When was the last time you cleaned your pvc pipes?

Editour2 · 04/30/2018, 02:35 PM

In this hobby I never seem to catch a break but yesterday that changed. About mid-day I decided to mount a few frags that I had in my frag tank into my DT. My DT is 215 gals but total system volume is around 330 gallons. I have a 120 gal sump under the DT, (filled about half way). My return pump also feeds my skimmer and my frag tank. The frag tank sits on top of my refugium. The frag tank has a bulk head on the side which feeds the refugium by gravity. The refugium in turn empties back into the sump by gravity. Okay...so why am I telling you this? Well back to the mounting of frags...so I go to my frag tank and discover that the water level has risen over the egg crate which covers that tank. My pvc dual drain is set about 3/4 inch below the egg crate level (surface level) so why all of a sudden isn't the tank draining properly? I have union ball valves after most if not all of my bulk head fittings so I shut off the feed and I shut off the drain on the frag tank. I take apart the pvc drain pipes and it is loaded with growth (not sure what to call it) or calcium skeleton/matter not coralline, (calcium deposits?)....but enough that it was stopping the flow from the frag tank to the refugium. I mean there are 2 x 90 elbows in this pvc plumbing connection and both were fully clogged. I guess this is what can happen after 7 years of buildup but it never crossed my mind to take the plumbing apart periodically to make sure everything was flowing properly.
If I didn't decide to mount a few frags yesterday I would have woken up this morning or come home after work today to about 60 gallons of water all over my fish room and garage floor.

So I guess this time I got lucky...being in the right place at the right time. When was the last time you cleaned or took apart your plumbing?

Editour2 · 04/30/2018, 02:49 PM

To help visualize what I'm talking about here's a pic of the 6 foot rack that includes the frag tank on top, refugium in the middle (both connected to my system) and the QT on the bottom (independent from the system). This picture was taken during the build in 2011, (no water yet).

04/30/2018, 02:35 PM	#1
Editour2 Frank Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Suffolk County, NY Posts: 1,907	When was the last time you cleaned your pvc pipes? In this hobby I never seem to catch a break but yesterday that changed. About mid-day I decided to mount a few frags that I had in my frag tank into my DT. My DT is 215 gals but total system volume is around 330 gallons. I have a 120 gal sump under the DT, (filled about half way). My return pump also feeds my skimmer and my frag tank. The frag tank sits on top of my refugium. The frag tank has a bulk head on the side which feeds the refugium by gravity. The refugium in turn empties back into the sump by gravity. Okay...so why am I telling you this? Well back to the mounting of frags...so I go to my frag tank and discover that the water level has risen over the egg crate which covers that tank. My pvc dual drain is set about 3/4 inch below the egg crate level (surface level) so why all of a sudden isn't the tank draining properly? I have union ball valves after most if not all of my bulk head fittings so I shut off the feed and I shut off the drain on the frag tank. I take apart the pvc drain pipes and it is loaded with growth (not sure what to call it) or calcium skeleton/matter not coralline, (calcium deposits?)....but enough that it was stopping the flow from the frag tank to the refugium. I mean there are 2 x 90 elbows in this pvc plumbing connection and both were fully clogged. I guess this is what can happen after 7 years of buildup but it never crossed my mind to take the plumbing apart periodically to make sure everything was flowing properly. If I didn't decide to mount a few frags yesterday I would have woken up this morning or come home after work today to about 60 gallons of water all over my fish room and garage floor. So I guess this time I got lucky...being in the right place at the right time. When was the last time you cleaned or took apart your plumbing? __________________ Frank Current Tank Info: 215 gal DT, 125 gal sump, 40 gal refugium w/ATS, 20 gal frag tank, reeflo orca skimmer, Knop HD calc reac w/2nd chamber, BRS dual reac, dart rtn pump, 2x tunze 6105's on seasweeps, 2x jebao PP20's, 30gal QT, LED/T5 Ltg, 1/2 hp aqualogic chiller.