kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

[Delphinus]

I need to do the same to my overflow box, it looks much the same. If I could just vacuum up the mud on the bottom and let the featherdusters be I would but they are so delicate that it's impossible.

I've kind of given up on being nice to them in my sump, I take my floor pump and vacuum up the detritus that settles in there. The pump sounds like a blender and it's nasty but I don't know what else to do about it. That amount of mud settling on the bottom has to be harboring the baddie nutrients.

On Saturday I tried to use a turkey baster to clean out the mud from my 65g's sump but the H2S smell it released told me to stop and just empty out the whole thing and clean it at the sink. I didn't even do the skimmer but it needs a powerscrub as well but it was already hours of my life as it was.

I shudder at the thought of eventually doing the same to my big tank's sump. I'm hoping that that water change vacuum trick lets me push that particular task back for a while for the time being..

[kien]

and in case anyone was curious what a leaky 2" gate valve looks like, it looks a lot like this..



In other news, I'm looking for suggestions on how to possibly repair a leaky gate valve. It's leaking at the handle's shaft. I tried to screw in the handle tighter but that didn't seem to help. I did manage to turn it into a position that seemed to stop the leaking but if I move it in any direction from this point it'll start leaking again

[hillegom]

You need to stop water going to the valve. Then unscrew the large nut under the handle. There is a gland usually there that will stop the water from coming out.
If you are lucky, its an O ring and you need to replace, otherwise, might be a proprietary rubber seal.
First try tightening that large nut under the handle. It should be snug, don't overtighten.
After replacing the hopefully, O ring, smear just a little silicone on the rubber. Always makes them last longer.

[kien]

Originally Posted by hillegom

You need to stop water going to the valve. Then unscrew the large nut under the handle. There is a gland usually there that will stop the water from coming out.
If you are lucky, its an O ring and you need to replace, otherwise, might be a proprietary rubber seal.
First try tightening that large nut under the handle. It should be snug, don't overtighten.
After replacing the hopefully, O ring, smear just a little silicone on the rubber. Always makes them last longer.

Thanks for that! I will have to see if I'm brave enough to operate on the valve..

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by kien

Thanks for that! I will have to see if I'm brave enough to operate on the valve..

[Magickiwi]

Originally Posted by Seriak

+1 on the waterboy reference.