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Tank Emergency, Help, SOS!!!


UTreef'er

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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)

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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?

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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 finethumbsup.gif … for now lol, but definitely still keeping an eye on everything shifty.gif

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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.

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