Water vanishing?

[thedon986]

Once I realized a small amount of water going down the emergency drain is fine it made my life of balancing the drain valve and return so much easier and also quieted down my system to near dead silent unless my wave maker pushes too much water into the overflow at once then I get a bit of noise.

 

[CoralB]

I interpreted that the ato is working and trying to compensate, but op "panics" and didn't let it balance out. I may not have looked hard enough but doesn't seem anything in tank will care about a couple gallon fluctuation in 150g display. Now he understands how the drain opperates and what different water levels indicate, this is what learning looks like!

Just make sure emergency drain is low enough to handle all flow without overflowing display

With the herbie system unless their is a major void of water the main tank will be pumped full to the bottom of the weir its the water in his overflow and sump which were devoid of water which needed to be replaced . I can only assume that water got low due to evaporation . Yes he might have needed to adjust the main drain pipe but as far as to whether his ATO is working properly I can’t answer but it wouldn’t hurt for him to check it and maybe adjust it .if it was working properly there would have never been a void of water which is what started this emergency. Sometimes it’s hard to to figure out everything happening from this side but all we can do is to try to help as best as we can .

 

[Notsolostfish]

With the herbie system unless their is a major void of water the main tank will be pumped full to the bottom of the weir its the water in his overflow and sump which were devoid of water which needed to be replaced . I can only assume that water got low due to evaporation . Yes he might have needed to adjust the main drain pipe but as far as to whether his ATO is working properly I can’t answer but it wouldn’t hurt for him to check it and maybe adjust it .if it was working properly there would have never been a void of water which is what started this emergency. Sometimes it’s hard to to figure out everything happening from this side but all we can do is to try to help as best as we can .

My ato working properly. What started this emergency is me not liking the height of the previous height I have my emergency pipe after glueing. Which I shouldn’t without testing first. Then adding a coupler and try to mess with the gate valve to add more water to reach the new height of the emergency pipe. And having not enough water on the side to compensate for it. Adding few cups at a time and watching my water disappear as it was going to the display. My brain wasn’t braining. Now how I have it is under the emegency pipe by 2”. And while it’s not a trickle in tje emergency pipe it’s quiet. And the water level not dropping anymore.

 

[Jamie814]

Now how I have it is under the emegency pipe by 2”

Your not going to be able to maintain that. Over time it will either drop to where the main drain is pulling a small amount of air raising your sump water level OR it will rise until it trickles into your emergency overflow lowering your sump water level. I've explained this many times.
Water needs to trickle into your emergency drain at all times to keep both tank and sump water level from fluctuating.

 

[Cell]

Water needs to trickle into your emergency drain at all times to keep both tank and sump water level from fluctuating.

Water does not necessarily need to trickle down emergency drain to maintain levels.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Your not going to be able to maintain that. Over time it will either drop to where the main drain is pulling a small amount of air raising your sump water level OR it will rise until it trickles into your emergency overflow lowering your sump water level. I've explained this many times.
Water needs to trickle into your emergency drain at all times to keep both tank and sump water level from

Water does not necessarily need to trickle down emergency drain to maintain levels.

My system is pretty stable now. Im evaporating every 3 hours. And my water level is stable. From yesterday night. I’ll keep everyone suggestion in mind. If anything change.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

What started this emergency is me not liking the height of the previous height I have my emergency pipe after glueing. Which I shouldn’t without testing first.

You didn't need to glue it at all. That fitting you used to raise the emergency didn't need to be water tight just as long as it was snug. It very well may be that the fitting you put on needs to be cut to set the emergency line lower.

I think that you'll eventually come to the realization that you need to adjust the gate valve to trickle water over the emergency, you're just going to have to learn this lesson on your own terms. And when it clicks for you, you should come back and re read this thread, and all the great advice from page 1 will make sense.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Water does not necessarily need to trickle down emergency drain to maintain levels.

Your not going to be able to maintain that. Over time it will either drop to where the main drain is pulling a small amount of air raising your sump water level OR it will rise until it trickles into your emergency overflow lowering your sump water level. I've explained this many times.
Water needs to trickle into your emergency drain at all times to keep both tank and sump water level from fluctuating.

Okay. Update. I did what Jamie told me to have the water trickle down the emegency pipe. But im still facing that same issue. And it happened literally 10 min ago. Ato filled up. I lost the water immediatly the ATO filled up. I am not sure whats happening. My ato fills up to the sensor. And then immediately drops below it. As the water gets sucked to the display…. Idk anymore



I drop from that yellow line of tje ato sensor immediatly to below it

 

[Notsolostfish]

You didn't need to glue it at all. That fitting you used to raise the emergency didn't need to be water tight just as long as it was snug. It very well may be that the fitting you put on needs to be cut to set the emergency line lower.

I think that you'll eventually come to the realization that you need to adjust the gate valve to trickle water over the emergency, you're just going to have to learn this lesson on your own terms. And when it clicks for you, you should come back and re read this thread, and all the great advice from page 1 will make sense.

Here we go. I removed the coupler and im adjusting the gate valve to have a trickle of water. Let see if that would fix the ato water issue getting sucked fast to the display.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Okay. Update. I did what Jamie told me to have the water trickle down the emegency pipe. But im still facing that same issue. And it happened literally 10 min ago. Ato filled up. I lost the water immediatly the ATO filled up. I am not sure whats happening. My ato fills up to the sensor. And then immediately drops below it. As the water gets sucked to the display…. Idk anymore



I drop from that yellow line of tje ato sensor immediatly to below it

As I and others have said, you don't actually NEED the water to trickle down the emergency drain to maintain your desired water level.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Okay. Update. I did what Jamie told me to have the water trickle down the emegency pipe. But im still facing that same issue. And it happened literally 10 min ago. Ato filled up. I lost the water immediatly the ATO filled up. I am not sure whats happening. My ato fills up to the sensor. And then immediately drops below it. As the water gets sucked to the display…. Idk anymore

What are your expectations? Is it supposed to stabilize immediately.

One thing that may not be obvious to some people is trusting physics and then try to make sense of what you're witnessing.

My first thought would be that by adjusting the gate valve to trickle over the emergency that not only are you raising the water in the overflow section (that is what, 3-4 gallons tops?) but also in the tank. To raise water 1 inch in the overflow vs raising water in the 150g tank 1 inch, which one requires more water?

If this is happening one would conclude that the solution is to lower the emergency so that the overflow is performing the way it should. If that's not a possibility then you have to explore other options.

 

[Jamie814]

you don't actually NEED the water to trickle down the emergency drain to maintain your desired water level.

It is physically impossible to match the full siphon drain flow rate with the return pump flow rate exactly over time.... to many variables. Either water needs to go down the emergency drain to compensate for fluctuations in water flow OR the main drain will draw the water level in the overflow down to the height of the drain and draw air for flow fluctuations.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

As I and others have said, you don't actually NEED the water to trickle down the emergency drain to maintain your desired water level.

That would be the equivalent to a durso overflow and we know why no one uses those anymore.

 

[Notsolostfish]

That would be the equivalent to a durso overflow and we know why no one uses those anymore.

Alright I just removed the coupler, and did the trickle to the emergency. We gonna see what happens

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

That would be the equivalent to a durso overflow and we know why no one uses those anymore.

Not quite... lol

 

[Notsolostfish]

Not quite... lol

Alright so i have it set like that now. And i still notice when i look at my ato sensor the water goes up, and down on it. Okay honesty this is crazy. I am not a crazy person its really happening. Why is it happening? I have no idea. Why the water in my sump have to move or go up and down on the sensor like that. But its what its. Im honesty aftaid now that when my water evaporates, because the sensor the water on it going up and down like that, i could never tell evaporation from fluctuation. It’s frustrating

1-https://youtube.com/shorts/n11y2iAa-ng?feature=shared

I also have that gurgling sound in the main drain seems like that i dont know if thats normal like bubbly noisey sound.

2-https://youtube.com/shorts/mTLm553Vjww?feature=shared

 

[Cell]

I feel like you just need to find an experienced local reefer to stop by quick and help you out in person.

 

[Notsolostfish]

I feel like you just need to find an experienced local reefer to stop by quick and help you out in person.

I tried to find someone experienced locally i simply couldnt find anyone close unfortunately. Weird issue for real. Why would the ato water level goes up and down like that i have no clue.

 

[Jamie814]

Why would the ato water level goes up and down like that i have no clue.

I'm all out of help and tired as much as I could regarding your plumbing.

I see in your other thread that you run a vectra return pump.

Do you have it set to constant speed mode and have speed lock on?