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Automatic Float Switches
We already covered float switches earlier. There is, however, one switch on the market that is both very reliable (over 100.000 operations) compact, and inexpensive that you may want to consider for your system : the Thiel-Aqua-Tech Super Float, which at the time of this writing retailed for $ 76.00.
It comes in a molded housing that you place into the sump, at the appropriate height, and connect into the pump wiring, as shown in the diagram. It can be used for inductive loads (e.g. pumps in our case) up to 5 amps, 110 volts. It should be affixed to the bottom of the sump, or vat, by means of a suction cup, or a little aquarium silicone. If it needs to be placed off the bottom, on a ledge of some sorts, because of the amount of water you keep in the sump, affix it to that ledge.
Note the following:
Only two wires come out off the Super float molded box. Some switches may have more wires, find out from the supplier which ones you should use to control the low, or high, triggering operation.Only one of three wires that make up the pump lead that ends with a plug is used. Check the diagram carefully before wiring the switch in. The pump lead is the cord that comes off your pump.
This is called a splice, and where the connections are made, electrical tape has to be used to insulate the connections and make them water tight.
Never attempt to wire the Super float, or any other float switch while the pump is plugged in ! You will get an electrical shock.
Do not submerse the part of the electrical cord where you have made the splices, and covered them with electrical tape.
If you acquire the Super Float, do not operate it with pumps that draw more than 5 Amps. Check for the rating of other switches with whomever you bought it from. Operating a device at more than the rated amperage will ruin the device, in a short period of time, and can in some cases cause serious electrical shock.
The Super float, or any other float switch for that matter, must be placed in the sump, at the appropriate height. The installation of switches can sometimes be cumbersome, e.g. the orange german one available on the market. The Super Float is merely placed in the sump, on a base, if necessary, to adjust the height in deeper type sumps.
Incidentally, 100 000 minimum guaranteed operations of the switch, corresponds to about 5 years of continuous usage, with the switch going on and off about 55 times a day. That is most unlikely, on average, switches operate perhaps 10 to 15 times a day, if that much, greatly extending the guaranteed life of the switch.
Any pump can be operated with a float switch, including a power head type pump. Anything that works with electricity, in fact, can be operated with a float switch, providing , of course, that it makes sense to do so. Besides a pump, you may want to operate a solenoid that controls some outside device with such a switch. This is, however, not part of the basic system we are looking at in this book.
Converting from an Undergravel to a Reef System
While on the subject of biological filtration, let's review how one can convert a traditional undergravel system to a Reef Tank. Many Hobbyists, and you may be among them, already have a tank set up, either a fish-only, or perhaps even an aquarium with a mixture of fish and invertebrates, installed with undergravel plates, and perhaps one or several canister filters as well. Transforming such a system into a more modern one, using a trickle filter, is quite uncomplicated.
There are basically two major approaches:
You may elect to keep the canister filters, yet fill them with different compounds, e.g. chemical filters, as we shall see later.
Both are viable approaches, but the second one is the better one of the two, because it takes a potential area of low oxygen and pollution out of the system, while improving the overall quality of the biological filtration considerably. You may want to start with method one, let the tank run for a while in that fashion, and convert to a full Reef system at some later date.
Design the system you would like to end up with. Lay it out on paper, so you know what kind of parts and components you will need to acquire. Make sure all the parts will fit inside the aquarium cabinet. Measure carefully !
Obtain an appropriately sized trickle filter, taking the recommendations made earlier in this book into account.Select an internal medium. Use one of the many plastic/ polyethylene ones now offered for sale. Some Hobbyists use plastic haircurlers. This may work, providing you use the clear ones that cannot leach a dye into the water. It would be safer however if you used a more traditional type of biological medium, e.g. Techs, Blocks, Spheres, Balls, Rings, Cubes, etc. There are plenty of them around.
Determine the quantity you need, based on the suggestions made in this, and other books.
Obtain a surface skimming syphon, preferably one that will re-start automatically, and keep its prime, even if the power and/or pump fails. This will make it unnecessary for you to re-prime it.
If you do not have one, buy a pump, and if you can budget for it, a float switch as well. It protects the pump and the system itself.
If you are not getting a protein skimmer right now, start thinking about it, because you will need it to maintain adequate water chemistry parameters. In light of this, you may want to get a filter with the right sized, ozone safe and resistent protein skimmer built-in.
Flexible vinyl, or acrylic, hose piping is an excellent way to go, and requires less time and expertise to install. Clamp all flexible hose connections to prevent slippage due to pressure, and leakage.
Install the filter and all other components of the system.
Do not forget to blow air into the biological chamber of your trickle filter. This is important for the potency (meaning how effectively it will perform) of your biological filter. Use a good, strong air pump. We suggest a Whisper 1000 or a pump with an equivalent output.
Fill the sump of the trickle filter with salt water, and start the pump, after priming the syphon of the surface skimmer.
Check all connections to ensure that you have no leaks. If you do, fix them now. Usually just tightening a clamp will do the job.
If need be, adjust the water level in the sump . Sometimes the pump will push up water so fast, that the sump water level becomes a little too low, and air gets sucked into the pump. If you have a float switch installed, the pump will shut off before that happens, providing you have set the float to kick on and off at the right level. If not, now is the time to adjust it, so it triggers at the correct level.
We have not mentioned the undergravel yet, because we do not want you to change anything to it, at least not yet.
Let the system run on both the undergravel, and the trickle filter, for one week to ten days. Because of the biological activity going on, and bacteria populating your new trickle filter, acidity is produced. This will affect both your carbonate hardness and the pH of the water. You should not worry about this, except if the pH goes down to dangerous levels e.g. 7.6 - 7.7. If this happens, you should add a carbonate hardness generator to your tank's water, preferably a liquid one, or a powdered, or tablet form, that does not make the protein skimmer foam excessively and starts overflowing.
Since your undergravel is still operating as it was before you added the trickle filter, water quality, as far as ammonia and nitrite are concerned, should not be a problem. In fact, if you had any before, you should'nt now. You have a better filter!
After 7 to 10 days you need to give your undergravel filter a serious cleaning. In order not to disturb the total undergravel biological filter, however, clean only 50 percent of the filter (e.g. one side of the tank, or just one plate if you have several).
After cleaning the undergravel filter, perform a 15 percent water change, and another 10 percent about 6 hours later.
Now wait another 7 to 10 days, and clean the other half of the undergravel filter. Again, perform a 15 percent water change after the cleaning is completed, and a 10 percent water change approximately 6 hours later.
Next, reduce the flow of water going through the undergravel filter. Do not stop the flow through the undergravel completely ! You would be creating an anaerobic environment very quickly if you did. Just slow the flow down to a minimum, much lower than what you had before. The reason for this, is that at a lower flow, detritus will not be pulled into the undergravel so easily, and no oxygen, or at least much less, will be taken out of the water by detritus breaking down in the under-gravel filtration system. Your tanks water will, as a result, have a higher dissolved oxygen and redox potential level.
Check for ammonia and nitrite throughout the switch-over period. It is unlikely that any significant amounts will be found, although you may detect more of it than you normally would for a few days, especially right after you clean the undergravel filter.
Your switch-over is completed, and you now have a modern reef system. Clean your undergravel every 2 months or so, to remove detritus that may have accumulated.
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