my return pump took a crap

[Bergy]

Well  i woke up this AM to the sound of my pump going on and off...

I could hear the gurgle of my syphon break as it sucked water...  Unfortunately i topped off just before i went to bed so the sump level was at its limit. within a half inch of over flowing??? i am going to have to get my new sump hooked up, sooner rather then later... dang it


anyways, i took the pump apart onluy to find nothing wrong with it.. well at least not visibly... but each time i plug it in, it trips the GFCI


oh well, it was too small a pump anyways..... I will be off to Tom's shortly... dang it...

[Bergy]

i was thinbking of buyuing this while i was there... any thoughts or comments from the experts as to whether or not this is ok??? or junk/snake oil of the test kit world???


http://socaltropicalfishoutlet.com/catalog/hanna-handheld-phosphate-colorimeters-p-939.html

[Bergy]

and oh, btw, i found a god danged POLYCLAD on my old return pump...


now, wtf... i havent had a clam or anything that the friggin polyclad would like, and i moved everything, and used mostly new rock, with small exception i guess, from my old tank...

and havent seen any sign of polyclads since four years ago...

and now, great... still no clams in my future...


the polyclad is now in the tupperware dish along with that recent big bristle worm catch of last week.

[Just_Greg]

that sux about your pump...the coil is likely burned-out and the windings are shorting (can happen with age).  i was gonna offer you a pump to tide you over, but if you're going to Tom's, you'll get the "right" pump.  i'm sure most of our stuff is too small (like mag 5, mag 2, etc).

as for the colorimeter, we've read that the cheapies don't really work worth a damned...

[psykokid]

goddam the polyclads!!

[Learner]

What colour was the polycladida..... hope it was the only one .   :0(

[Bergy]

it was the same one as jake had a picture of, if i recall.. basic camoflage grey two tone, with a spine and eye spots

this one was a bit beat up as i really wasnt in the moood to play nice...  but he is alive in a little tupperware with the 8 inch bristle worm...

thier is a frag plug there too for them to hide under



and yea, got the tunze pump for the return, and a new pump that is the airstar knock off,  for my skimmer


my skimmer can use either a regular water pump, or it can use a needlewheel pump.. but if i go with a regualr pump, then i can use it as a back up if my return pump goes out..if i got the needlewheel, then i couldnt...

the needlewheel/skimmer pump was definately cool lookin though... had the nice/clear volute and all that trick stuff... but you know what.. i hardly ever look in the sump at the pumps...

and that pump was an additional $75

so, instead of gettin that, i bought that HANNA Colorimeter for phosphate....

my  phophate in my tank is .2   is that bad????

[psykokid]

.2 phosphate is not all that happy.. Ideally you want 0 phosphate. time to put the daul BRS reactor back into action with some GFO

[Bergy]

what is teh range.... how unhappy is not happy???


i just got the skimmer up and running.. and wow, talk about getting ten pounds of crap into a five pound bag...


and yea, this is still the old sump...  and with the skimmer, and a power failure, i will definately overlow my sump....

i will absolutely need to get that new sump finished...

[psykokid]

How the hell did you fit that thing in the ten gallon sump.. You were test fitting it in the twenty tall and it was "snug", i cant imagine  how it all manages to fit..

[Bergy]

its a similar foot print, just a couple inches shorter over all, but shorter in height by a bunch...

the pump mahybe a bit big for this skimmer... i currentlhy have the skimmer adjusted all the way down, and the water level is still a bit high...

i will hook up the air guages tomorrow to see what air i am drawing, but im guessing it will be high as well..

no skimmate yet, as the skimmer is breakin in a bit...

it's been a long long time sincei ran this skimmer so not sure what or how and all the nuances...

it is a wierd skimmer to begin with, RK2  X-FLO6.5  or something like that..

it can be a venturi skimmer or a needlewheel/counter-current skimmer


currentlhy i have it hooked up as a venturi with counter current..i cant believe i still had all the pieces...