Asylumdown's 275 Tank build

[Masonjames]

The alk drop, and lack of being able to raise it may be a symptom of running a sewage treatment plant. Aka, dirty as sh** sandbed. If that sand bed is full of garbage and the system is trying to process it the bacteria may be using alk as a carbon source trying to keep up.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Masonjames

The alk drop, and lack of being able to raise it may be a symptom of running a sewage treatment plant. Aka, dirty as sh** sandbed. If that sand bed is full of garbage and the system is trying to process it the bacteria may be using alk as a carbon source trying to keep up.

I suppose that's possible, but I do vacuum my sand at least once a month, sometimes more. I started doing it in the spring because I kept getting ugly patches of cyano in the same places on the sand. My mind was blown by the amount of crud that came out of it the first couple of times, but it seems to be pretty clean now. I still have problems with cyano, just never on the sand now.

[Masonjames]

Ya I really don't know for sure. But all issues like that can be a good indicator of a tank heading towards "old tank syndrome". But if you have been on top of keeping the tank free of debris then it may not be the issue. Or you may be just slowly working your way out of it. To me it seems likely this could be the issue but really its just a guess.

[asylumdown]

*sigh* a guy just can't catch a break. Friday night I used the spigot on my skimmer to drain the collection cup. Forgot to close the tube and left it open to the drain overnight. Woke up Saturday morning to an angry looking tank and RTN in progress all over the place.

Bristle worms must have spawned or something in the middle of the night and drove the skimmer nuts. Salinity in the tank was 1.012. Worst. Timing. Ever.

A conductivity sensor that shuts the skimmer off would have prevented this. I suppose it's time I make the investment.

[straightrazorguy]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

A conductivity sensor that shuts the skimmer off would have prevented this. I suppose it's time I make the investment.

Bummer, man, sorry to hear. I got an Avast skimmate locker with their pressure sensor. It plugs into my controller and kills the power to the skimmer when the container is full. Best investment ever!

Great tank, BTW!

[Delphinus]

+1 on the Avast skimmate locker. I have the one that is basically a lid for a 5g bucket. Works well.

You could craft your own DIY if you're crafty but they're pretty reasonably priced all things considered..