Water Flow Balancing Act

[Billldg]

I started up my new 120 gal saltwater tank and noticsd that I was sucking my drain lines dry due to drain flow rate, I adjusted my return pump to flow at a higher rate and it would suck the return chamber dry, so I would open up my drain lines more and thus have a foaming problem because it would suck my drain lines dry again, seems like I spent a couple of hours adjusting my return pump flow and my drain line ball valves. Is this normal, is it a balancing act?

 

[AlexStinson]

Shouldn't really be a balancing act... sounds like you don't have enough water, and possibly a siphoning issue.

 

[mcarroll]

Your drains should be wide open so that each acts as a so-called gravity drain.

A 1" gravity drain is silent up to around 300 GPH and will carry up to 600 GPH not silently. ;)

So if you have two 1" drains, that gives you up to (300+300=) 600 GPH of actual flow between the sump and tank that will be silent.

What pump are you using, and is it more or less a straight 5' shot from the return pump up to the tank?

 

[Billldg]

Shouldn't really be a balancing act... sounds like you don't have enough water, and possibly a siphoning issue.

I added a couple of gals more to tank thinking the same thing, maybe I need even more, new to this, just seemed like when I opened my drains all the way open they just opened a dam gate and cause the drain/return sections to drain lower causing them to suck air in and thus cause the drain/sock section of the sump to foam up badly.

 

[Billldg]

Your drains should be wide open so that each acts as a so-called gravity drain.

A 1" gravity drain is silent up to around 300 GPH and will carry up to 600 GPH not silently. ;)

So if you have two 1" drains, that gives you up to (300+300=) 600 GPH of actual flow between the sump and tank that will be silent.

What pump are you using, and is it more or less a straight 5' shot from the return pump up to the tank?

I am using a Sicce silent 5 which has a 1340 gal return, using all 1 " pvc piping except for when the returns leave the bulkheads

 

[Billldg]

As of right now I have both returns wide open and the pump at roughly 2/3rds open, don't know exact return rate as their is no data on return vs were the adjuster for flow rate is set, both drains are 1/2 open, this is where I have it set to keep it from sucking the drain section dry and to keep it from foaming at the sock section of sump

 

[Billldg]

Your drains should be wide open so that each acts as a so-called gravity drain.

A 1" gravity drain is silent up to around 300 GPH and will carry up to 600 GPH not silently. ;)

So if you have two 1" drains, that gives you up to (300+300=) 600 GPH of actual flow between the sump and tank that will be silent.

What pump are you using, and is it more or less a straight 5' shot from the return pump up to the tank?

 

[mcarroll]

When you get "above-silent" flow rates, the draining become erratic – that's the source of the noise. Noises, to be precise. ;) You'll get the nigra falls sound from the drain outlets and some variation of sucking and draining sounds from the top side of the drains. It's usually pretty offensive, but it actually doesn't impact performance as far as I can tell.

I am using a Sicce silent 5 which has a 1340 gal return, using all 1 " pvc piping except for when the returns leave the bulkheads

A Syncra 4.0 might be the correct pump for your installation then.
(1.5 meters = 5' and 2300 L/H = 600 GPH)

1" plumbing will only add on another foot of head pressure from friction.

You'll need to crank the 5.0 back to silence your drains. Once the wide-open drains are silent, you should find you're getting around 600 GPH....but if you can collect the drain water or return water in a container of known-volume, then you can measure and calculate your actual flow rate.

How large of a system is this connected to?

 

[Billldg]

When you get "above-silent" flow rates, the draining become erratic – that's the source of the noise. Noises, to be precise. ;) You'll get the nigra falls sound from the drain outlets and some variation of sucking and draining sounds from the top side of the drains. It's usually pretty offensive, but it actually doesn't impact performance as far as I can tell.




A Syncra 4.0 might be the correct pump for your installation then.
(1.5 meters = 5' and 2300 L/H = 600 GPH)

1" plumbing will only add on another foot of head pressure from friction.

You'll need to crank the 5.0 back to silence your drains. Once the wide-open drains are silent, you should find you're getting around 600 GPH....but if you can collect the drain water or return water in a container of known-volume, then you can measure and calculate your actual flow rate.

How large of a system is this connected to?

It's on a 120 gal tank, yea, I was adjusting on everything for a couple of hours last night to quiet it down and to keep it from foaming to much from drain flow rate, I was just wondering if this is a common problem or is their something else wrong.

 

[mcarroll]

Too much flow. Yes, it's a common "problem". :)

yea, I was adjusting on everything for a couple of hours last night to quiet it down and to keep it from foaming to much from drain flow rate

Having a reef is a tremendous learning experience – even before you really get started. :) Very much live and learn.

You should only need around 600 GPH for that tank anyway....that's why the drains are the size they are. :)

See how much throttling you need on the pump before the drains will run wide-open.

 

[Billldg]

Too much flow. Yes, it's a common "problem". :)



Having a reef is a tremendous learning experience – even before you really get started. :) Very much live and learn.

You should only need around 600 GPH for that tank anyway....that's why the drains are the size they are. :)

See how much throttling you need on the pump before the drains will run wide-open.

Thanks, hopefully when I get home after work it is still quiet, it was all night.