Need Help With Sump

[Nate5154]

So i’m currently trying to find a way to make a sump to hide my filtration but i’m kind of confused how it works. I get the three chambers but what i’m confused about is how do i get my return pump chamber to match the overflow speed? Like wouldn’t the speed need to match exactly so that it doesn’t cause problems ?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

1. You will have a control valve on the pipe bringing water from the tank to the sump so you can regulate how fast the water empties.

2. You can buy a DC return pump so the speed can be controlled.

 

[Nate5154]

1. You will have a control valve on the pipe bringing water from the tank to the sump so you can regulate how fast the water empties.

2. You can buy a DC return pump so the speed can be controlled.

So i’m guessing it takes a lot of fine tuning to get it right?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

It takes some. Once you have it dialed in you usually don’t have to make too many or too big of changes.

 

[maroun.c]

its actually the opposite you fine tune your overflow to match your pump speed without noise and microbubbles.
basically overflows are designed to handled much more than your pump will pus so that in a worse case scenario you get a noisy setup or some microbubbles to deal with by fine tuning and not a flood due to an overflow that can't handle your pump output. you also have an emergency drain which should kick in if your main drain is totally blocked so basically while fine tuning if you close your drain a bit more than you should tank will not overflow.

 

[JumboShrimp]

By having valves on the overflow pipes coming into the tank, and using a variable speed return pump, you can make the needed adjustments to reach an equilibrium state. (The amount of water flowing out of the tank matches the amount of water being pushed back up and in.) Important: make sure your sump is large enough that when all power gets cut-- as in a power outage-- what flows down from the tank/overflow box won't overflow the remaining sump capacity.

 

[Nate5154]

By having valves on the overflow pipes coming into the tank, and using a variable speed return pump, you can make the needed adjustments to reach an equilibrium state. (The amount of water flowing out of the tank matches the amount of water being pushed back up and in.) Important: make sure your sump is large enough that when all power gets cut-- as in a power outage-- what flows down from the tank/overflow box won't overflow the remaining sump capacity.

Is there any good videos to watch about this, i’m mainly worried about if there’s like even a 0.1 gph difference between the overflow and the return, then wouldn’t my sump slowly slowly start to flood, and cause my ATO to get covered and ruin my salinity?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Once the volume in your display tank drops below the drain level, no more water will empty into the sump. As long as your sump can handle that small amount you should be set.

 

[Nate5154]

Once the volume in your display tank drops below the drain level, no more water will empty into the sump. As long as your sump can handle that small amount you should be set.

Ohhhhh okay I think that makes sense, like it will always kind of fluctuate, but once the water is lower on the overflow, the return pump will push more water and it will like catch up and re center?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Ohhhhh okay I think that makes sense, like it will always kind of fluctuate, but once the water is lower on the overflow, the return pump will push more water and it will like catch up and re center?

Once you have it dialed in there should be little fluctuation. But yes, I believe you have the correct idea.

I recommend searching you tube or going to a trusted LFS and having them demonstrate. It makes a lot more sense once you see it in person.

 

[Nate5154]

Once you have it dialed in there should be little fluctuation. But yes, I believe you have the correct idea.

I recommend searching you tube or going to a trusted LFS and having them demonstrate. It makes a lot more sense once you see it in person.

okay sounds good thank you

 

[JumboShrimp]

You would be surprised how well those valves can tune your system. First make gross adjustments, then after that you fine-tune with mini-turns of the valve. If you look at my photo, my water level in the overflow box is highly stable throughout the day and throughout the week. However, that's where (in my system) the third unused "emergency" overflow pipe comes in. If the water level in the overflow box was suddenly to rise, say if I was away for the day or on vacation, the extra water would start to flow down the third (highest) pipe straight into the sump.