Inline Reactor Might Have Broke Filter?

[Erk]

My rena is doing nothing but gurgling at me, and there is no return outta my spray bar, and its been like this for at least 30mins....Ive noticed during my water changes, if I unhook the filter it takes a while for the gurgling to stop, and the return to start from my spray bar, but never this long.....is there any recommendations on what to try? Or do I need to go now to get a new filter??

Please help, and also, if this thread needs to be moved to the emergency room, feel free.

Thanks very much
Eric

[Erk]

The rena is supposed to be hooked up with no water in the cannister, but I hooked it up filled, and it seems to have fixed the problem. I checked the impellor rotor thing, and that wasnt dirty or clogged, but rinsed it anyways.....at least I didnt have to buy a new cannister today...might wanna try to get the xp4 impellor part?

Thanks for your suggestions

[fish_r]

do u have the reactor connected to the output side Eric ?

[Erk]

by "output" you mean on the line the goes from the filter to the spray bar? Yes, that is how I have it? The cannister just wouldnt fill up with water on its own :?

[Erk]

Sorry if that sounded rude....is everything hooked up the correct way :?

Thanks

[fish_r]

rude bastard lol J/K
yes it should be on the output side, as u have it. it shouldn't cause u any dramas that way.
if u had it on the input side it could cause cavitating in some filters...
u might just need to prime ur filter ?

[Erk]

hahaha.....thanks rob! :D

As far as priming goes.....all you do with rena is hook everything back up push a lever down, and wait two minutes before plugging the cord into the outlet, and it is supposed to prime itself, and fill the cannister up, but my cannister wont fill up on its own, but it worked hooking it up filled :?

Thanks for your help....guess I will just keep hooking it up filled from now on whenever i mess with the filter

Im glad it still works, and im very glad I did have everything hooked up correctly!

[fish_r]

ur reactor must be stopping the filter from auto primming
do u have it mounted vertically or horizontal ?
just make sure u turn it off straight away if u have no water coming out of the filter or u will damage the filter, as u probably already know...

[Erk]

the reactor is hanging from the underside of the cabinet in a horizontal position.

I let it gurgle a lil bit yesterday before shutting it off, but it seems to be working ok now. I def. wont let it run if its not filling up with water

Thanks for your help.....cannister filters, and reactors are def. all new to me :wink:

[fish_r]

Eric u should try mount it vertical if u can m8, then u shouldnt have any priming problems. cause if u have a power outage when ur out or at work it sounds like it wont re prime and u might burn ur filter out...

[Erk]

Thanks Rob, I think mounting that vertical is gonna be tough, unless somehow I can mount it behind the tank, but with it being in a corner, its gonna be tough to get back there :? I think if the power goes out, it should be ok, cause the cannister will still be full of water, and should work. Right now, it wont work unless its full. I dont think its gonna prime itself for me anymore :roll:

I will have to see what I can do

Thanks again :)
Eric

[Erk]

Just had a thought....Im also curious if there is anyway to slow down the flow from my spray bar? I feel I will never get pearling with the flow that I have, regardless of surface agitation? Maybe I dont dose enough ferts either? With a high light tank (>4wpg) should I be dosing lots of something? :lol: Would drilling more holes in the spray bar help? The spray bar is on the right side wall pointed upwards and towards the left side with the intake also being on the right side. (Had to cut the spray bar to fit on this side wall) There is a lil "hump" of current, but no bubbles breaking on the surface, but things really go flying when they get caught up in this current towards the top of the tank

I just dont see how everyone says giant hygro, rotala mac, riccia, and glosso grows so fast :? Mine doesnt seem to grow "fast" at all! Saturday was the second week of pressurized co2 and I see a lil bit of bubbles coming up from the substrate, but not really any pearling on the plants, and the bubbles coming from the substrate (streaming) is not very constant :? or impressive

The first week I ran the bps at 1bps, and then during the second week I ran it at about 2bps, and havent messed with it since. My nitrates never go down from 10-20 (have a nitra-zorb pouch and phosguard pouch in cannister) and the phosphates are 1 and have been there for a while. I dont dose nitrogen or phosphorus...I use all the seachem ferts besides those two....stats are in the signature, if you need to know anything else please ask...I want this "lush" fast plant growth :oops:

Lights and co2 are on for 10 hours during the week, and 12 hours on the weekend (since i get to see the tank then) and airstone at night with moonlights, and no co2

Sorry for such a long post, but I still feel Im doing something wrong :(

Thanks very much as always! :)
Eric

[Erk]

Maybe I should remove the phosguard? I thought it would have taken my readings down to 0, which is when I was planning on removing it from the filter.

Thanks

[ILLUSN]

Erk, up your bubble rate to 4bps. these plants only grow fast when CO2 is about 15-20ppm.

if your phosphate is at 0 you can remove the phosgard.

[fish_r]

Eric tell us what ur pH is m8 and how much ur Co2 concentration is using the pH Kh scale i sent u, cause if u dbl ur Co2 bubble rate u could be at risk of over dosing ur fish or having a pH crash if ur kH is low.

[Erk]

Thanks ILLUSN....I will check my phosphates when I get home from work today.


Eric tell us what ur pH is m8 and how much ur Co2 concentration is using the pH Kh scale i sent u, cause if u dbl ur Co2 bubble rate u could be at risk of over dosing ur fish or having a pH crash if ur kH is low.

fish_r my pH is normally at 7, and with the co2 on, ive seen it a lil less then 6.4....the last time I checked my kH (about 2 weeks or so ago) it was 4. I will check it again tonight to be sure. But according to your chart with a pH of 6.4 and a kH of 4....i have 47.773ppm of co2 :shock: With a pH of 7 and a kH of 4, I have 12ppm of co2 :roll:

I have the airstone on 24/7 right now, and the co2 comes on a tad fast...maybe like 2.5 bubbles per second. I just changed this last night, cause I was messing with the spray bar, and now they arent getting enough o2, so I turned the airstone on 24/7 while im working, and I can make whatever changes necessary, but at least I know they will be breathing ok, while im here working :?

Thanks again everyone for your help :)
Eric

[fish_r]

do u use any buffers Eric, i cant remember ? cause buffers will put that chart out a little 47ppm of Co2 :shock: they recommend approx 30ppm of Co2 is good for plant growth and still ok for fish, but much over 30ppm isnt really good for ur fish and u will probably see heavy breathing...

if the bubble wand is on 24/7 u are diving all the Co2 off and really defeating the purpose of using Co2. if u need to run an airstone it should be off when the lights are on and the airstone should come on when the lights go off or an hr or two after the lights go off...

iv'e now managed to not to have to use an airstone at all now, by raising my filter outputs a bit, not breaking the surface but giving a bit of a ripple effect on the surface. my fish are back to breathing very slow with out the use of an airstone and i'm getting a lot better results with the plants than when i was using airstones...

if u try stop using an airstone altogether or when the lights are off keep an
eye on ur fish and they will soon let u know if there's not enough 02 in the tank and adjust accordingly...

hope this helps, but the one thing i can see wrong is the use of an airstone "wand" 24/7
Rob...

[Erk]

Thanks rob, I did use a pH stabilizer in the past (long ago) to stabilize my tank at 7.0, but since then, lots of water changes, no stabilizer, just pH increaser to make the pH 7.0 (6.0 out of RO) and then I add Kent discus essentials and Kent RO Right...nothing else

I agreee 47ppm is wayyy to high :shock:

I drilled some extra holes in the spray bar last night to create less flow, and then the cardinals seemed to wanna go to the top of the water, like they couldnt breath, and the discus have been breathing pretty hard lately, while Im messing with things, to try to make the co2 more effective :( I only left the airstone on 24/7 last night into today while im at work, and cant mess with anything. I would like to do away with the airstone, but I dont think they get enough o2 now without it. I would have to get another timer to run the airstone for a few hours over night, cause right now I only have the option for it to come on and go off with the lights, or an hour before lights off, the stone comes on, and then shuts off an hour AFTER lights on.

I have a slight ripple on the surface, and a bit of hill right above the spray bar, and they dont seem to breathe right :?

Thanks for your help....I got a mess going on, and I dunno how this happened...I think its cause Im being retarded about plant growth and pearling/streaming, and its messing my fish up :(

Eric

[fish_r]

pearling m8 ! uv'e really got a thing about this pearling dont u lol :)
i think from reading ur other posts u may have gill flukes ? i think i had this in one of my other tanks and my fish were breathing a little hard, but i treated the tank with prazi and after two days did a water change and cleaned the filter then waited another 7 days and did the same again. my fish breathe a lot better now. maybe u should try treating with the prazi and c how u go.
then u might be able to cut the airstone back a bit...
good luck
Rob...

[Erk]

yes, i know...I certainly do have a thing about this pearling...im sorry :wink:

I only have praziPRO, or the big L stuff? both are liquids

Thanks very much for your help