Northstar24
The Tang Herder
Okay, many of you know i recently lost a return pump due most likely due to an errant snail. I addressed the snail issue with a prefilter sponge to keep those bastards out of the pump intake. The other issue was it was a total son of a $%@&^$%@@#$ getting the old system pump out and the new system pump in. Because of this I decided to redo the plumbing for the return pump.
The first thing I did was add a union directly on the output threads of the pump to make it easier to disconnect the pump from the system manifold. This is only half the battle though, as I had nothing to shut the water off from the sump when disconnecting the pump intake (its an external pump). I called up BRS and ordered two of these
1? Cepex Ball Valve - English
(one for the system pump and one for the skimmer pump)
So, I connected this ball valve to the threads on the pump output. Because I only had femail hose barbs, I used a 1 inch male nipple to connect the hose barb to the ball valve, there is then a 2 inch section of vinyl hose, and then the hose barb coming off of the sump. I had micro bubbles as soon as I refilled the empty sump and started things up earlier this week.
Today I sat down and thought about it, and the only thing I could think of was that the seal on the ball valve wasnt tight and needed adjustment. I ripped everything apart and tightened the seal, then put it all back togeter. Crossed my fingers and plugged it in, and I'm still getting bubbles. It't got to be coming from the new plumbing somehow for two reasons:
1) its the only thing thats changed
2) you can see a massive stream of micro bubbles coming out of the return lines in the DT
So - what am I missing? Hopefully I get some good ideas - because between this, losing a system pump, and a skimmer pump thats making odd noises and needs to be torn down, I'm about ready to take the tank down for good
Next question, how bad are micro bubbles for fish /coral / inverts? Can this wait till after Christmas to get resolved?
The first thing I did was add a union directly on the output threads of the pump to make it easier to disconnect the pump from the system manifold. This is only half the battle though, as I had nothing to shut the water off from the sump when disconnecting the pump intake (its an external pump). I called up BRS and ordered two of these
1? Cepex Ball Valve - English
(one for the system pump and one for the skimmer pump)
So, I connected this ball valve to the threads on the pump output. Because I only had femail hose barbs, I used a 1 inch male nipple to connect the hose barb to the ball valve, there is then a 2 inch section of vinyl hose, and then the hose barb coming off of the sump. I had micro bubbles as soon as I refilled the empty sump and started things up earlier this week.
Today I sat down and thought about it, and the only thing I could think of was that the seal on the ball valve wasnt tight and needed adjustment. I ripped everything apart and tightened the seal, then put it all back togeter. Crossed my fingers and plugged it in, and I'm still getting bubbles. It't got to be coming from the new plumbing somehow for two reasons:
1) its the only thing thats changed
2) you can see a massive stream of micro bubbles coming out of the return lines in the DT
So - what am I missing? Hopefully I get some good ideas - because between this, losing a system pump, and a skimmer pump thats making odd noises and needs to be torn down, I'm about ready to take the tank down for good
Next question, how bad are micro bubbles for fish /coral / inverts? Can this wait till after Christmas to get resolved?