Avoid skimmer overflow with sump overflow?

[juanmanuelsanch]

hi all ! I suppose this situation is not rare to anyone but here it goes

When you turn off the pumps for feeding or maintenance the sump fills up, nothing weird here, my problem is that when that happens my skimmer goes nuts and overflows too.

I Have a water receptor for the water waste so I dont have to clean the skimmer so regularly (5 litters), the skimmers overflows so fast that it fills it within seconds. If I forget to take the hose it will overflow and flood the apartment.

Any idea on how to keep the skimmer on and with no problems while the sump is flooded?

Its an octopus reef 150 NT

THanks in advance !

 

[Tspors58]

Will always happen unless you shut skimmer pump off.
I don't turn off anything when feeding.

 

[CStrickland]

You can put the skimmer on a switch, or on the same switch as the return pump with a 10 minute delay for the water in the sump to drop. If you don't want to bother you can try what works for me, I have a similar skimmer to yours. I just tip the cup backwards just before I turn off the return pump. The way it sits on the neck you can sort of nudge it so it's off a little bit, like leaning back a bit. Then when the water rises in the sump it will also rise in the skimmer neck, but it will overflow back into the sump instead of filling the cup. That's easier for me since my pump shutoff is a valve under the tank, so I'm down there anyway.

That sounds more complicated than it is. I was just going to feed the tank, lemme see if I can get a pic...

 

[madweazl]

I dont see any reason to turn the return pump off for feeding. If this is something you're compelled to do, a controller with a float sensor in the skimmer compartment could provide signal to turn the skimmer off (or when you went to feed mode or any number of other options). What are you feeding that needs no flow at all?

 

[CStrickland]

Turning off the return is a super common and totally logical way to keep the food in the tank instead of in the sump/filters.

Pic attached, it's not the best angle because my sump is pretty deep [and it seems to have uploaded sideways lol] but you get the idea.

 

[sleepydoc]

If you have a controller, add a float switch to turn off the skimmer. otherwise you can get a relay and make a setup yourself, or purchase one of these. Caveat - I've had some problems with the sensors. The company is sending replacements right now; hopefully the new ones will solve the issue. Other's have used it without issue, so I'm hopeful my issues are an anomaly.

 

[juanmanuelsanch]

I was looking at Electronic Float Switches for Sump Pumps but if you guys have any recommendations please let me know. Thanks !

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...ords=Electronic+Float+Switches+for+Sump+Pumps