Sump water level has me baffled (pun intended)

[bsdubois00]

I finally got water in the tank and working on setting everything up. I have had issues all day with the water height tuning. My goal is to have the sump around 8” per the guidelines of the skimmer. The water is barely touching the overflow but not going over. So far so good.

But now I’m trying to get the ATO setup and just having issues.

For my sump water is flowing down the main drain into a filter roller, out the filter roller into a main compartment with skimmer (no baffle between these) and then to the return pump area. There is an adjustable baffle that raises the height in the main compartment and lowers it in the return area that’s driving me crazy.


Question:

Any reason that these have to be at different levels? Can the return pump area and main compartment be at the same height?

 

[Heres_doe_]

I finally got water in the tank and working on setting everything up. I have had issues all day with the water height tuning. My goal is to have the sump around 8” per the guidelines of the skimmer. The water is barely touching the overflow but not going over. So far so good.

But now I’m trying to get the ATO setup and just having issues.

For my sump water is flowing down the main drain into a filter roller, out the filter roller into a main compartment with skimmer (no baffle between these) and then to the return pump area. There is an adjustable baffle that raises the height in the main compartment and lowers it in the return area that’s driving me crazy.


Question:

Any reason that these have to be at different levels? Can the return pump area and main compartment be at the same height?

Sure they can just make sure the return doesn’t pump water faster than it’s going in.

 

[bsdubois00]

Sure they can just make sure the return doesn’t pump water faster than it’s going in.

If they are the same height what does that do to my ATO? Seems like in theory more would have to evaporate before the sensor triggers the ATO and then each time it fills up it will fill up more to get at that level.

Am I thinking about that right?

 

[Heres_doe_]

If they are the same height what does that do to my ATO? Seems like in theory more would have to evaporate before the sensor triggers the ATO and then each time it fills up it will fill up more to get at that level.

Am I thinking about that right?

So they can be the same height starting off. With time the return should eventually get lower as water passes and evaporates. The baffle will keep them from being the same height with time. Just run the tank and the return side will get lower than the skimmer side. The skimmer side will go down just at a lower rate. You’ll see.

 

[bsdubois00]

So they can be the same height starting off. With time the return should eventually get lower as water passes and evaporates. The baffle will keep them from being the same height with time. Just run the tank and the return side will get lower than the skimmer side. The skimmer side will go down just at a lower rate. You’ll see.

So what you’re saying is quit messing with it and let it settle out

 

[Heres_doe_]

So what you’re saying is quit messing with it and let it settle out

Yes just fill it and forget about it give it a couple days and you’ll see the return will get lower than the other part

 

[bsdubois00]

Patience…got it. Luckily I have a work trip coming up so I won’t be able to fiddle with anything for a few days. Curious to see how it looks when I get back.

 

[Heres_doe_]

Patience…got it. Luckily I have a work trip coming up so I won’t be able to fiddle with anything for a few days. Curious to see how it looks when I get back.

Post picture if the sump setup

 

[bsdubois00]

You can see the baffle to the right of the skimmer between the main section and the return pump section.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

I also second to stop messing with it. It SHOULD level itself out.

Can you keep your hands out for at least 30 minutes? That’s supposed to be a joke, I know how it goes as I have a huge habit of messing with my tank 24/7. Also, open up your valve into your roller mat all the way, and then tune it down, and make sure the roller mat is clean, allowing all water out. You might have to manually adjust it during this time. That helps me when I do water changes since I have my return dialed up pretty high. And if your ATO keeps dumping water, turn it off until everything levels out. Just make sure it isn’t dumping air bubbles into your DT.

Hopefully that makes sense…

 

[bsdubois00]

Yea basically give it a few days to settle out and get it's rhythm...good news for me is I have a 3 day work trip so I'm just going to fill the ATO Reservoir and see what it does while I'm gone. Luckily I haven't started the cycle yet (was waiting till I got back) so not much can really go wrong while I'm gone (the ATO reservoir is not too large that it would overflow the sump).

 

[BryanM]

Is the ATO level sensor in the return pump chamber? That's where it should be.

 

[bsdubois00]

Is the ATO level sensor in the return pump chamber? That's where it should be.

It is yes