An inconvient Size.

blakeorme · 10/19/2008, 06:52 PM

Funny story... and FYI....
I just plumbed my new reef and used a Dart for the CL and a Snapper for the sump loop. Upon the intial setup, I was very pleased with the Snappers performance for the sump. Unfortunately, over the past couple days it has diminished greatly. I had installed loc-line and assumed this was the cause. Over the past day, the pumps performance continued to decrease. All things being equal, the pump shouldn't decrease. Since it was a new tank I had run a leak test with tap water and then drained the tank and filled it with RO/DI and salt to begin the cycle. Due to excess tap water in the plumbing I went to the nearest LFS and grabbed some carbon to help with the remaining tap water. "Kent Marine Reef Carbon" is all they had available.
Well, I decided to take the pump apart and inspect it. Apparently, Kent Reef Carbon is the exact size to clog, not damage, a Snapper. The impeller was completely clogged with pellets.
I realized that I had spilled some carbon due to the filter bag not being secure. After the pump was cleaned out, problem solved.

10/19/2008, 06:52 PM	#1
blakeorme Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 350	An inconvient Size. Funny story... and FYI.... I just plumbed my new reef and used a Dart for the CL and a Snapper for the sump loop. Upon the intial setup, I was very pleased with the Snappers performance for the sump. Unfortunately, over the past couple days it has diminished greatly. I had installed loc-line and assumed this was the cause. Over the past day, the pumps performance continued to decrease. All things being equal, the pump shouldn't decrease. Since it was a new tank I had run a leak test with tap water and then drained the tank and filled it with RO/DI and salt to begin the cycle. Due to excess tap water in the plumbing I went to the nearest LFS and grabbed some carbon to help with the remaining tap water. "Kent Marine Reef Carbon" is all they had available. Well, I decided to take the pump apart and inspect it. Apparently, Kent Reef Carbon is the exact size to clog, not damage, a Snapper. The impeller was completely clogged with pellets. I realized that I had spilled some carbon due to the filter bag not being secure. After the pump was cleaned out, problem solved.