Sump Water level

[MichaelReefer]

I recently got my Reefer 250 and have noticed I am having sump water level issues. Today when I got home the water was just barely over my return pump. All of the water levels in my sump are normal except my last chamber. How high should it be? How can I fix this? Thanks!

 

[Peach02]

Generally the rule of thumb is to have it high enough to prevent the return pump from blowing bubbles out of the pump and if you don't have a ATO enough to allow for a day or more worth of evaporation

 

[MichaelReefer]

Generally the rule of thumb is to have it high enough to prevent the return pump from blowing bubbles out of the pump and if you don't have a ATO enough to allow for a day or more worth of evaporation

Just seems like my last chamber is always so low. Like my intake chamber is good, my next chamber is about an inch lower, then an inch lower, then it drops like four inches.

 

[Blitheran]

Do you have an ATO hooked up? This chamber is where you accomidate the evaporation of water from the tank.

 

[mfinn]

Time to buy a auto topoff controller ( ATO)

 

[FishyDP]

The last chamber in your sump is where water evaporation will be visible, this is what is causing your water level to drop..evaporation. I would keep the water level at least 3-4" above your return pump. This will buy you some time in the event that you are not able to top off your tank/sump or you have an ATO failure. As others have posted, an ATO would be a good investment.

 

[DanH86]

Been through the same recently with my new reefer 250. I can see your ATO is hooked up, is it full of RODI water and set to a slow drip? Also, try dialling down the return pump speed. I run a Jebao dc4000 set to 63% which seems right (to me anyway). This gives me a waterline just below the emergency drain in the weir and 6 inches deep in the return pump chamber.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Do you have an ATO hooked up? This chamber is where you accomidate the evaporation of water from the tank.

I have the ATO that came with it. Is there a way to raise it? Or maybe its not flowing properly? I will take a look when I get home tonight.

 

[Blitheran]

I have the ATO that came with it. Maybe I will raise it up a bit?

Yes I would if it is, barely just above the return pump

 

[Westside Guy]

I apologize for bumping this thread but I also have a Reefer 250 with a V3 sump which has been up and running since February. The last 2 months I have been experiencing issues dialing in the the correct water level with Red Sea's main downpipe valve which I like to keep about an inch below the emergency drain pipe and seems stable when I have gone to bed. When I wakeup in the morning the water is overflowing into the emergency drain pipe.

The ATO that came with the Reefer 250 is working properly.

My Vectra S1 pump is running at about 2/3rds power.

Is it possible that my LFS has been adding too much water when they are doing water changes and that is causing the issue? If yes, how do I determine this?

I clean the RS valve that controls the water level monthly and I which I know it is extremely sensitive so I only make very small adjustments.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DanH86]

It could be the added water during a change is too much; if the LFS are doing it for you maybe mark some discreet lines on the DT of drain and fill levels. I had it recently where I hadn’t added enough after a change and the next morning my drain pipe was gurgling air.

I found that once the valve was set, it doesn’t need touching and if you’re cleaning it regularly it is unlikely to be that causing an issue.

 

[Westside Guy]

I spoke to Red Sea and they said I had the Vectra S1 pump running at too high a setting and suggested that I lower it. Red Sea recommends 660 gph for the Reefer 250 and the S1 has a maximum output of 1400 gph Therefore 2/3rds output which I had it set to would be approximately 933 gph.

 

[Greybeard]

The easy way to think about a tank/sump system, is a series of FULL containers. Your tank is normally full... if overflows to the sump splashdown compartment. That compartment is normally full, and overflows to the skimmer compartment, and that one to the return compartment. The only compartment not normally 'full', is the last, or lowest compartment. The return compartment. That is the only one that will vary with evaporation, etc. The rest will always be 'full'.

Note that full can vary a bit... dirty teeth in an overflow, raising flow rates will increase 'full' capacity in all of the compartments, etc.

 

[Westside Guy]

Red Sea told me to have 6-8 inches in that return pump section of the sump. Right now it measures 8 inches.

 

[powers2001]

I apologize for bumping this thread but I also have a Reefer 250 with a V3 sump which has been up and running since February. The last 2 months I have been experiencing issues dialing in the the correct water level with Red Sea's main downpipe valve which I like to keep about an inch below the emergency drain pipe and seems stable when I have gone to bed. When I wakeup in the morning the water is overflowing into the emergency drain pipe.

The ATO that came with the Reefer 250 is working properly.

My Vectra S1 pump is running at about 2/3rds power.

Is it possible that my LFS has been adding too much water when they are doing water changes and that is causing the issue? If yes, how do I determine this?

I clean the RS valve that controls the water level monthly and I which I know it is extremely sensitive so I only make very small adjustments.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

@Westside Guy I adjusted my Reefer 250 over a year just like the user guide says and still had a trickle down the emergency drain. From what others are saying this is the way the system is designed. A lot of Reefer 250 owners have gone to custom installed gate valves and I think that's what I'm going to do.