how do I know

madlynb

madlynb

madtaz
Now that I have my sump up and running how do I know if I have the correct flow coming out of my OT's into my sump? How do I know that my skimmer is doing its job? It seems that I have to top off the tank every other day with at least 2.5 gal of RODI water. Is that ok? I have a 125 gal tank, FOWLR for right now with intentions to add coral once parameters are good to add corals.
 
Yeah I have a big Rubbermaid next to my tank that tops off the tank whenever it gets low.

With the skimmer, is it making bubbles in the collection cup and does it look like dark crap and smell bad. If it is making the bubbles in the collection cup its working, It will take some time to break in though if its new.
 
Evaporation is all part of it. That's why a lot of us make our own RODI at home because we use a lot of it throughout the week. 2.5 seems a little high, but it depends on the ambient temperature, the tank temp, and the exposed surface area so you could be losing that much to evaporation. Stags got you on the skimmer. Realize too that without much going on in the tank it may not produce as dark of skimmate as its capable of. If you are having trouble with anything, post up some pics and specifics about it and we'll help you out.
 
i loose 5-8 gal a day. evap is your best friend it cools the tank just runnimg fans over the water to create evap can reduce your temp by 10 degrees or more. as for the skimmer if the bubbles are going into the cup than it is working as long as the water being collected is not just a pail yellow water if it is than there is some adjusting that needs to be done.
 
Just 2.5 gallons a day of evap? Man you got it made:D
I loose anywhere from 3.5 to 5 gallons a day on my 125.
As for flow through the sump,as long as your getting about 10X in turnover rate through there,that should be plenty.
 
The collection in the skimmer is grayish, brownish looking and ikky. So, that sounds like it is working well. Thanks for your info.
 
I stand corrected. You guys have it bad. If I were losing 8 gals a day I would have surely installed the ATO through the wall that I have been contemplating. WOW!
 
mng777777 said:
I stand corrected. You guys have it bad. If I were losing 8 gals a day I would have surely installed the ATO through the wall that I have been contemplating. WOW!
Click to expand...


my tank is hooked to my ro/unit now so i never have to fill it again. last summer i had to fill the tank 2 to 3 times a day. to keep my pump from running dry
 
no it goes like this: 1375 / 40 = 35

You're good!

The tank is another story. You want 30x movement in the tank and 1375 / 125 = NOT ENOUGH. if you don't have power heads for movement you should look into getting some.
 
To that point, We say 10x through the sump and 30x in the tank which means if you were using only your return pump to achieve your goal of 30x flow in the display, your sump would have to be 3x the size of your display or it would be grossly over-driven. Do most of the high end systems w/o powerheads just use one return from the sump and one for circulation, or do they really have upwards of 100x turnover through their sump?
 
Thats what they use a closed loop for.
It basically pulls water from the display,through a bigger pump,then back out through seperate lines into the display.
Its not pulling the water from the sump,but from the display instead.
 
yote said:
Just 2.5 gallons a day of evap? Man you got it made:D
I loose anywhere from 3.5 to 5 gallons a day on my 125.
As for flow through the sump,as long as your getting about 10X in turnover rate through there,that should be plenty.
Click to expand...

Gosh, I've got you all beat. I lose over 10 gallons a day!:shock:
 

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