Stagnant water

[Jon]

The water is my sump is beginning to get stagnant. I put a power head in it and it has raised the temp of my tank by two degrees. So here is my question... Can stagnant water hurt your tank? My idea is to manually stir the water in my sump once a day so that I do not get a build up. Will this be OK or should I try something else?

Thanks for your thoughts - Jon

 

[chuck116]

what is restricting your flow that there is that little flow in your sump? I would think that algea would build up. I would check the output of the motor on the power head and either get a smaller one or add a cheap fan to the sump. But then you will have more evaporation. I would look it why you dont haveenough flow in your sump and fix that first.. How big is your tank and what type of return pump do you have??

 

[Jon]

The baffles in my sump are restricting the flow of water, which also help keep my tank crystal clear and bubble free. To keep my temperature under control I already have two azoo fans on my sump which keep my temp around 79 - 81 depending on the day (please note that I do not use a heater) . My tank is a 58 gallon oceanic with a 20 gallon DIY sump. I use a mag 7 return pump and a Tunze 9010 protein skimmer in the sump as well .

 

[chuck116]

Im as new to this as you are so I may not be your best help , but it sounds like maybe your baffles are to high or not enough flow . how is your tank plumbed ? is there alot of 45s and 90s that are creating head pressure loss for you pump ? how far is your pump pumping the water ?

 

[vangvace]

Jon,

What brand of powerhead did you use? A low wattage one shouldn't raise your temperature and help with your problem. Also Mag pumps are notorious for doubling as a water heater. Can you describe or give us a picture of your sump setup?

 

[redfishbluefish]

For the life of me, I can’t see how you could have stagnant water in a sump/refugium. Pictures would really help here. You’re running a mag 7 that, for the sake of discussion, let’s say is pushing 500 gph of water after head loss. That’s how much water is moving through your sump. Baffles only slightly slow movement from frictional forces...but insignificant. Anyway, 500gph of water movement is not considered stagnant water.

Before putting a powerhead in the sump, I’d up the pump to a mag 9.5. A 58 should easily be able to handle that flow. It would have been my choice for that size tank.

 

[Jon]

I have tried to run a mag 9 for the return pump and it was too much for the tank. I ended up changing my filter sock every other day, because it would overflow too quick and the bigger problem was the heat that it produced. My tank temperature would register around 81 degrees on a average day.

It sounds as if everyone is as frustrated as I am about this but, noone has answered my question... Will this light film that begins to form on the top of my water hurt my tank? Once I stir it up it goes away until the next day. I wish that I could take a picture but my camera is broken so we have to go by my brief description of the problem.

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

i say a cruddy film certainly couldn't help your tank. i would def try to find a solution, a koralia 2 couldn't possibly create too much heat, is the return pump flow restricted? what pump is in there now? ???

 

[Jon]

Right now I have a old maxi jet 1200 in the sump.

 

[Hawkeye]

I ran a slow flow sump and got the film all the time. I wouldn't sweat it. If you are doing regular water changes then just take a cup and skim the crud out. Isn't that what the sump's purpose is - to accumulate crud/detritus? hide equipment etc?

I would not place a maxi 1200 in there - as you noted they increase heat and circulating the sump doesn't help you any in my opinion.

In fact it could be argued that a sump's flow should be tuned to the skimmer capacity. Otherwise you are just pushing water thru the sump faster than the skimmer can process. I know I know - debatable - but I am presenting it as one viewpoint.

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

what is your return pump?

 

[njstillwell]

Its just extra protein in the tank and since your main tank surface is I'm assuming rippling those protein's just end up in the sump in nice smooth area of flow no biggie.You can if you wanted just take a measuring cup and skim those protein's out or just let it be.Maybe cut a little back on feeding and see if it helps if not just do what i said.