UTreef'er Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 So today I noticed my Ato system (jbj) was acting weird and stayed on however it wasn't pumping any water, and the return section of my sump was very low. I quickly refilled the sump, and unplugged/plugged back in the jbj to reset it. it worked fine for a while but noticed about 30 minutes later it did the same thing again and wasn't keeping up with how fast the water level was dropping (way faster then typical evaporation rates). Panicking now, I throughly check the tank and all the equipment for any leaks however all I found was some salt buildup on the skimmer intake arm (its an external deltec recirculating skimmer). I turned off the skimmer, thinking maybe there was a leak in it, and kept my eye on the sump water level (and also watched the display tank water level to see if it was overfilling). However once again this didn't change anything and the water level was dropping extremely fast in the sump still and the display tank didn't seem to rise any level. Im at a loss and cannot figure out what might be causing this, I can't find any leaks or even water buildup anywhere under, on, or around the tank??? Has anyone else ever had a similar issue or any ideas on how I could try to fix the issue without tearing down the whole tank? Thanks y'all, Shane M. (UTreefer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Is the water level in your overflow chamber rising? I've had the sponge filter in my overflow chamber get clogged causing the water level in there to rise high therefore causing the sump to go low. What's your salinity at? Has the increased amount of top off caused it to drop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Is it possible it's just evaporation ? If you can't find a leak, seems like it's the only place for it to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 +1 to Victoly and Wade. If it is evaporation, then your salinity should be increasing. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTreef'er Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Thank you all for the help!… I checked salinity levels last night and this afternoon and it has stayed at 1.023, so I'm thinking it might just be evaporation. I did turn down the AC since I noticed the tank temp. was running a little higher (77.5-78) then i like it to be (75) with these past few days being much warmer in Austin… and I know that can cause evaporation quicker then usual… I also did some research on the JBJ ATO systems and saw many people where having similar issue with it malfunctioning so I adjusted my jbj with the internal dial so it will stay on longer then the default 3 mins, I think that was causing some issues since i have a very low flow pump filing my return section. I also put it on a timer setting (using the reef keeper controller) so it will stay on for 29 minutes and off for 1 minute which will reset it now (rather then me manually unplugging it) if it does malfunction again. All seems to be going fine … for now lol, but definitely still keeping an eye on everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 You keep your tank at 75?! 78 is the low end of my tank's temp range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTreef'er Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Well I have mine set to 75 on the reefkeeper and thats the lowest it generally ever gets…. It will fluctuate around 75-77 degrees which is fine, but I don't like it getting up to 78+ cause I always notice the algae starts to grow on the glass much quicker in warmer water and i have to clean it more frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I also operate on the lower end of the scale for the same reason. With that said, expect more evaporation. It is not an emergency. It is normal. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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