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06/19/2014, 09:40 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 570
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Let me share my stupidity...
Just recovered from a near disaster with my 120 gal mixed reef. In a nutshell, my durso standpipe had become completely clogged with algae and other growth. My tank NEARLY overflowed, and unfortunately I did induce a .2 pH swing since my ATO pumped in about 4 gallons of extra saturated limewater.
Turns out that those standpipes need to be cleaned on occasion. Maybe once a year or so since my tank has been up and running like 3 years without my ever touching it. Just a friendly reminder to everyone. Don't neglect to occasionally cleanout your drainpipe setup. I'm just seriously glad it happened while I was at home and not about 4 days ago when I was on vacation 1000 miles away.
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First saltwater tank setup 11/6/10: 80 lbs LS and 150 lbs LR, Aquamaxx EM200 skimmer & Phosban Reactor Photon 48 LED pH 8.0, Temp 78, NO3 ~0, Mg 1400, Ca 420, Alk 7.5 Current Tank Info: 120 gal with 40B sump with fuge, pair of black Occellaris Clowns, purple Firefish, Coral Banded Shrimp, Foxface |
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06/19/2014, 09:49 PM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 693
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Happened to many folks as I read.
Many plumb the secondary overflow pipe in you have the space to solve this. It is the best way I can see. What is "extra saturated limewater" for an ATO? |
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06/19/2014, 09:50 PM
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#3 |
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Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Spanaway, WA
Posts: 1,101
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That is a great point to make. I have done mine once a year when I do a full cleaning. For a full cleaning I will drain the sump and clean it out all the way clean the pumps really good and anything else that I can see that needs to be done.
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"You can run but you will only die tired" U.S. Army Snipers |
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06/19/2014, 10:00 PM
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#4 |
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Registered Member.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 1,974
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Good learning experience, do you have any shutoffs with a controller in case there's a leak?
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06/19/2014, 10:54 PM
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#5 |
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Grizzled & Cynical
 Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Stamford, CT
Posts: 17,319
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Unless under duress, I would NEVER again run an overflow system with just a single drain. Too many things to potentially go wrong to risk it. Side benefit of dual drains (or even triples) is you can run one as a siphon and completely eliminate any overflow noise. Any system that requires regular cleaning to avoid performance failure (as opposed to just not working as well) is to be avoided.
FWIW, even with Kalk water for the ATO, salinity dilution is more of a problem than pH.
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Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs |
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