Paul B
NJRC Member
I figured out another reason why I hate to change water even though I made it much easier with pumps so I don't carry any water or do almost anything physical.
I roll a 30 gallon container near the tank and using a large siphon hose with a strainer on it, I suck out about 25 gallons of water. Then I use the other 30 gallon container with the new water in it and pump it into the tank. That is the easy part. But when I do that, I un plug the pump that runs the skimmer because I don't have a sump (they were not invented when I set up the tank and me and Noah never heard of one)
If I left the skimmer running the intake would be out of the water and the pump would run dry so I shut the thing off. Of course, when you turn off a 30 year old powerhead, it doesn't want to start up again so you have to remove it and convince it to run just a few more years. To remove it is not that simple as it sits inside my tank to the rear and is connected to this surface skimmer (pictured). That and the pump have to be removed from behind the rocks in one unit. I have a latch that I have to turn that disconnects it from the Bio Ball reactor that just site there for the coolness factor with nothing in it but brittle stars. It is like a brittle star hotel and I didn't have the heart to evict them so I leave the reactor on there above the water and that feeds the protein skimmer.
So to remove all this, I have to lift it straight up. The LEDs are up there so I naturally hit that and knock off an LED lens. It falls in the tank and hits the arrow crab on the head who immediately yells "INCOMING" and runs behind the rocks taking the lens with him.
So I take apart the pump and see that it is gummed up and the shaft fell away from the hole that is now enlarged so the shaft doesn't stay in there any more and is egg shaped so the armature hits the sides of the powerhead. I clean the thing and have to epoxy the shaft back in. While that is curing, the algae trough is now dry because this pump also feeds that and I can just about hear all the brittle stars in there screaming that they are drying out. They are inside the reactor so it is muffled. Now, every few minutes I have to pour water in the trough to shut the brittle stars up. The thing is also filled with amphipods but they are more patient and I can see them all quietly walking to the lower end of the trough where they can all jump, one at a time back into the tank.
I go outside to water the plants, take out the garbage, feed the "Koi" (10 cent goldfish) in the pond and by that time the epoxy is cured and I can put it back together.
I plug it in and it runs so I put it back in the tank, hook it all back up to the empty bio ball reactor, make sure the cords are neat, plug it in, and, nothing. No water flow, just nothing but irritated brittle stars who are now breaking off parts of their arms in protest. Now I can really tell the brittle stars are panicking and I try not to let them see that I am also panicking as I don't want to have to get my remaining 35 year old spare powerhead because I would have to make a bunch of modifications on it to make it work in this configuration. So I again remove the surface skimmer, disconnect it from the reactor, un tangle the cords, lift it out and again hit the LEDs, this time knocking off a soldered connection so the lights go out. Not to worry as I built this LED fixture and can easily fix it. Did I mention my wife just had a major operation on her back and has to call me approximately every 18 seconds because she can't do just about anything unless it is located 5' off the floor?
So I get the parts on my work bench and take it apart. Before I can work on it, I hear the brittle stars so I have to pour water on them. They are in the dark now and don't know exactly where I am. I take the thing apart and the stupid adjustment on the powerhead was closed so it was an easy fix. I put the thing back together, put it back in the dark tank, connect it to the reactor, re set the top part of the surface skimmer so it sucks water from the top of the water. Turn it on and it works. I couldn't see the brittle stars as it was still dark but I think they gave a standing ovation which was hard on their broken arms.
Then I got my soldering iron and fixed the LED. It still didn't light because I must have damaged that LED when I hit it so I had to "by pass" it with a jumper so I could get the rest of the lights on.. I epoxied on the two LED lenses that I knocked off and ordered a few LEDs to replace the ones that croaked. Now, three hours later all is well and I went out on my boat and made love to a couple of Harvey Wallbangers knowing that my fish, brittle stars and amphipods are all happy. DanceBio Ball reactor, Empty like it should be (I hate those stupid bio balls)
Surface skimmer with powerhead made by "Christopher Columbus Powerhead Company"
Algae trough and LEDs
Workshop
I roll a 30 gallon container near the tank and using a large siphon hose with a strainer on it, I suck out about 25 gallons of water. Then I use the other 30 gallon container with the new water in it and pump it into the tank. That is the easy part. But when I do that, I un plug the pump that runs the skimmer because I don't have a sump (they were not invented when I set up the tank and me and Noah never heard of one)
If I left the skimmer running the intake would be out of the water and the pump would run dry so I shut the thing off. Of course, when you turn off a 30 year old powerhead, it doesn't want to start up again so you have to remove it and convince it to run just a few more years. To remove it is not that simple as it sits inside my tank to the rear and is connected to this surface skimmer (pictured). That and the pump have to be removed from behind the rocks in one unit. I have a latch that I have to turn that disconnects it from the Bio Ball reactor that just site there for the coolness factor with nothing in it but brittle stars. It is like a brittle star hotel and I didn't have the heart to evict them so I leave the reactor on there above the water and that feeds the protein skimmer.
So to remove all this, I have to lift it straight up. The LEDs are up there so I naturally hit that and knock off an LED lens. It falls in the tank and hits the arrow crab on the head who immediately yells "INCOMING" and runs behind the rocks taking the lens with him.
So I take apart the pump and see that it is gummed up and the shaft fell away from the hole that is now enlarged so the shaft doesn't stay in there any more and is egg shaped so the armature hits the sides of the powerhead. I clean the thing and have to epoxy the shaft back in. While that is curing, the algae trough is now dry because this pump also feeds that and I can just about hear all the brittle stars in there screaming that they are drying out. They are inside the reactor so it is muffled. Now, every few minutes I have to pour water in the trough to shut the brittle stars up. The thing is also filled with amphipods but they are more patient and I can see them all quietly walking to the lower end of the trough where they can all jump, one at a time back into the tank.
I go outside to water the plants, take out the garbage, feed the "Koi" (10 cent goldfish) in the pond and by that time the epoxy is cured and I can put it back together.
I plug it in and it runs so I put it back in the tank, hook it all back up to the empty bio ball reactor, make sure the cords are neat, plug it in, and, nothing. No water flow, just nothing but irritated brittle stars who are now breaking off parts of their arms in protest. Now I can really tell the brittle stars are panicking and I try not to let them see that I am also panicking as I don't want to have to get my remaining 35 year old spare powerhead because I would have to make a bunch of modifications on it to make it work in this configuration. So I again remove the surface skimmer, disconnect it from the reactor, un tangle the cords, lift it out and again hit the LEDs, this time knocking off a soldered connection so the lights go out. Not to worry as I built this LED fixture and can easily fix it. Did I mention my wife just had a major operation on her back and has to call me approximately every 18 seconds because she can't do just about anything unless it is located 5' off the floor?
So I get the parts on my work bench and take it apart. Before I can work on it, I hear the brittle stars so I have to pour water on them. They are in the dark now and don't know exactly where I am. I take the thing apart and the stupid adjustment on the powerhead was closed so it was an easy fix. I put the thing back together, put it back in the dark tank, connect it to the reactor, re set the top part of the surface skimmer so it sucks water from the top of the water. Turn it on and it works. I couldn't see the brittle stars as it was still dark but I think they gave a standing ovation which was hard on their broken arms.
Then I got my soldering iron and fixed the LED. It still didn't light because I must have damaged that LED when I hit it so I had to "by pass" it with a jumper so I could get the rest of the lights on.. I epoxied on the two LED lenses that I knocked off and ordered a few LEDs to replace the ones that croaked. Now, three hours later all is well and I went out on my boat and made love to a couple of Harvey Wallbangers knowing that my fish, brittle stars and amphipods are all happy. DanceBio Ball reactor, Empty like it should be (I hate those stupid bio balls)
Surface skimmer with powerhead made by "Christopher Columbus Powerhead Company"
Algae trough and LEDs
Workshop
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