Bean Animal Drain Issue

[Stickboy97]

So I have my tank plumbed and running and every thing seemed great (dead silent) then...

When the water in my return area of sump gets low or high it affects the water level in my overflow box. Why?

When the water level is at its top position I have the drain dialed in to be silent, but as evaporation happens (I haven't set up my ATO yet) and the water level drops so does the level around my drain in the box.

Odd.... I don't understand why or how to fix this.

The drain goes to my skimmer area & that level never changes.

 

[cswells212]

i have an ides why, but pictures would really help

 

[Sambo107]

Agreed pics needed

 

[JUNBUG361]

What return pump are you using? Might be the use electric energy. During daytime less stuff being use. During night time more stuff being use. Just a theory

 

[Stickboy97]

pics

pics

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=369643&stc=1&d=1489608034

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=369644&stc=1&d=1489608047

You can see the water level in my return area is low (I haven't filled it yet)

and this is the level in my overflow box, it is normally closer to the bottom of the teeth. So it is about an inch low. And loud.

 

[mcgyvr]

I haven't set up my ATO yet

how to fix this?

:celeb1:

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Water levels will change in the SUMP, this is the main reason for an ATO, otherwise the pump runs dry if you forget or are on vacation.

 

[JUNBUG361]

Man, my electric theory wasn't even near close. Damn it

 

[Stickboy97]

Yeah, I can't figure it out. This is my first tank with a BA drain. As soon as I topped my sump return sextionmoff, the water in the overflow box rose and the tank was silent again.

So my sump has 3 sections, skimmer (where the drains run), fug, and return. The return area is the only place the level fluctuates. I did not let it get low enough to run dry, there was plenty of water in it to return to the display.

Is there any way the water level around my return pump would affect the amount of water it is pushing? More water, this more pressure?

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Had the same issue with water levels in the return section of the old sump without a BA.

 

[mcgyvr]

The changing atmospheric pressure due to the water level around the pump is the "why"

The "fix" is to install that ATO system so that the localized atmospheric pressure remains constant..

 

[Stickboy97]

@mcgyvr do all systems have this issue? If so how do you dial in a BA or Harbie and keep them quiet without an ATO?

Ps I have the pumps for my ATO and got my apex hooked up yesterday. Just looking for a container now.

 

[mcgyvr]

Yes its a potential issue on any tank.. But we already have a solution..
Everyone needs to top off water thats evaporated.. If thats manually from a cup or an ATO system it does not matter..

Not doing so is going to cause salinity problems and potentially make overflow levels unstable..
plain and simple..

Get that ATO going and never look back..

 

[Stickboy97]

Set the ATO up today with a 5g bucket until
I can figure out something larger. Think I may either use a 13g kitchen trash can or a vittles vault from petco. Either will eventually be covered by a cabinet/wooden box.