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The water levels in my sump won't stabilize after water changes. It ran fine for circa a year, before I moved the tank long distance. Now that I have the tank running again, it is a struggle to keep the water levels balanced despite the presence of an ATO.
I have a DIY overflow (weir) plumbing. The overflow PVC pipe transitions to a hose to flow down to the first chamber of the sump, which contains a HOB skimmer. The end of the overflow hose is submerged below the water line in the first chamber of the sump. The return pump is in the last chamber and returns water to the opposite end of the tank from the overflow.
Any thoughts on whether my issue is related to the siphon?
The water continues to drain down the overflow weir and into the sump, and there is a ball valve to help regulate the flow of the return pump. There is no noise coming from the drain, and the siphon restarts when the return pump is turned back on, but multiple adjustments need to be made to the ball valve on the return pump to get the levels somewhat stable. The levels will stablize for half an hour or so, and then I'll come back an hour later and the water levels have moved up or down. The skimmer isn't working overtime, so I've likely ruled that out as a culprit.
If this is a siphon issue, would something like an aqualifter help fix it? If it isn't a siphon issue, could it be a faulty valve, an aging return pump (it used to restart immediately, but now it struggles for about five seconds before it kicks back on), or some other well known issue that I've overlooked?
I have a DIY overflow (weir) plumbing. The overflow PVC pipe transitions to a hose to flow down to the first chamber of the sump, which contains a HOB skimmer. The end of the overflow hose is submerged below the water line in the first chamber of the sump. The return pump is in the last chamber and returns water to the opposite end of the tank from the overflow.
Any thoughts on whether my issue is related to the siphon?
The water continues to drain down the overflow weir and into the sump, and there is a ball valve to help regulate the flow of the return pump. There is no noise coming from the drain, and the siphon restarts when the return pump is turned back on, but multiple adjustments need to be made to the ball valve on the return pump to get the levels somewhat stable. The levels will stablize for half an hour or so, and then I'll come back an hour later and the water levels have moved up or down. The skimmer isn't working overtime, so I've likely ruled that out as a culprit.
If this is a siphon issue, would something like an aqualifter help fix it? If it isn't a siphon issue, could it be a faulty valve, an aging return pump (it used to restart immediately, but now it struggles for about five seconds before it kicks back on), or some other well known issue that I've overlooked?