Restricting my return pump with valve.help!

[Medic755]

I love the Sicce Pro series. I have one for my small 38 bowfront tank.

 

[saraeelove]

UPDATE: ok so my tank needed more water ! I only needed to restrict the return water about 15% . So now I’m using about 85% of what the return pump gives me.

I added a flexi tube between the return pump and PVC pipe and added a sponge underneath to reduce the noice. It worked!

My tank is a petco tank and I did a DIY overflow and DIY sump. So it doesn’t look perfect but I’m proud of it!!! Mostly because it was A fun project. Here are some pictures. (Umm. A little emberassed ) .

I will leave it running like this over night, to test it out. I’m surprised that I was able to reduce the noise. It’s a little noisy still but not as much.

Don’t worry about the cables. I will fix that right now.

 

[saraeelove]

There should be nothing much wrong with restricting your current pump.

But if you can switch without a lot of bother then it will be more power-efficient to use a right-sized pump instead.

You can also save the money you'd need to spend on a valve by switching to a smaller pump. (Anything but ball valves are quite expensive, and ball valves aren't very easy to adjust....so valves work, but aren't very ideal solutions IMO.)

If you switch, I'd consider switching to a Quiet One.....very inexpensive, excellent warranty, super quiet, super efficient.

Generally speaking, I would not recommend a DC pump for return.

Please check out my update comment below :) I added pictures.

 

[saraeelove]

THank you!!!

You were right!!!!! Thank you a million times! I just added an update comment with pictures

 

[saraeelove]

Before you replumb everything, did you try more water?

I added more water ! Thank you !!

 

[saraeelove]

It helps reduce the noise if you use some flex tube between the pump and the PVC, not sure if you did this already. Also don't forget that when you fill the tank and the sump all the plumbing is empty, so when you start any size pump it will drain down your sump, until all the plumbing is full. You need an extra couple gallons of water when you start the system. As long as the drain lines are handling the flow you just need to add more water to the sump.

The flex tube worked !

 

[Fishfinder]

Glad everything worked out. It looks good. I love DIY projects. There's a lot of DIY going on in my build

 

[reefwiser]

Best way it not to restrict but to have a bleed off valve. Use a gate valve to let water back into the sump a little. When you restrict a pump it will shorten the life of the impeller over time. As the pump is pushing against the valve to go to the tank. With a bleed valve you will just relieve the pressure by returning it to the sump.

 

[saraeelove]

Glad everything worked out. It looks good. I love DIY projects. There's a lot of DIY going on in my build

Thank you ! It’s my first tank and I’m so proud.

 

[Fishfinder]

Let us know if you need any more help.

 

[red13]

[QUOTE="Thank you ! It’s my first tank and I’m so proud.[/QUOTE]
You should be proud, great job.