refugium

[troutman11111]

i never had one that worked right. is this normal water flow to the pump or is the pump a little to fast?

[loganj]

What size pump are you using? Also...what size is the refugium?
Logan J

[troutman11111]

Using CPR 300 GPH , and a 300 GPH pump. Had this running in my 30 gallon for months, problem was the plexiglass dividers pulled away from the rubbermaid tub, so I did not have the seal dividers. I do now from the 20 gallon glass tank, the water going into the refugium from the main tank was a flexible hose going straight down and into the rubbermaid. Now I have PVC going down with one 90 going under the tank and one 90 going down in the glass 20 gallon. Overnight the water level dropped to this point. the 300gph pump is a powerhead needed to run the cpr. the pump in the 20gal refugium is a 600gph.

[reefrunner69]

Now that the partions and baffles are sealed, where you are going to notice evaporation is in the final compartment, right before it goes back to the tank. The reason is that the other compartments are always being fed new water from the tank, the last compartment ships it out. I think if you'll take the measurments of the last compartment and the amount that it dropped, you will find the actual volume of evaporated water is not much greater than it was before, it is simply more noticeable and more dangerous to running your pump dry. You might consider a float valve and a resevoir to replace evap, it will make your life easier and give you some peace of mind.

[troutman11111]

wow never thought of that. in the rubbermaid i had it marked max low,add,norm, and max high when power went out. so if i add water to the last chamber and bring it up to the norm, which is just flowing over the top edge? this water being lowerd is evaporation. i was putting in 3gal aweek in the 30gal. i did get a 2 1/2 gal kent aquadose. i call it an iv. i was going to use it to dose kalk, but i know nothing about using the stuff.some day. could i use it for evaporation water?

[fishfreek]

yes you can use kalk to replace your evaporated water.

Mix the kalk up a day in adavance and then drip at a rate of 2 or so drops per sec. Only drip the clear liquid.

[troutman11111]

thanks, i'm trying 1drop per sec now with ro water, just to get the feel or it. i will watch my refugium level to make sure it does not get to high. got to remember i don't have much to play with 20 gal tank. i have 1gal play over the max when power is out. any more the 20gal will overflow. so i should put in one gal max in the kent aquadose to be safe. walt

[fishfreek]

Ok, Good I see you have marked water levels on the sump. One thing to do is to know how much in gal is between the low water level and the regular water level. I have two marks on my sump. I call them max full and min full. If the water level is between those two marks then the tank is consitered full. If the mark is below those marks then its in need of water.

I try to drip my kalk to a point that the water level stays within those two marks.

They are about 1 or 1 1/2 gal apart.

[troutman11111]

every thing is working ok,with the refugium/tank. murphy got me, but i did'nt let him hurt me. my 1/2 inch brass check valve is leaking a little, when power is out the water level went to max which is good, then kept rising very slowly after power was out it took overnight to reach the very top of my tank but i caught it in time before any water spilled. i took it apart and cleaned it, put back and no more leak. did the suckon the pvc thing to see if it worked then blew out and could not. before i cleaned it some air was leaking. i am confused about my cpr overflow, i took the entire pvc pipe out from the pump in refugium and the water level still rose. since the overflow has a tube attached from my 300gph powerhead to run it, is it possible this water is slowly getting sucked into the overflow and going down to the refugium? the water level is below the lip on overflow and the water still rose. i took the tubing off the overflow and heard that air sound for a sec. this has got to be what is going on. thanks for any feed back .walt

[Anemoneman]

my 1/2 inch brass check valve is leaking a little

Are you pulling our legs? Surely you are not using brass in your SW tank! Even stainless steel will rust in saltwater. Remove it immediately. It will poison your water.

NO metal allowed!

Mark

[troutman11111]

i know, but i can't find a pvc anywhere. no one has a pvc checkvalve.if you can point me with a address i would buy it. been using this one since sept 2002.

[Anemoneman]

If that is your only option then remove it and go without. If you keep the level low enough in your sump it won't overflow during a power outage. Hayward makes a pvc ball check valve. The problem with check valves in a marine tank is they get crusty and then don't seal. IMO they are a constant source of maintenance. I suggest doing without.

Mark

[troutman11111]

when you say keep the water level low enough in the sump, are we talking a float switch that will turn off the pump? without it it will burn out.

[Anemoneman]

What I mean is, maintain the level in your sump such that during a power outage the backflow from your tank will not overflow your sump. In most cases 3-5 gallons of unused sump capacity should do it.
Check as follows:
Remove the check valve.
Run as normal until system has reached equilibrium.
Shut off all pumps (simulate power outage)
Insure your sump doesn't overflow.
If overflow is imminent, turn pumps back on and reduce the level in your sump by manual removal of water.
Repeat.