Sump problems

[kred47]

Hi everyone,

I’m having a ton of trouble with my sump.
first I just can’t seem to find a happy spot for the flow from the drainpipe to maintain a suitable water level in the sump. Either it’s too much or too little. Too little the emergency drain starts draining and too much the drain pipe starts sucking air. This is in turn messes up the sump water level. It’s really annoying me how finicky it is and I can’t adjust flow on my pump, so a water change, or anything without having to sit and play with the drainpipe for 20 minutes after.

second, I have no idea if my sump is setup the right way. I can’t find anywhere to properly mechanically filter the water and no idea if anything is setup right.I have a filter sock but no where to use it, I want to use it but no idea how I possibly could. Sump is setup as follows first chamber- heater, skimmer, drain —-> second chamber- fuge ——> third chamber- return pump, filter pad on egg crate rack, chemipure.

I really want to make this sump work. I got it with the tank and the guy before me said it worked perfectly for him. First time ever having a sump and it’s beating me up

 

[DopamineKata]

You need a gate valve on your drain not a ball valve. You have tighter control over the flow with a gate valve.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

^This..


A gate valve is infinitely more adjustable than a ball valve.


Also may want to lower the second drain pipe and lower the return flow a little to drop the water level in the overflow. To keep the primary from sucking in air put a double 90 on it and drill a 1/4 hole on the top of the 1st 90 bend to act as a auto syphon starter for when you shut the main pump down for servicing.

 

[kred47]

You need a gate valve on your drain not a ball valve. You have tighter control over the flow with a gate valve.

Shucks, I figured this, well guess I’m rebuilding the bottom section of the drain tomorrow. As far as mechanical filtration goes, do you have any ideas? If you see in the third chamber I have the filter pads but they don’t really do anything. Is it possible to utilize a filter sock somehow?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

With the way it's setup you're kind of limited. One option is get a Red Sea filter cup, drill a couple holes in it. Run a polyester cord or something similar and hang it off the valve on the main return. Then roll up filter floss in the cup. When the floss gets dirty pull it out cut a new section and replace it.

A variant on this is use nylon mesh socks and again drill and hang them off the valve under the drain. The nylon socks are great compared to felt. Easy to clean and last practically forever where the felt socks whiles do filter to finer levels are usually only able to be cleaned/washed a handful of times before they get stopped up and need to be replaced. Plus your significant other may object to your running them in the washing machine... Don't ask how I know that

When you have the flow on the drain set right the secondary should only have a tiny trickle going down it so no need to put a filter on it. Or you can join it via a y-fitting after the gate valve. The only downside is you might not know right off if the primary drain stopped up and went to the secondary other than the increased water level in the overflow.

 

[kred47]

With the way it's setup you're kind of limited. One option is get a Red Sea filter cup, drill a couple holes in it. Run a polyester cord or something similar and hang it off the valve on the main return. Then roll up filter floss in the cup. When the floss gets dirty pull it out cut a new section and replace it.

A variant on this is use nylon mesh socks and again drill and hang them off the valve under the drain. The nylon socks are great compared to felt. Easy to clean and last practically forever where the felt socks whiles do filter to finer levels are usually only able to be cleaned/washed a handful of times before they get stopped up and need to be replaced. Plus your significant other may object to your running them in the washing machine... Don't ask how I know that

When you have the flow on the drain set right the secondary should only have a tiny trickle going down it so no need to put a filter on it. Or you can join it via a y-fitting after the gate valve. The only downside is you might not know right off if the primary drain stopped up and went to the secondary other than the increased water level in the overflow.

Ok awesome, that’s a good idea with the cup because I have a ton of filter floss. Might be able to build something with a regular plastic cup. Will let you know how it goes. Thank you for the idea!