Finally 20 Gallon Setup
- Thread starter Panther28
- Start date
The Valve helped. I have everything up and running. But I don't know what happened. All the corals have shriveled up in balls and the fish are hiding and staying at the bottom of the tank behind a rock. I check everything all the water parameters were fine. The salinity of the water was the same in the sump and the main tank so was the temperature. Could it be a flow shock or something like that. Everything is working perfectly except for micro bubbles. I had a few bursts of micro bubbles when I was adjusting the return flow and still have a constant flow of micro bubbles. Any idea's on how to solve the bubble problem. Any Idea's on what could be the cause. I have 3 baffles but still have a good flow of micro bubbles. Suggestions!
The corals are still hiding. The fish are out swimming but they don't look that good. They did not eat yesterday or even today. There is something wrong but I don't know what exactly! I have switched everything off and am going to do a 50% water change. Its possible that the water got poisoned some how. It could be the primer or glue from the PVC pipes. At least thats what I think. I even think that the corals are dying, The corals or the fish are not looking good. I don't know what I did wrong. Lets see how they do after the water change.
Okay a couple of ideas. One, was the pvc glue and stuff you used potable? meaning it was drinking water safe? This is important as some might be toxic. The glue can will say that it is drinking water or potable safe......Two, the bubbles sometimes indicate an air leak somewhere in your system. Check and double check your connections if any air is getting sucked in you will have air bubbles. Also, a few bubbles will not hurt anything, most people don't like the bubbles as they can cause an undue amount of saltcreep. If anyone wonders if microbubbles are dangerous they need to read some of Eric Boremans or Robert Fenner's books on diving on open reefs where the waves crash constantly over the reef creating all kinds of air bubbles in the water........so....
Ok. I think i got the right kind of glue and primer. check on other forums many people have used it without problems. The bubbles was not due to a leak the sump had a lot of flow and the baffles were not able to diffuse the micro bubbles. I think what happened is:- I had added sand and had rinsed it a few times in tap water and just scooped it up and added it to the sump. The sand was not dry and contained tap water which means it had chlorine in it and I had not added tap water conditioner. Although it was a little amount it affected the tank a lot. I disconnected everything and put it back as it was. did a 50% water change still nothing looks good. I think due to my stupid mistake I might have crashed my tank. All the corals are excreting some stringy white stuff which probably means they are dying. I even thing that the snails are dying. so basically I will have to start everything over again or stop! So basically what affected the corals, fish and critters was a massive flow of micro bubbles with chlorine. And that did it for the tank. Lets see how it goes in the next 2 days. If nothing improves then either I will sell everything off or just might get back into it. This is not the 1st time this happened to me. I had done the same thing to my freshwater tank. Had killed 9 tropical fish. We should learn from out mistakes but I don't think I am learning anything from the mistakes I make. I made sure everything was perfect so nothing goes wrong. Well this was bound to happen. i couldn't have done anything to stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!
EDIT!!
All the time and money that has gone into this project. AND BOOM. Gone!!!
Update
9 out of my 11 snails are dead or dying! Crabs seem to be fine! One of the clowns is coming back, the other one is trying to come back but not sure. As for the corals they are holding on but have not opened up. seem to be doing ok I guess. Don't know if they will be able to pull through. There were a few factors that affected the main tank.
1) micro bubbles
2) Chlorine
3) Silicone (found out I had gotten the wrong type with chemicals)
plans for the future. if the fish come back Then will try to setup a DIY acrylic sump instead of glass! Get some snails and corals. Lost a lot of money on glass, silicone, corals, and a 15 gallon glass tank. I basically bought a lot of stuff with out making sure what I was going to do and everything went wrong. Want to start from scratch and see if things come out any better. Still not sure what to do. I am trying my best not to give up on the tank. Will see how things go in the coming few days and then think about it. How stupid a person can be to poison the tank.
9 out of my 11 snails are dead or dying! Crabs seem to be fine! One of the clowns is coming back, the other one is trying to come back but not sure. As for the corals they are holding on but have not opened up. seem to be doing ok I guess. Don't know if they will be able to pull through. There were a few factors that affected the main tank.
1) micro bubbles
2) Chlorine
3) Silicone (found out I had gotten the wrong type with chemicals)
plans for the future. if the fish come back Then will try to setup a DIY acrylic sump instead of glass! Get some snails and corals. Lost a lot of money on glass, silicone, corals, and a 15 gallon glass tank. I basically bought a lot of stuff with out making sure what I was going to do and everything went wrong. Want to start from scratch and see if things come out any better. Still not sure what to do. I am trying my best not to give up on the tank. Will see how things go in the coming few days and then think about it. How stupid a person can be to poison the tank.
Yeah the biggest mistake I have ever made. Hope fully will never repeat it in my life. I actually disconnected the sump. So it's not in contact with the silicone anymore. I have thrown out the tank already. I am working on diy acrylic sump. This time I will take things slow. The fish seem to be doing better. Tried to eat which is always a good sign. The corals not looking so good but I think they can make it. Lets see how it will go. The next few days are very critical. I am running a filter with activated carbon which should help I think. I have lost a few snails though. one good thing came out of this I got ride of all my aptasia.
This is how my mushroom looks! Any idea's If he will make it??
This is Acrylic glue. hope fully harmless.
This is the acrylic I got from a plastic shop in my town. He cut it up for me for free. They even have scrap acrylic for 50cents a peace.
I have clued everything together. Will post a pic later..
This is Acrylic glue. hope fully harmless.
This is the acrylic I got from a plastic shop in my town. He cut it up for me for free. They even have scrap acrylic for 50cents a peace.
I have clued everything together. Will post a pic later..
Update
A big update. Was not able to update due to work stress. Well I finally got my sump ready. I just finished and will let the glue to cure for at least 24 hours and then set it up again and see how things go. Pics below. I have one question though. What type of sand can I put in the refugium. And how many inches should it be.. Let me know what you guys think about the sump I made.
In the intake compartment on the right side I will be adding some lava rock rubble and some live rock rubble to diffuse the micro bubbles. In the refugium I was thinking of sand but don't know how much and which kind and some Chaetomorpha Algae. Any suggestions???
A big update. Was not able to update due to work stress. Well I finally got my sump ready. I just finished and will let the glue to cure for at least 24 hours and then set it up again and see how things go. Pics below. I have one question though. What type of sand can I put in the refugium. And how many inches should it be.. Let me know what you guys think about the sump I made.
In the intake compartment on the right side I will be adding some lava rock rubble and some live rock rubble to diffuse the micro bubbles. In the refugium I was thinking of sand but don't know how much and which kind and some Chaetomorpha Algae. Any suggestions???
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