help with new 75 gallon set up

[cristoe]

i just recently cycled my 75 gallon with 40 gallon sump. added livestock and i am noticing the return pump is sucking up air. i feel the flow going into the refugium is not strong enough to keep up with the return pump. there is another smaller (less powerful) pump behind the refugium for the UV filter. has anyone else had this problem? my temporary fix was just to open the trap door behind the refugium and forgo it completely. any help my fellow reefers can give me some advice would be much appreiated. btw the return pump is not adjustable.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

What kind of overflow do you have?

 

[cristoe]

What kind of overflow do you have?

not sure how to answer that, I didn't buy it separately, it's deep blue tank.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Do you have a fill line on your sump? To me it almost sounds like your water level is to low. Before adding my ato and manually topping off if I had more than usual evaporation it would suck air until I added to my fill line. Do you have pics? What brand and model return pump are you running?

 

[miPapareef]

i just recently cycled my 75 gallon with 40 gallon sump. added livestock and i am noticing the return pump is sucking up air. i feel the flow going into the refugium is not strong enough to keep up with the return pump. there is another smaller (less powerful) pump behind the refugium for the UV filter. has anyone else had this problem? my temporary fix was just to open the trap door behind the refugium and forgo it completely. any help my fellow reefers can give me some advice would be much appreiated. btw the return pump is not adjustable.

Welcome to R2R. Congrats on the setup and cycle.

Do you have any pictures to help us understand the setup?

How are you handling evaporation? Each day or maybe even every few hours you need to add RODI water to make up for evaporation.

The return section of you sump will be where you see the effect of evaporation as the water level there will drop throughout the day. This could be the cause of your pump sucking air. Sometimes people will mark on the side of the return chamber a line to indicate the normal operating level.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Pictures would be helpful, but I agree with hdsoftail sounds like you need to add water to the sump. I found it best if you keep the water line about 2 inches above the pump when it's running. This will prevent it from sucking in air, and give you some buffer room for evaporation loss when not running an ATO. Add mix water to get the level right then take a sharpie and mark the sump in the pump chamber section as this will be the first area to drop when the overall water capacity drops. Keep in mind this level can fluctuate from next to nothing to over two inches in a day.

On an AC non adjustable pump, you can also plumb in a ball valve on the pump return to slow the flow down as well.

 

[SeaJay]

Pictures would be helpful, but I agree with hdsoftail sounds like you need to add water to the sump. I found it best if you keep the water line about 2 inches above the pump when it's running. This will prevent it from sucking in air, and give you some buffer room for evaporation loss when not running an ATO. Add mix water to get the level right then take a sharpie and mark the sump in the pump chamber section as this will be the first area to drop when the overall water capacity drops. Keep in mind this level can fluctuate from next to nothing to over two inches in a day.

On an AC non adjustable pump, you can also plumb in a ball valve on the pump return to slow the flow down as well.

I can sometimes go days without topping off and then other times I have to do it every day. I have an ato/awc that I just haven’t bothered to plumb in yet. But like Porpoise Hork said, sounds like you need to keep it topped off. I would also agree and strongly recommend a valve in the return line. You may need to slow down the rate of return to match the overflow, assuming that everything is working properly, the valve is the only way to adjust for too much return. I dial my return and/or overflow valves back a bit just to keep the noise level down.

 

[cristoe]

Do you have a fill line on your sump? To me it almost sounds like your water level is to low. Before adding my ato and manually topping off if I had more than usual evaporation it would suck air until I added to my fill line. Do you have pics? What brand and model return pump are you running?

The pump is a Rio 2100, the sump is a pro clear aquatics 4 gallon 4-1 edition. Now I just added a gallon roi water but that's it.

 

[cristoe]

I can sometimes go days without topping off and then other times I have to do it every day. I have an ato/awc that I just haven’t bothered to plumb in yet. But like Porpoise Hork said, sounds like you need to keep it topped off. I would also agree and strongly recommend a valve in the return line. You may need to slow down the rate of return to match the overflow, assuming that everything is working properly, the valve is the only way to adjust for too much return. I dial my return and/or overflow valves back a bit just to keep the noise level down.

My lfs recommended the same thing

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Just looking at the pic your fuge looks low to me. I'm right in the middle of a water change on my 144. Let's get the #reefsquad in and I will jump back on as soon as I'm finished. :)

 

[schneid0c]

sump level is to low. looks like you need to add at least 5 gals of water(estimate). the water should be spilling over the u shape cut out on the right side of the fuge. the baffle on the bottom is just to add a more even flow thru the fuge. this will more than likely affect skimmer so might have to re adjust skimmer for the higher water height. recommended water height for that skimmer is between 7" and 8".

 

[Ron Reefman]

Sump can certainly take more water, but odds are you will have to either dial back your skimmer (due to the higher water level) or raise the skimmer so the new water level is at the same height on the skimmer that it is now.

If adding water to the sump ends up getting pumped to the tank and it doesn't drain back fast enough, you will need to put a valve (gate or ball) between the return pump and the tank so you can dial back the flow.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Ok, sorry. This ^^^^

 

[cristoe]

sump level is to low. looks like you need to add at least 5 gals of water(estimate). the water should be spilling over the u shape cut out on the right side of the fuge. the baffle on the bottom is just to add a more even flow thru the fuge. this will more than likely affect skimmer so might have to re adjust skimmer for the higher water height. recommended water height for that skimmer is between 7" and 8".

I opened the trap door behind the fuge to compensate for the pump. That seems to keep it stable. But let's just say it's low should saltwater or roi?

 

[cristoe]

Sump can certainly take more water, but odds ar you will have to either dial back your skimmer (due to the higher water level) or raise the skimmer so the new water level is at the same height on the skimmer that it is now.

If adding water to the sump ends up getting pumped to the tank and it doesn't drain back fast enough, you will need to put a valve (gate or ball) between the return pump and the tank so you can dial back the flow.

This seems to be the most logical issue. I did overkill on every part of the tank so I'm sure the pump is too powerful.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

This seems to be the most logical issue. I did overkill on every part of the tank so I'm sure the pump is too powerful.

Actually its not to powerful. I figure you getting around 5.5 times per hour turnover.

 

[Raege]

What’s your salinity? If your running low due to evap your salinity will spike up. If your on target salinity wise you can add salt water to adjust sump height up if salinity is high RODI water instead. Depending on salinity answer if your lowering it might want to split the RODI adds up over a day or two to not raise it to quickly

 

[cristoe]

What’s your salinity? If your running low due to evap your salinity will spike up. If your on target salinity wise you can add salt water to adjust sump height up if salinity is high RODI water instead. Depending on salinity answer if your lowering it might want to split the RODI adds up over a day or two to not raise it to quickly

I'm going to give a few because just added a gallon our roi

 

[Raege]

I'm going to give a few because just added a gallon our roi

After I add anything to tank like to give it around 45 min to an hour to fully mix in safer to give enough time than chasing a wrong number which I may have done when first starting out 8 months ago....... :)
Ps welcome to R2R

 

[cristoe]

Pictures would be helpful, but I agree with hdsoftail sounds like you need to add water to the sump. I found it best if you keep the water line about 2 inches above the pump when it's running. This will prevent it from sucking in air, and give you some buffer room for evaporation loss when not running an ATO. Add mix water to get the level right then take a sharpie and mark the sump in the pump chamber section as this will be the first area to drop when the overall water capacity drops. Keep in mind this level can fluctuate from next to nothing to over two inches in a day.

On an AC non adjustable pump, you can also plumb in a ball valve on the pump return to slow the flow down as well.

I dont think i can add mixed water, salinity is pretty high now because i thought it was a water level problem too...