new guy just wondering

[jdair101]

Well its about time I got involved rather than just reading others posts. I do have a few questions that your years of experence may helpme with.
(1) lots of micro bubbes in tank driving me crasy.
(2) berlin turbo xl. I thinks its not the greatest
(3)questions to ask when buying live rock from a reefer

Thats it for now.
Thanks

[lost1]

Perhaps you could tell us alittle about your setup, and your sump design

[Mitchell]

welcome to the board

fire away with the questions

[jdair101]

Thanks for responding
Well here it goes???
As asked about the sump it is a 30x12.5x18 tall. There is a baffle about 12" from the drain end aprox 3" off the bottom causing the water to go under, & another 4" further that causes the water to go over the top into the end for the return pump. The skimmer is sitting in the sump at the end the water drains from the tank.(it is sitting in aprox 6" of water) I have installed a kent venturi on the skimmer but am still using the turbo pump.(it apears to be processing enough water????) I have tryed to reduce the bubbles by putting a filter pad under the drain and skimmer drains but the micro bubbles are driven thru.

About the tank
60x18x24 tall
one over flow with a darsco stand pipe(allowing water to fall 2")
1 1/2" drain pipe
1" feed from a litte giant 3-MDQX-SC

I have been thinking that a drip plate might help with the bubbles but am not sure.

In regards to the live rock my main concern is that it may have been in a FO that has been dosed with copper.

Thanks again

[Mitchell]

I will let a real Do It Yourselfer comment on the microbubbles. All I know is I was told to go with a 48" tank for a sump. For some, that would be out of the question, I was able to do so. I never really had any problems with those in a larger span.
As for the rock...I wouldn't chance it. Not if it's been exposed to copper treatments. For more info on microbubbles do a search on reef central. There is a vast amount of info on those nasty little guy's there.

[Daniel Schubert]

JDair

First of all welcome to the board.
As for your questions.


For

(1) lots of micro bubbes in tank driving me crasy.

Ans:
You may want to add some bioball to the last baffle (if possible) as long as the bio-balls are sump-merged you should be okay. I added some to my first chamber to remove the bubble from my refuguim. It help until I increased the flow rate. Additional baffles may be your best solution but it's probabbly too late for that

(2) berlin turbo xl. I thinks its not the greatest

Ans:
Yes you are right. Depending on your tank load this skimmer may be weak.

(3)questions to ask when buying live rock from a reefer

Ans:
buying live rock. As Mitch said make sure that the person has not used copper in his setup.

Daniel

[lost1]

I have a folr and have just used copper for treatment, I will report back in a few months as to the copper levels still recorded after removing with carbon. I have a berlin xl and as soon as the budget allows i will be looking to upgrade, however it seems to me that your pump is not up to the task, look for at least a mag 5 to a mag 9 (or equivalent) to drive your skimmer, i have a mag 5 and it is marginal.

[Michael_Lambert]

jdair101

As stated Welcome aboard!

as for your tank, i have not seen it posted but how old is the setup? Most skimmers do have a breakin Period, where they will produce more microbubbles than normal. As for helping reduce them you really should remove the filter pad, Just becouse you are going to start to get a build up of nitrates in it as you get crap building up. adding the baffel was the right idea, Now you may need to add more than one. Myself i have a custom Refugi/Sump and between my skimmer chamber and the return line i have 4 baffels "over, under, over ,under then over the last one is only about 3 inches high(allways submerged) then to my pump, now by having that last bafel you want to make sure that its submerged and close to your return..

see by having it close to your return line, and haveing it say 3-4 inches but the water level about 6-8 .. then any remaining bubbles will hit it and go up.. and usally once they start to go up.. they keep going.. so you are not going to be sucking the bubbles back down.

as for the skimmer, its not the best, they do work but mainly on lightly stocked tanks. You are best to wait.. and then buy the best skimmer you can afford.. One that is rated for 200Gallons up.. trust me ... as we all have done it.. we all say we are done.. no more, but we allways go bigger.. So buy somthing for 200 gallons, this way you can keep doing upgrades over the years.. and not have to waste money on buy new skimmers every 6 months.. :)

and for the live rock, really you need to setup a QT tank, say a 10-20 gallon tank, have fresh clean mixed water in it.. and treat any fish you have in it. I mean right now its a FOWLR but who says you are not going to see that Amazing looking coral of some sort that you just need to have.. Me its an amazing Frogspawn. I allso just wanted fish.. seen it and fell in love with it.. and now i want to keep everything.. just started SPS,
As for buying from a reefer, Just ask them what they are keeping in the tank, And by all means.. when you go over to pick up the rock .. bring your Copper test kit, and have them do a quick test on there tnak to see if copper is there.. I mean the only way a fellow reefer is going to tell you no you cant test the water.. is if he has used copper.. But again your best to just use a QT tank for treating for copper.. if in dout about rock.. AJ allways has some Great TOP knoch stuff for sale.. !!!

[jdair101]

I did some thinking and I think I'll add more baffles to the sump. As for the skimmer it'll have to do for now or if I can take it back I'll buy a PM Bullet 2. (Unless any one has a better idea) My question about rock was that I've been keeping my eye out for some for sale in the shopper and concerned when I see it for $2.00 a pound. I currently have 4 no bulbs and am going to change to 3-5' vho's and 2 no's. My question is how long are the 5'ers with the end caps installed. As stated above the tank is 5" long and I will be building a diy hood.
Thanks for now

[Michael_Lambert]

When you see live rock for 2 a pound. What you could be getting is "Baserock" Basicly is dried dead live rock, that someone ahs run in a tank for a little while to get some bateria on it.. but its just does not have the growth that you are looking for!