Parents on Vacay and now tank's messing up

Justine · 01-01-2007, 06:49 PM

Hi all,

Hope you can help me. My dad's on a cruise right now and I can't contact him.

I don't think his filter is working right.

He has a huge 100+ gallon saltwater tank full of coral, anenome, fish and crabs. at the top of his tank on the left and right sides are two seperate filters. He has two black tubes that look like jets pushing water into the tank (normally) This is my problem, there not working. There's no water coming out of those tubes and when I look underneath at the "guts" of the system... there's no water falling into the two huge, white, wind-sock looking things he says are the filters.

I hear a noise that leads me to beleive a pump is running, and he has what looks like a huge acylic box that all the water is in and there's a pump in there that's working, i can see it and hear it... I just can't figure out what would have made the filter stop working. NO power outages, its not unplugged... I can't figure it out and i'm freaking out because this is his biggest hobby and a HUGE moeny investment for him.

any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!! I also understand if there's no help available due to my lack of knowledge of his system.

Matt Rogers · 01-01-2007, 07:25 PM

Your concern is valid! No pumps will spell serious trouble.

Do you have a digital camera? Can you post some pics of this?

Do you think the pump is jammed? It is submerged in water, yes?

Otty · 01-01-2007, 07:28 PM

You need to make sure the pump is working and that no valves have been shut off. Check all of the valves and make sure they have not been bumped close. Just because you hear the pump humming doesn't mean it moving water. Try to unplug it and then plug it back in to see if it will take off. Might be something lodged in it. You need to make sure the propellers in the pump are moving when you plug it in. If you father hooked this up he probably made a way to get the pump out of the system like a union or something so you can remove the pump and look for snails or rock that has lodged itself in a propeller. If the propeller is not jammed then you have a restriction in the flow somewhere, hence look at valves. Hope you can get a hold of Dad or find out whats going wrong.

Justine · 01-01-2007, 07:42 PM

Hi, thanks guys for your help, I'm so greatfull!!

Matty, I do beleive it's submerged in water. I do have a digital camera and will get pics up here asap. i have to go back to his house tomorrow morning to feed them again (if they're alive

).

I spoke with my brother about this and he said he'll come over and try to fix it. He think there might be a blockage somewhere, just like you suggested Otty.

After more pondering, I think one of the tubes is to suck the water into the filter, drop it into the filter and then push it back through the houses and UP into the tank to be blown out through those balck water jets... and there's no water coming from grey vaccuum looking tubes and being dropped into the filters.

The hoses that send the water back up to the black jets are not filled with water. there's about 4 inches of straight tube before the tubes bends in an "elbow" and there's plenty of water collected at that elbow but nothing being pushed back up the tube and blown out the black jets. If this helps at all, I found a box at his house in the tank: Pacific Coast Imports, GEN-X Water Pump, Model: PCx-30. Don't know if you're familiar with this at all, but it's the only thing I could find that had any sort of model number or comapny name on it. My Dad bought the set up and a local aquarium store and put it all together himself. This was not "proffessionally" installed. He sure knows that the hell he's doing... but all the tubes and pipes are generic from Lowe's. It was hard to find a real manufacturer to try and contact for help.

Sorry to ramble, I'm just really nervous and want to make sure you understand what kind of trouble I'm having. It's a bit hard for me to explain. I really really do appreciate all your help!!!

Matt Rogers · 01-01-2007, 09:37 PM

That is a pretty common external pump. Leads me to believe that he has a sump setup - How to make a sump When you take pics, take some of where the water gets drained from the tank into the filter. It's possible that the overflow there has an air blockage if it is the U-tube design.

Has your brother gone there yet?

Otty · 01-02-2007, 05:28 AM

You find out anything with the pump yet? I have a funny feeling that something has made it's way to the pump like a snail or a piece of rock and blocked the propeller. See if you can't take it apart and inspect it. Should disassemble pretty easy for cleaning. Post some pics and it will be easier to discribe things to you.

Justine · 01-02-2007, 05:46 AM

Hey all,

Thanks for your help, no point in taking pictures, I forgot my camera anyway and when I went over a lot of the fish were already dead! I feel so gosh darn bad you don't even know. My brother never showed up, so he was no help and I had no idea what I was doing. The only thing I can do now is go to the fish store where he bought the set up and see if they can help! I also need to find something to do with all his coral before it dies too... and all his starfish and anenomes. I feel so bad I've been crying all morning.

:mad:

Tangster · 01-02-2007, 05:55 AM

Is there a brand name on the wet dry sump ? or a motor or pump color near the box for the filters underneath the tank ? Like mentioned earlier I'd bet you have a jammed or seized up main pump.. Its not anyones fault we all have gone through this type of stuff .. I myself am leaving for 10 days Thurs and I'll be cleaning and doubling checking everything tomorrow But it always happens ..Sorry to say don't blame yourself if it runs it breaks or quits and if it lives it dies .. Its all just a matter of time.

Otty · 01-02-2007, 05:58 AM

Get the pump running ASAP! Get all the dead fish out NOW. If the anemone dies it will release toxins that will wreck havoc in the tank. The pump is not hard to work on because it is made to be cleaned, at least try doesn't seem like you can hurt anything now.

Justine · 01-02-2007, 08:20 AM

Ok All,

I can not thank you enough for your help and concerns! You have all been SOOOO helpful.

My brother finally went over and looked and he fixed it!

All he did was twist the valve, he opened it and closed it and it started working again. I feel so stupid that I didn't think of doing that!

Anyways, we only lost three fish, a Fu-Man Chu looking wierd guy that usually hangs upside down, a funny orange fish with no swim bladder that always looks paranoid and some small little purple and yelllow thing. I think I may have lost a starfish as well...

Thank god, I don't beleive any of the anenomes have died. They all popped back out to their normal size and are white, not purple like when they sleep. I'll be going back to check on it again later this evening. My brother's there now still double checking everything. SHould I take out the dead fish??? there's only three of them, but I don't beleive that any of the fish have any sort of toxins or anything in them. Maybe the fu man chu looking fish does... I'm so confused and frustraed with all of this! :mad:

Thank god we got the tank working again. My dad will be upset to find out he lost three fish, but that's better than losing all of them and all of his hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of coral.

Like you all said, no reason to beat up myself over this.... it could have happened to anybody's tank... at least you all knew right off the bat that the problem was with the pump... you're so brainy! I'll be sure to give my Dad this website and have him look around. He's always looking around for new fish and to "creatures" to put in there!

Thank you all again for your help!! You're so helpful, and I'm forever greatfull!