Marine Tank Cabinet

[Calcinus]

Dear brothers,

I have a recent worry that needs some advice.

I have a 4ft marine tank and tank cabinet. It does not come with a sump so I am using the cabinet as a storage.

3 months ago, the tank leaked and I got myself a new tank and thinking of improvement, I got a sump tank as well. So the new tank and sump have been setup and the sump is inside my existing cabinet, and shortly I still to notice a few issues:

1) The noise caused by the overflow section is loud. Since my tank is at the balcony, kinda disturbed my neighbours. Did any brother have similar issues and how do you overcome that?

2)I noticed the cabinet hinges are starting to rust and there is this damp smell. I think the water in the sump, evaporation or something is causing the cabinet to smell damp. Is it common for cabinets that have sump inside? Will this be a danger that my cabinet will be corroded and give way eventually? How do I stop the hinges from rusting?

3) I also got myself a EHIM return pump based on tank maker's recommendation but I realised that it is generating more heat...the water temperature now is warmer than before...what should I do? change a pump? but really feel bad to change it since I just got it setup. I dont have a budget now for a chiller

[fishiee]

hmm. maybe the noise from the overflow is caused by the new pump you bought? Since it generates more heat compared to your old pump, i can infer that its more powerful as well. More power = more water passing through overflow = more noise. Options include changing the pump, restrict the pump flow using a tap or using something to muffle the sound. Maybe another reefer can share his experience with sound muffling?

As for the cabinet hinges, you can replace them (DIY) if they get too rusty. You can protect them in the meantime with Vaseline. Its normal to have your sump in the cabinet. Yes, the dampness can be caused by evaporation. Another thing could be bubbles produced in the sump (overflow, skimmer). You may not notice it, but as bubbles burst at the water's surface, a few tiny drops of water fly off; some of which land outside the tank. Cumulation of this could be the cause of dampness in the interior of the cabinet. Suggest you look into what may be causing it. In the meantime could give the interior of your cabinet a quick wipe. Opening the cabinet or installing a fan will help with letting stale air out of the interior and help with evaporation. Long term dampness will weaken and rot the wood in the cabinet.

As for temperature, simple solution. No money for a chiller? Get a fan. Can either buy the already made ones or DIY (computer fans).

[mengyang_neo]

1)There should be a valve at the return pipe from the overflow, try to tune it so that the water lvl in the overflow is higher and this will greatly reduce the noise.

2)Dun think the cabinet will give way, what is the material of the cabinet? For the rusting of hinges, u can print over it or change every year, quite hard to stop rusting.

3)Get a clip on fan, it should work better then computer fan, but u will need to top up DI water more often, as evapouration will increase.