First Water Change and Sump Issues

[term_paint]

Ok i did my first water change which was not my biggest problem but anyway my tank right now is cloudy...Is this typical... It is a 55 gallon and i changed approx 12 gallons....Additionally i hooked up the sump which is another 12 gallons...I did the water change and then hooked the sump.


Second issue is the sump....Here goes let me see how to explain this..


1) The sump is approx 1 inch over the baffles...?>>? I thought it was just supposed to trickle over...It is a berlin Bs1 sump...It is being fed with a CPR cs90 overflow box....Do i have something adjusted wrong...

2) the return pump is a quiet one 220 which is 518 gph.....


3) I am running a lifter pump on the overflow box with a filter for the aqua lifter.


4) The sponge for that sump is not as wide as the sump?? I just purchased it and it will float to the top...Is there a way to prevent this....??/




Man my head hurts....Pictures of the problem below..

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Photo Sharing by MyPhotoAlbum.com :: MyPhotoAlbum :: Reef Tank Build 9/6/8


Photo Sharing by MyPhotoAlbum.com :: MyPhotoAlbum :: Reef Tank Build 9/6/8



Pictures

[Playa-1]

my tank right now is cloudy...Is this typical
It's hard to say with such limited information. There could be lots of reasons your tank is now cloudy.

1) The sump is approx 1 inch over the baffles...?>>? I thought it was just supposed to trickle over...It is a berlin Bs1 sump...It is being fed with a CPR cs90 overflow box....Do i have something adjusted wrong...
It sounds like your flow through the sump may be a little on the high side. Nothing to be alarmed about unless it's causing a problem. If you want to slow it down a little then you could install a ball valve between the return pump and the display tank. You can partially close the ball valve to slow the flow down thru the sump.

4) The sponge for that sump is not as wide as the sump?? I just purchased it and it will float to the top...Is there a way to prevent this....??/
You could get a sponge a little oversized so that it fits tighter. I would question why your putting sponges in your sump in the first place?

[fatdaddy]

Originally posted by term_paint
Ok i did my first water change which was not my biggest problem but anyway my tank right now is cloudy...Is this typical... It is a 55 gallon and i changed approx 12 gallons....Additionally i hooked up the sump which is another 12 gallons...I did the water change and then hooked the sump.

First, what kind of water did you use? I use RO/DI with a salt mix and then it sits for several days with a power head (and heater if my house is cold). There is some white percipient and I take care not to add that to the tank. Only clear salt water goes back in the tank.

Second, you probably stirred up something in the tank such as the sand. You should only change a max of 20% at the time so that you don't shock the inhabitants. Just be careful when adding water to not stir up the bottom. I usually add water back in via the sump and let the return pump add it to the tank. I keep adding water until everything is back to the right level.

I usually dust off the rocks with the turkey baster or power head to get the detritus stirred up. I then siphon out water for a water change. Between this and any detritus in the sump that gets stirred up when I add water back, I have a small snow storm going when I'm done. This is normal and the plan is to have the protein skimmer pull this out.