EEk... pumps on SCWD and Remora stuck!

[Ram_Puppy]

WEll, Tonight, for the first time in a week I did more than throw food in my tank and run off to work (or worry about an anemone) and As I was sitting there I noticed...

man.. my tank is getting kinda skunky... I never EVER had a problem with hair algae before... where is this coming from? wow... water looks kind of still... what? is that a dwarf hermit just HANGIN' OUT IN MY SCWD RETURN TUBE? <watch the scwd... watch the scwd...> dangit... the flow should have switched by now and blown him out...

so my mental workings went... check the plugs... there fine... check the power strip... ooooohhhh... it's unplugged... oh crap... my remora is on that strip too... check remora, sure enough, dry as a bone... eek. plug power strip back in (must have come undone when I was working on the tank) nothing...

only thing I can figure is over the last week (since I did a water change) that alot of build up has occured inside those powerheads... so.. they are soaking in vinegar right now..

do you guys think I should dump the water out of the remora before I start it up? Never mind, I will, no telling what skunkiness is in there.

Oh.. btw... YAY. I got a new job, only working nights on weekdays now! I can finally enjoy my weekends, go to maast meetings, and more importantly, enjoy my wife, and my tank. (not neccessarily in that order! :)

this ends my mindless rambling for the night.

[Ram_Puppy]

ok... it's 1:47 AM... I gave up on the aqua clear that was powering the scwd, and popped my rio 1100 on there, I cringe at the thought, but I needed flow asap. I have dumped and re-filled the remora, and have gotten the mag 3 to power up intermittently, it will spin the impeller for a sec, then stop... I think maybe there is still some build up in there I can't get to, so I just nuked some vinegar, pulled the magnet assemply apart and threw it all in there. I immediately saw some sizzling, So I am nuking more vinegar to put the pump in. I can't bring myself to believe a Mag Drive went bad after 3 months of operation, if so, I will be seeking a replacement, but I'm not there yet, as long as stuff sizzles when it goes in the vinegar, I will keep cleaning it. I thinkI may be tightening the screws on the mag cover to much as well.. not sure on that. missy seems to be running a mag 7 on her skimmer... maybe have to replace it, I will upgrade. sigh... oh to be sleeping right now.

[Ram_Puppy]

He josh, you night owl! I am actually adjusting to a new schedule, my current one is all over the place, this one, is 3 nights a week, 7PM to 7 AM. I am keeping a couple late night shifts on thursday and Friday on my old job as well... play money to get the 115 up with. :)

What makes the sizzle? Calcium, recently my started growing coraline like a bat out of hell, so I started dosing Kent Coral Builder with my top off, and I am betting when the strip got unplugged, that the normal gunk in there, combined with a nice calcium load caused the calcium to condensate on the shaft...

I just got both working, I didn't even test the mag drive this time, I was sure it was going to work. I took the magnet and put it against a spoon, to hold it vertically, and then dipped it in boiling vinegar, sizzle! after a few minutes it stopped, I took it out to examine, and found the actual shaft seemed more mobile, it had been frozen in place, so I used some brute strength and pulled the shaft out, it was really hard, heated the vinegar back up again, and plopped the magnet and the shaft in, both sizzled like a 1st grade volcano project. when all the sizzling stopped, I put the impeller assembly back together, everything moved nice and smooth so I slapped the mag back together, hooked it up and pow... a working skimmer again. hope my tank get's un-skunky looking fast.

I have however come to a conclusion, I think the mag and the rio 1100 are about the same in power, since i hate the rio, but love the new level of flow in the tank, I am going to replace it with the mag 3 currently on the remora, and upgrade to a more powerful pump on the skimmer. Misty has inspired me with her tank of the month. :) I am betting skimate is going to be hella nasty for the next couple of days.

[Ram_Puppy]

everything looked nice and happy when I left for work today, the anemone is looking very happy, except he is only holding on with part of his foot... I expect he will be fully attatched when I get home at midnight.

[pilot_bell777]

or dead under a rock like mine was.....lets hope NOT.

:-)

[Ram_Puppy]

lol... I doubt it, his tentacles are nice and plump, and were stringly all week, overall he looks much better!

[pilot_bell777]

mine was too! Think about it!

[Ram_Puppy]

man, I am scheduled till midnight and your makin me nervous! :) I see i am going to have to put a webcam on my tank.

[pilot_bell777]

They don't tolerate bad water for very long............................just a thought...

Just messing with ya! LOL.....I really do hope that you don't loose yours...................but think about it......think about it......

Don't worry, I am sure he is ok! but think about it...............

[Ram_Puppy]

your evil. :)