how to quiet cpr back pak

[CiXeL]

My girlfriend is finally fed up with the gurgling my CPR Back Paq (i dont know the proper spelling) does when it comes on with the lights every morning and makes her wakeup needing to take a leak. (the 60 gallon tank is in our bedroom) She was online night before last looking for a solution and she knows nothing about reef tanks so I guess its driving her nuts.

It has a white sponge right in the pipe of the opening that leads back into the tank and the bubbles seem to accumulate in there and then gurgle back into the tank.

I remember hearing awhile ago that there was a modification you could do or a module you could put in it to prevent bubbles from entering the tank. what is it, what does it look like and how much does it run?

 

[cdeakle]

You can always get the optional bubble box to stop return bubbles, got to:

amekaaquatics.com

 

[CiXeL]

cant seem to find the optional bubble box on the site. whats it called there?

i find this hilarious though
http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merc ... de=CCORING

a $2 rubberband! HAHA

 

[baseman]

The bubble trap is here

http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merc ... ment_Parts

 

[CiXeL]

whats the difference betweek the bak pak and the bak pak 2? they look identical in the picture. im not sure which one i have exactly. does the bubble trap and prefilters work with either?

 

[agrobac]

I had a similar problem with mine. The sponge is actually optional. I removed mine when it began to clog and water was spilling over the top of the skimmer. Now the right side has lots of sponges, fans, and worms growing inside. I say, just remove it. The bubbles aren't really a problem leaking into the tank unless a large water change is done.

 

[CiXeL]

i tried removing the sponge in the pipe and it got worse, before it was a little trickle, after that it sounded like someone taking a piss. i washed out the sponge and it seems fine and quiet but it does look like the sponge itself is breaking down. basically the noise is it sounding like a small waterfall from how the water drops in the outtake.

 

[pr0teus]

yeah you have to "play" with the pipe configuration...

my bakpak would "gurgle" and "snore", but after a little fiddling with the pipes and removal of the sponge, everything was sounding nice + quiet again.

if you can get the water coming out of the pipe to flow circular around the inside of the pipe, it wont sound like a waterfall. just fiddle with it.

 

[EmilyB]

Why don't you just leave it running vs coming on with the lights? Mine is silent. :?

 

[CiXeL]

silent? how loud is the room? this is in the bedroom. the foam popping into the cup sounds like popcorn or gurgles. also this way i avoid overskimming.

 

[JohnD]

Why not hook up the BaKPak to a seperate timer? Have it come on in the late morning and go off in the early evening.

HTH

 

[CiXeL]

johnd: thats what it does. it comes on with my lights at 7am and goes off with them at 11pm. thats a 16 hr photoperiod but im running with crappy dual day dual actinic 55w power compacts. (crappy for sps that is). i built a new canopy and have yet to install the metal halides i bought for it. im going to reduce the photoperiod to 13 hrs when i get that up and running.

 

[JohnD]

CiXel,

I understand how you have your current set-up - your lights and your BakPak come on at the same time. I am suggesting that you get a seperate timer. Hook up the BakPak to that seperate, additional timer and have it come on later in the morning, so as to not wake up your girlfriend.