Smann

Andy Do you have the ehimen in or out of the sump, is it plumbed or vinyl. right now my 40 is running thru the chiller and then return split to 2 seaswirls at 5'. my 30 is split to the skimmer and then return to a scwd at 5' they maintain about a 3/4" rise in the water level which I need

Are we all talking in sump or some external, I havent had an in sump pump for 3-4 years then you could get a genx 2400 for 35-40$ at the LFS, I did line the bottom of the cabinet with 1/2" foam board that helped alot with the vibration and the echo in the cabinet with any of the pumps I'm running a genx 30 and 40 external, with my skimmer, cal reactor, sump with overflow all in the base cabinet I thought was pretty quiet but I've been sticking my head in the cabinet every 30 mins after reading this post to see whats making what as far as noise, with the doors closed I thought it was pretty quiet but maybe I'm used to it!! I'm in the process of moving the sump out and a 40g fuge behind the tank, I'll still have the pumps in the cabinet so i'd like to know or "hear" about some other pumps, my pumps are 3+ years old. The genx 40 1190 gph are running 165.00

I have some monti digi you can have and an acro thats pretty easy to grow PM if your intrested

Woody at Seahorse gave me his idea for a simple top off and i've been running it for years without a problem.I have a 40g rm garbage can that is kept full by ro/di unit on a simple battery operated sprinkler timer(home depot) that comes on daily for 2hrs. drop in a maxi 1200 with 1/4" tubing to a kent float valve at your sump water level. put the maxi on a timer to come on maybe 3-4 times in 24hrs for 30 min, I put a T in the line at the maxi for a bypass plus it will break a syphon. this way you are not plumbed direct to a water source and you dont have to worry about elec switchs failing I now have the maxi on my controller to run at night thru a kalk reactor, I have it set to come on every hr for 3 min this doses approx 1 cup at at time. It starts at midnight and runs thru 9am, again using a float valve you dont have to worry about overfilling or overdosing

Looks good thanks for the time and effort put into this!!

Stop by Upscales and look at thier tanks Travis is running XM 20 on all his tanks. I was having trouble with the last bulbs I bought online plus the same bulbs were giving off different color. I went thru my old blubs to find one I liked and where I had bought it. I called Travie to see if he had the bulbs I wanted, I know he had been doing alot of research on lighting a few times when I stopped in. They have the XM's in stock, I probly paid a few dollars more but I think its worth it not only for his time but if I have a problem with a bulb I know where to go.

Stick with the 2 part for now alot safer on a small tank

I have a 3 step ladder next to the couch in front of the fish tank. makes a nice addition to our furniture, with my hand towells draped over it makes a nice footstool also. its definetly a must with a tall tank you will use it daily so will everyone else in the house! I had a 55g that had a overflow box with 1"pvc down the bottom 90 to a bulkhead out the back worked just fine, had a T on the back for a vent

wow, beautiful inlay did you do that work yourself?

I just use zip ties, its not under pressure so you dont need much. Anything metal near the tank will corrode, I use the Black tubing from upscales so it wont grow algae as fast and also replace every so often

looks good benny, fastest reef I've seen!!. since its doing well let me know if you want some SPS for your new lights I have some frags you can have.

Sedra and genx have good submeris pumps have used both, in sump will give a little more noise so you might want to insulate. I run Genx-40 outside plumbed from sump to return that are real quiet

I have a little genx 4100 it says 650gph at 5', might be a little overkill but it still has the front on it that you can dial down. Also those zoas you gave me, the big ones, have spread over all that rock i attached it to so if you want the small rock back to do some starts for your new tank you are welcome to it

OK got it

I'm in, I'll post some pics then let me know what you want to trade and I'll put your name on it

If you are collecting alot of the gunk in the head it probly working, mine is similar not alot makes it to the collection cup or evaporates but when I clean the head out its more than1/8" thick. I also take a cup of warm water and siphon thru the air intake to clean the salt out

OOPs correction! havent read my instructions for a long time, it says start the reactor at 7.0 then slowly reduce the ph until you can maintain 6.5, but monitor the tank ph and if it begins to drop cut back on the C02. I have a second chamber so mine runs about 7.0 with the same results

sounds like you are running your reactor a bit high. On mine the instructions say the effulent should not be below 6.8 and you should monitor your PH to make sure it doesnt fall. I would slow the bubble count down and reduce the time you run it until things balance out, also your alk should be between 7-12 12 being the the max. If you adjust the bubble count you can recheck the effulent in an hour or so and it will change try for 6.8 and the alk should be 15-20(effulent) I only run mine during the day with my light cycle then adjust the time to maintain alk around 8-9

You did not say what the Alk in your tank was or how you are testing for it, this is important as it can also affect your PH. It should be 7-12DKH I keep mine 8-10

I dont know if I can help but I can give you my info.I have a PM reactor with a "control wizzard" regulator, it does not have a pressure guage just a tank pressure gauge with an electric switch and the bubble counter is after the reg on the reactor. I have a 5lb tank an it last 4-5 months ---- you could have a leak It does take quite a bit of fine tuning to get the right bubble count but not that hard----- sounds like a problem with the regulator I added a second chamber 4/1/08 and cleaned and changed the media, first is filled with ARM sec is half ARM(bottom) aragonite coarse sand on the top. The first is half gone the sec i down 2" as of today The PH of my effulent was 6.8 before the second chamber and now is 7.0 (Ihave a low ph problem) measured with a PH meter-----6.6 is very low what are you testing it with The Alk is 20+ DHK The flow into the tank is a broken stream Calcium at 560 is not likely check with a different test kit I use Tunse and mine is about 430, If I use a Salifert and its above 500 then I quit If you are concerned about PH test in the morning and evening with a meter to get the high and low range for your tank I would go back to where you got the reactor and ask to solve the equip problems hope this helps

Thanks for your time and work on the club site, for a minute I thought it was my computer!

If you can come by closer to 1 than2 that would be better, I have 7-8 of them so you can have one. before you drive this far did ask at any fish stores close to you they might have one you can have also. I'll pm my address

I have several, you mean the 3 suction cups that the maxi slides onto

Also there are many articles and I found a few about reactors and phosphates at wetwebmedia.com. this is a good place to start http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcreactors.htm After a little reading I will use Knop media next time i need to clean and replenish my reactor

I have ran a PM calcium reactor for years up until this year I used argonite sand as a media now I use ARM. After reading your post I tested my tank, my effluent and my RO/DI for phosphates and they were all 0. I dont know about the instructions for your reactor as you say you "have" to monitor the PH,The instructions for mine say to set the bubble count then test the PH-6.8 and the alk-15-20DKH then moniter the tank to make sure is stays stable. I have a low PH problem so I only run my reactor during the light cycle then turn off the c02 at night, I also added a second chamber so the PH is 7.0 I maintain my alk 9-10DKH and test about once a week I rarely test for calcium as its always at or above 400. If my leans below 9 I add an hr or two to the time same if reaches 10 I decrease the time its on If you want to mount the PH probe I think Waves will drill and tap the top(for a fee) and they sell a fitting to hold a PH probe I would watch the Ph and Alk in your tank if you have high Alk and its driving the Ph down you will definitly get an algea problem plus stress your tank. test your Ph at night and first thing in the morning and maintain a stable Alk reading. If your tank is stable and your phosphates test OK then I would look elseware for your algea problem good luck