Basement sump - ideas for stand and general installation

[JohnL]

Perhaps you need to play with the flow rate from the return pump?

 

[BarIzoN]

Perhaps you need to play with the flow rate from the return pump?

I tried that as well, but not much success too...

This is being like a short blanked in a cold night: you pull up, and your feet get cold. You pull down, and your head gets cold... LOL

I'll try increasing the water volume and play with both return and output flows. I also have to pay attention to my overflow box level as well. 3 variables to play with.


Hopefully, I'll get in a balanced situation.

Thanks!

 

[JohnL]

Good luck. Let us know what the final resolution is.

 

[Reefing102]

I’m curious what’s the head of your return pump versus the height of the return vs your overflow/drain rate. If the return pump is under rated it could fluctuate due to struggling with the rate of return. The way I understand it, and I could be wrong, is you want the return pump matching your drain rate

 

[cyizzle]

Your tank is not drilled, what type of drain set up do you have? Is it possible you are losing syphon at the drain?

 

[BarIzoN]

Some updates here...

I've added some more fish and corals.

So far, so good.

One thing I should say is how a difference a sump makes in a fish tank! I'm happy with that!

 

[BarIzoN]

I’m curious what’s the head of your return pump versus the height of the return vs your overflow/drain rate. If the return pump is under rated it could fluctuate due to struggling with the rate of return. The way I understand it, and I could be wrong, is you want the return pump matching your drain rate

I have a Pan World 100Px.

The height I have is about 13 ft from the pump to the return in the tank.

That's my thought too, and I'm still struggling with the noise on the return.

Thanks

 

[BarIzoN]

Your tank is not drilled, what type of drain set up do you have? Is it possible you are losing syphon at the drain?

I have an overflow box, that has an "U" tube from the tank to the drain box.

I lost the siphon a fewer times in the beginning, but now the system is way more stable.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

THE most important thing with siphon tubes is to insure the flow WILL extract any bubbles formed in the tube to be pulled ALL THE WAY OUT OF THE TUBE.

 

[BarIzoN]

THE most important thing with siphon tubes is to insure the flow WILL extract any bubbles formed in the tube to be pulled ALL THE WAY OUT OF THE TUBE.

Sure thing!

Because of the high flow I have, the tube is 100% filled with water.

My struggle is to find a perfect balance between:

1. High flow on return for water movement
2. Tank filled where I need: a little below the rim
3. No noise from the overflow

That's being crazy trying to make this balance. I'm still working on adjusting the overflow and return flow...

Thanks!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

High return flow can only be achieved by the return pump . That pump should be enough, especially since you're on a table. The only thing that might help would be to increase the plumbing size back to the tank until the last fitting before the water. Say from 1" to 1.25", the barb off the pump has a smaller ID than the hose by design so as to fit. Height of the water in the tank also has to do with the pump and the overflow combined & I doubt there is much you can do with it. What kind of noise do you want to change?
Water flowing into the overflow or from the drain hose into the sump? Please be more specific.

 

[BarIzoN]

High return flow can only be achieved by the return pump . That pump should be enough, especially since you're on a table. The only thing that might help would be to increase the plumbing size back to the tank until the last fitting before the water. Say from 1" to 1.25", the barb off the pump has a smaller ID than the hose by design so as to fit. Height of the water in the tank also has to do with the pump and the overflow combined & I doubt there is much you can do with it. What kind of noise do you want to change?
Water flowing into the overflow or from the drain hose into the sump? Please be more specific.

Yep. In fact, my return pump has a high output flow, making waves on the top of the tank. That's desirable. However, when I close the return valve, I have less flow, almost no waves, but the gurgling noise stops/diminish. The height is where I need it.

When opening the return flow to the tank, I have waves, but gurgling noise. The height of the water is where I need it.

When closing the overflow box valve, with the full open return, I have no noise, I have waves from the return, but the height goes up, above the rim. Sometimes overflowing the tank!

As you can see, I couldn't fine tune the proportion of opening my return/overflow to where:

1. I have the height where I need
2. I have enough waves from the overflow (overflow high output)
3. I have no noise from the overflow box

That's my perfect world.

My plumbing is 3/8", even though my pump and output has 1". Do you think I should move everything to 1" as well?

Thank you!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I would do 1" all the way. 3/8 reduces flow but adds pressure to the stream. Waves are very tricky. Because of the variation in the surface the return varies in flow also making problems.
Try it without them . I ran 2 overflow boxes for years & never had a valve on any return line to the sump. Why??? They are designed to flow around 600GPH or 1200GPH for the dual siphons.