I got bored

[highdesertreef]

So two week ago I was siting at home with nothing to do, so I decided to do some work on the tank. I didn't have enough money to get the surface skimmer attachment for my CPR bak-Pak2R+ and there has been a oily film on the top of the water. not to much as there is plenty of water movement to keep solids suspended in the water column. I had the venturi pump from my fission nano skimmer. I was able to get it working again and so I decided to try something. I had a small funnel (which was an extra from my sons cold medicine) which fit over the water intake of the pump, so I put that on the pump. I placed it in the tank with the funnel/intake facing up. Then I turned it on with the air intake under water and adjusted the hight (about a half inch below the surface) so that it created a small whirlpool. I have it on a timer so that it only runs at night when the flow is the lowest. Since doing this the film is gone, my skimmate production is nearly doubled and the water is crystal clear. I will post pics tomorrow after the lights come on. I am also considering running it with the air intake out of the water to add more dissolved O2 to the tank at night when photosynthesis is not taking place. Let me know what you think.

[CarmieJo]

Very clever!

[dillan]

sounds like a cool trick wtg

[highdesertreef]

Here is the funnel
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0352.jpg
Here is the pump
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0353.jpg
Here is how I put them together
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0354.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0355.jpg

[highdesertreef]

Here it is in the tank
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0357.jpg
Here is the tank
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0364.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0361.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/DSCN0365.jpg

[highdesertreef]

Here is a video of it working. the air intake is out so you can see the water movement,
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/th_DSCN0359.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/CU_kills/?action=view&current=DSCN0359.flv)

[rayme07]

Thanks highdesertreef thats pretty neat thanks for sharing it with us.
Raymond:)

[highdesertreef]

no problem I am just glad this didnt cost me any money as it was made with things I had lying around the house.

[bbl_nk]

Its great to reuse things in a practical way that helps out your tank setup :)

[CrazyCohiba]

I'm confused, I thought bubbles were no good for marine tanks.....

[CarmieJo]

My problem with bubbles is that they make the water appear cloudy. But I think he is only running this at night when the lights are off.

[highdesertreef]

Bubbles are bad if you have sponges and some corals. This is a reef hybrid. Not a true reef tank (no corals) but also not a true FOWLR ( there are inverts besides a clean up crew). And yes Carmie I am only running it at night so no tank viewing is happening while the bubbles are going. My O2 sats are great while its running, almost as good as when the lights are on and the algae is making oxygen. Besides if I do want to do some night viewing I can always put the air intake below the water level and then bring it back out when I am done. :)

[CrazyCohiba]

The reason why I ask is, I have been having a problem with red algea. No matter what i do it keeps coming back like an ex wife. in the beginning i had crushed coral and learned that CC was a nitratr factory, so a few weeks ago did a major clean out and switched the CC to live Sand. But the algea just keeps coming back. This time it formed bubbles and it actually made the algea float around in my tank. It looked like I had aliens in my tank. and yes I have tried chemicals to rid of red algea but it lasts only a few days and comes back.
any opinions?

[bbl_nk]

Could be cyanobacteria you are talking about? How is your tank flow? I've learned the cyano likes areas of low flow. I had some getting out of hand in my tank and tried Boyd's Chemiclean with so-so results. Of course adding a chemical to cure things in the tank isn't the smartest move since you often neglect the underlying cause. Siphoning it out and pointing a powehead at the troubled areas may help.

What aer you using for your water source? Tapwater, RO/DI, buying it? Also would help the diagnositcs if you list your current tank parameters and equipment (skimmer, pumps, estimated flow, etc) since there is SO many variables and these tidbits of info can help ID the problem area.

[highdesertreef]

Agreed what type of water are you useing. What are the paramaters in the tank. What kind of clean up crew do you have in the tank. I had that problem when I first set up a SW tank. So I got a turbo snail and 2 Scarlet hermits it was taken care of in a few days. Check out the bluezooaquatics web site they have very helpful information on inverts and what they will eat..