I know what was causing the leaking current into the aquarium. I wondered what it was for a while but thought it was a heater. It was pretty bad at times, quite painful to put your hand in the water.

I had to go pull the pump out of my koi pond to keep the aquarium going. It's only an Aqua One/Pond One 1300 L/h because the pond is only 150L where the aquarium is 450L.

I don't know what to do. We don't have a credit card so I need to wait until at least Monday to get money moved across to the account. I am hoping the pond pump can hold it together long enough for me to be able to return it still functioning to the pond as I only just replaced that one.

Should I just buy an Aqua One pump? I honestly don't really know what to buy or where from at this rate. I am feeling a bit scared of aqua medic now. Aqua one are ok but the impellers wear out so frequently. We don't have heaps of money as I have been going to a lot of Doctor/Physio/massage guy appointments due to some back problems. Is there anything that just lasts?! Does anyone else have to regularly replace their system pump? Is anyone close to the central coast with a spare pump they don't need that I could borrow or buy?

 

[Sam Parker]

@ezza
Head down to Asquith and see if they have Eheims or tunze return pumps there. They will cost a little more but will be indestructible.

Give me a call when your there and I'll give Mark my credit card details over the phone.

Alternatively, I have a spare eheim 3400l/h pump here I can post to you. Wouldn't get there till around Wednesday or Thursday though?

Sam

 

[slin1977]

Can you shut the water off in the display at normal operation levels and simply rely on the wave makers for oxygenation.

Return the koi pump to the pond. To keep them going.

Your sump / tank will stay alive until Sam sends up his spare.

Just a thought.

 

[MagicJ]

@ezza, how come your sump overflowed?

If it happens every time your return pump is off then I think you need to have a look at your setup. Do you have a hole drilled in your overflow pipe to stop the syphon?

I don't disagree with Sam's recommendations for a return pump, but I had an Aqua One 105 Maxi running on my tank for 5 years with no issues - I recently replaced it and, after a good clean, it looked like new.

 

[MagicJ]

Can you shut the water off in the display at normal operation levels and simply rely on the wave makers for oxygenation.

... and move a heater into the DT ;)

 

[Sam Parker]

These are solid points made above. Your sump should not over flow if your return line has an air break to stop siphoning back to the sump.

Putting a heater near the wave maker in display tank is a good idea too!

 

[slin1977]

@ezza, how come your sump overflowed?

If it happens every time your return pump is off then I think you need to have a look at your setup. Do you have a hole drilled in your overflow pipe to stop the syphon?

I don't disagree with Sam's recommendations for a return pump, but I had an Aqua One 105 Maxi running on my tank for 5 years with no issues - I recently replaced it and, after a good clean, it looked like new.

If I'm not mistaken , I thought Ezza had a small hole on her duck bill pump return pipes to prevent the back syphon and prevent that over sump capacity event from happening.
A 6mm hole just below normal tank level underneath behind the duck bill would be enough to prevent the syphon.
Tanks need to be tested for all types of disaster situations for both power failure and start up.
Sumps need capacity for such events,
My set up was designed to manage the 15 liter auto top up reservoir pumping into the sump/ tank and power failure simultaneously.
During the beananimal start up the auto top up fills at such a slow rate there is very little chance of overfilling, it has never come to play but the emergency drain would come into its own under such condition.

 

[MagicJ]

I generally use a 3mm hole - I have never had it get blocked by anything.

 

[ezza]

@ezza
Head down to Asquith and see if they have Eheims or tunze return pumps there. They will cost a little more but will be indestructible.

Give me a call when your there and I'll give Mark my credit card details over the phone.

Alternatively, I have a spare eheim 3400l/h pump here I can post to you. Wouldn't get there till around Wednesday or Thursday though?

Sam

I just woke up after getting to sleep around 4.30-5 oh my goodness Sam I just can't do that!!!!! You are far too generous!!! You are a unique person in this world @Sam Parker. You have your own things to deal with at the moment and I am sure that buying me a return pump is just not the best use of your money!!!!!!!!!

As for why the sump overflowed, I don't know at all!!! It has never done it before when we've had blackouts. The sump is definitely large enough for the water that sits around the level of the overflow. It would have to be the bloody duckbill thingies like @slin1977 warned some time back. I have been conscious of the fact that they can back siphon- it took me a while to see it happen. I had adjusted them to stop them being too deep and angled the beaks but I must have moved them to an incorrect position without realising.

 

[Sam Parker]

I just woke up after getting to sleep around 4.30-5 oh my goodness Sam I just can't do that!!!!! You are far too generous!!! You are a unique person in this world @Sam Parker. You have your own things to deal with at the moment and I am sure that buying me a return pump is just not the best use of your money!!!!!!!!!

As for why the sump overflowed, I don't know at all!!! It has never done it before when we've had blackouts. The sump is definitely large enough for the water that sits around the level of the overflow. It would have to be the bloody duckbill thingies like @slin1977 warned some time back. I have been conscious of the fact that they can back siphon- it took me a while to see it happen. I had adjusted them to stop them being too deep and angled the beaks but I must have moved them to an incorrect position without realising.

Yell out if you change your mind. I'm certainly far from flush at the moment, but meh - what's more debt!

 

[slin1977]

I generally use a 3mm hole - I have never had it get blocked by anything.

Agree 6mm might be too much , I've not tried 3mm

 

[ezza]

@Sam Parker , spoke to Mark. He only has AquaOne in stock. I think I'll just order a Tunze from The Tech Den tomorrow. They have a 3000L silence pump for $245. No idea if that's a really good price haven't looked too far yet. I need to get some work done before I can focus on it. The pond pump will have to do for now

 

[ezza]

Agree 6mm might be too much , I've not tried 3mm

Where exactly are you guys talking about putting a hole?

I would love some kind of thingy to stop water exiting the display so I could keep it at 100% full to deal with the sump. I guess you would need something like the power point safety covers that slots onto the comb and blocks the holes of the overflow. I could probably wrangle it with some acrylic, or old records.

@Sam Parker, I owe you soooo much already. I will holler if I am in a pickle. I have some money from recent sales coming in and we have a little money in the bank now. Once I can get my hands on it life will be easier. Now, if anyone would like to buy some amazing vinyl nail wraps (like wrapping your car, but for making fingernails awesome), your purchases would assist my tank upkeep :p your Mothers, Nanas, Girlfriends and Wives would love them... And who doesn't love the idea of vinyl wrapping finger nails in 300+ designs?! It's appealing to all!

Anyone have an opinion on this Fluval pump?

http://www.thetechden.com.au/Fluval_Sea_3600lph_SP2_Aquarium_Sump_Pump_p/sea40.htm

 

[bimbo]

Where exactly are you guys talking about putting a hole?

I would put it just below the water level when the return is running - this way if the return pump shuts off as soon as the water lever in the tank starts to drop the hole will start to suck air and break any syphon in the return line. If that makes any sense

Cheers
James

 

[Sam Parker]

Ezza, the hole they are talking about is a siphon break. Basically, it allows the return line to suck air instead of water when the pump is off (ie, stops it filling your sump) Image below is an example, once the water level gets to that hole, it will stop siphoning.

I'd be going this pump if it were me. Nothing wrong with Fluval, but seeing as you've had two failures already - I would be buying something known to survive a zombie apocalypse.
http://www.thetechden.com.au/Tunze_3000l_h_Silence_Pump_1073_040_p/1073.040.htm

 

[ezza]

Ezza, the hole they are talking about is a siphon break. Basically, it allows the return line to suck air instead of water when the pump is off (ie, stops it filling your sump) Image below is an example, once the water level gets to that hole, it will stop siphoning.

View attachment 53376

I'd be going this pump if it were me. Nothing wrong with Fluval, but seeing as you've had two failures already - I would be buying something known to survive a zombie apocalypse.
http://www.thetechden.com.au/Tunze_3000l_h_Silence_Pump_1073_040_p/1073.040.htm

Thanks for the picture, I had an imagination fail. I'll have to have a good look at my loc-line to see where (if) I can figure where a hole would go. Mark has already had a go at me for buying "cheap shit" :p yeah it was cheap, $7 to be exact. But it was better than the spout I had before!!! I lifted it back up to where it ought to be today as well. It's much nearer the surface now and breaks the siphon as it ought.

I'll do more investigation into pumps. I have one reservation about the Tunze, I have read that they are not that silent? Does anyone have experience here?

I got a replacement for my Aqua Medic under warranty, so I will start searching for a backup pump now.

 

[slin1977]

Did they take the dud pump back to find the electrical fault?
Or was there other issue with the pump...

 

[bimbo]

Never used the tunze but my jeabo is as close to silent as you will get imo and for the same price as the tunze you can buy 2 jeabo's and have a spare one on the shelf ready to go. Check out fishstreet for prices

 

[slin1977]

Robust , indestructible, reliable.....

( most pumps are noisy due to poor plumbing pipework design , friction and back pressure will cause that hum that drives your partner crazy )

I've used Eheim 1260 for years...that's not saying they are the best but that works for me.

I asked my LFS if I could test two pumps on my set up before I bought.

 

[Sam Parker]

Whilst I have no issues with cheaper items, a return pump is probably not the best thing to go Jebao for. Eheim won't be the quietest thing on the market, but it will be like a 1976 ford transit van. Will literally run for ever and a day My LFS had one running in his live rock tank that he said was over ten years old. That's mighty impressive for anything electrical, but certainly anything electrical, mechanical and running in salt water!

I use the same spout as pictured, was only a few bucks. :)