Rsm max e170 sump water lvl issues

[e1v4n]

I got the tank from a fellow reefer, i can't seem to fix my ato working properly since the sumps last chamber gets imbalanced water lvl..
Im not sure how to check what's wrong so i use my reserve pipe as my drain to get the water lvl balanced so that the ato can work properly.

What happens is if i use the usual drain pipe the water in the last chamber goes up and down or the evaporation makes the chamber stay still hence the ato can't recognize water lvl but there's of course evaporation. I'm tired of the oily layer on top of the tank from food and debries.

What tips do you guys have? Could it be my return pipe or the return pump?

How could I test to see where the fault is?

Reef tank was cleaned properly and is barely 4 months young.

 

[blaxsun]

Is this an AIO or external sump?

 

[e1v4n]

Is this an AIO or external sump?

It is a internal sump, but it's not by red sea if that's your question?

 

[blaxsun]

It is a internal sump, but it's not by red sea if that's your question?

The Red Sea Max E170 has an AIO sump at the back of the tank or an optional in-cabinet sump. Is your sump in the cabinet or are you using the one on the back of the tank? Maybe post a picture or two of your sump setup so we can have a look (especially if it's a custom build).

 

[e1v4n]

The Red Sea Max E170 has an AIO sump at the back of the tank or an optional in-cabinet sump. Is your sump in the cabinet or are you using the one on the back of the tank? Maybe post a picture or two of your sump setup so we can have a look (especially if it's a custom build).

Im using a custom built sump in cabinet, but it's with the red sea pipes. I will post some pictures tell me if you need more

 

[e1v4n]

Some more

 

[e1v4n]

..

 

[e1v4n]

.

 

[blaxsun]

Q1: What is the hose going into the overflow drain? I assume that's the emergency overflow?
Q2: Where is your ATO reservoir and what are you using for an ATO?

 

[e1v4n]

Q1: that hose is ato hose.
Q2: i will post a picture it's at the right below the tank.

This setup is the one that is working besides that i need to use the emergency pipe to lvl my sump, otherwise only the back of the tank water lvl drops and ato can't recognize water level down in the sump. I'm sorry my English is not the best.

 

[paulgriffin971]

It sounds like you have the ATO sensor mounted too low or you might have the overflow pipes adjusted incorrectly. You're wanting to balance the display tank water level with the water level in the sump. After that's done you adjust the ATO sensor so it knows when to kick on.

Here's what I would do:
1) Turn off everything--main pump, ATO, flow, skimmer, etc.
2) OPEN the overflow knob to fully open--turn it counterclockwise.
3) Once there is 150mm of water in the return pump chamber of the sump, turn only the return pump on. (If there's not 150mm of water in that chamber, add more saltwater to the main display until there is.)
4) Adjust the overflow knob until the water in the overflow is about 10mm below the top of the emergency overflow pipe. You'll be turning the overflow knob clockwise or CLOSED to do this.
5) At this point, the water level in the main display should be about 45-50mm below the rim of the glass. If not, add just a little more saltwater to the main display until there is, but the water is still 10mm below the top of the emergency overflow pipe.
6) Go back and check that there is still 150mm of water in the return pump chamber.
7) At this point, the water should be flowing from your main display tank, through the main overflow, down into the sump, through all of the chambers of your sump, into the return pump chamber, and then back up into the main display. And...the water level should still be about 10mm below the tip of the emergency overflow pipe.
8) Turn on your skimmer and anything that uses water in your system.
9) At this point you'll add more saltwater into the main display until the water is just barely below the emergency overflow pipe--like 5mm below it and adjust the overflow knob about .5mm turn open and closed at a time to fine tune it.

This is your normal operational water level. Anything below this is when you want the ATO to kick on. If your system isn't running correctly now, something is going on with your plumbing or your sump. But if it is: Go back and see where you had your ATO sensor mounted. It's probably underwater.


There's a few different ways to set the ATO to when it turns on and off, but here's an option:

Take about 1 liter of water out of the main display and let the system run for about 5 minutes. Adjust your ATO sensor so it will turn on at this water level. Once you have the ATO sensor level set, pour the 1 liter of display water back in. Double check your salinity the next few days and the ATO should turn off when the system is at the normal water levels, and on when it's low.

 

[e1v4n]

.

It sounds like you have the ATO sensor mounted too low or you might have the overflow pipes adjusted incorrectly. You're wanting to balance the display tank water level with the water level in the sump. After that's done you adjust the ATO sensor so it knows when to kick on.

Here's what I would do:
1) Turn off everything--main pump, ATO, flow, skimmer, etc.
2) OPEN the overflow knob to fully open--turn it counterclockwise.
3) Once there is 150mm of water in the return pump chamber of the sump, turn only the return pump on. (If there's not 150mm of water in that chamber, add more saltwater to the main display until there is.)
4) Adjust the overflow knob until the water in the overflow is about 10mm below the top of the emergency overflow pipe. You'll be turning the overflow knob clockwise or CLOSED to do this.
5) At this point, the water level in the main display should be about 45-50mm below the rim of the glass. If not, add just a little more saltwater to the main display until there is, but the water is still 10mm below the top of the emergency overflow pipe.
6) Go back and check that there is still 150mm of water in the return pump chamber.
7) At this point, the water should be flowing from your main display tank, through the main overflow, down into the sump, through all of the chambers of your sump, into the return pump chamber, and then back up into the main display. And...the water level should still be about 10mm below the tip of the emergency overflow pipe.
8) Turn on your skimmer and anything that uses water in your system.
9) At this point you'll add more saltwater into the main display until the water is just barely below the emergency overflow pipe--like 5mm below it and adjust the overflow knob about .5mm turn open and closed at a time to fine tune it.

This is your normal operational water level. Anything below this is when you want the ATO to kick on. If your system isn't running correctly now, something is going on with your plumbing or your sump. But if it is: Go back and see where you had your ATO sensor mounted. It's probably underwater.


There's a few different ways to set the ATO to when it turns on and off, but here's an option:

Take about 1 liter of water out of the main display and let the system run for about 5 minutes. Adjust your ATO sensor so it will turn on at this water level. Once you have the ATO sensor level set, pour the 1 liter of display water back in. Double check your salinity the next few days and the ATO should turn off when the system is at the normal water levels, and on when it's low.

Thank you! I will try that asap when i come home.. i didn't mention that i drilled the red sea stand to place the ato, good thing I drilled about 10cm so that i can adjust it.

 

[paulgriffin971]

Sure thing. Just don't try to set the ATO sensor until you have the emergency overflow pipe and return pump water levels set with the knob. That's the whole trick.

If you drilled through the wood stand and the glass sump to set the ATO sensor, then you've got a problem. The only way I see to fix that is to plug the hole in the sump and then move the ATO sensor to the top display overflow where it'll measure the water level there. But only do something like that after you've plugged the holes and set the emergency overflow pipe level following the steps above.

Just to confirm, the size of the return pump you have is fine. We know this because there's only so much water that can flow through a pipe and you can still adjust the overflow knob to adjust the water level at the emergency overflow pipe. If you had too large of a return pump, the plumbing will still be restricting how much water is able to flow through it--to a point. You'd probably be blowing out your plumbing connections--probably first at the return pump--- if the return pump was too big. You would also have water flowing through the emergency overflow pipe with the overflow knob turned fully open(counter clockwise). It takes a pump 20 times as large as you have to do something like that. Probably one that doesn't even fit in the sump.

When you'll have issues in these red sea systems is when you try to use a return pump that's too small. What'll happen there is the water won't ever rise in the display tank overflow chamber even after you've closed the overflow knob to completely closed (clockwise). Water won't be moving enough to be able to balance out the display tank water levels with the sump. Basically the water in the display would never move down to the sump.

I forgot to mention that once you set all the water levels and the ATO sensor, if you turn on your powerheads in the display tank and the water starts going over the emergency overflow pipe more than about a trickle, then go back and adjust the overflow knob open or closed just a little. Turn it about 1cm at a time. Wait about a 2min between each adjustment. You don't want to adjust the ATO sensor after you turn on your display tank poweheads because you're not wanting to affect how much water is in the overall system, just how the water is flowing through it. And you'll do that with the knob.

 

[Nadiaa]

I got the tank from a fellow reefer, i can't seem to fix my ato working properly since the sumps last chamber gets imbalanced water lvl..
Im not sure how to check what's wrong so i use my reserve pipe as my drain to get the water lvl balanced so that the ato can work properly.

What happens is if i use the usual drain pipe the water in the last chamber goes up and down or the evaporation makes the chamber stay still hence the ato can't recognize water lvl but there's of course evaporation. I'm tired of the oily layer on top of the tank from food and debries.

What tips do you guys have? Could it be my return pipe or the return pump?

How could I test to see where the fault is?

Reef tank was cleaned properly and is barely 4 months young.

Did you ever solve this problem? I have the exact same problem, and someone told me that it is a design flaw, but that Red Sea won't help