MP40 causing salinity issues!

[gark666]

God where to start well let me try to explain my situation I noticed for the past week that all my corals where looking bad my BTA deflated 4 times in one day, from that point I knew that something was very wrong so I started to check all parameters and everything was right except for one salinity which was way off I normally keep the salinity right at 35ppt but the day I check it was down to 32ppt so I slowly adjusted the salinity back to 35ppt check again after 2 days and the salinity was back down to 33ppt so I went ahead and check my auto top off and to my surprise the water level in the sump was going up and down causing the ATO sensors to trip and sending more water than needed to the sump so I sat back and think what that hell is causing this to happen so I went ahead and turn off the skimmer and still the same problem kept turning off every other piece of equipment until finally turn off the MP40 and the problem stop, the issue is that as the wave goes from the left to right it goes over the overflow line and as it comes back it goes under the overflow line causing it to go dry for about a second witch makes the water level in the sump go up and down, I already try all the other modes in the pump even to slow down the flow but I still have the same issue the only thing that stops the issue is turning off the pump and I don't want to get rid of my ATO, I really don't know what to do so if somebody is out there that had the same issue or think of a solution pleased let me know by the way excused my English is not the greatest!

 

[d0ughb0y]

What size is your tank?

I calculated if tank is 100 gallons, you need to add 6 gallons to go from 35 to 33.
If you have a 10 gallon tank, you still need to add over half gallon of water.

I think some information is missing.

 

[gark666]

maybe my hydrometer is messing up too I going to have to check with a different one!

 

[wipe]

Put your topoff pump on a timer that turns on multiple times per day. This way it wont overload your system with freshwater.

 

[SPotter]

are you using a controller? I know the apex has some commands you create that would fix that problem for you.

 

[jbannick18]

*nvm*

 

[C_THRU_U]

God where to start well let me try to explain my situation I noticed for the past week that all my corals where looking bad my BTA deflated 4 times in one day, from that point I knew that something was very wrong so I started to check all parameters and everything was right except for one salinity which was way off I normally keep the salinity right at 35ppt but the day I check it was down to 32ppt so I slowly adjusted the salinity back to 35ppt check again after 2 days and the salinity was back down to 33ppt so I went ahead and check my auto top off and to my surprise the water level in the sump was going up and down causing the ATO sensors to trip and sending more water than needed to the sump so I sat back and think what that hell is causing this to happen so I went ahead and turn off the skimmer and still the same problem kept turning off every other piece of equipment until finally turn off the MP40 and the problem stop, the issue is that as the wave goes from the left to right it goes over the overflow line and as it comes back it goes under the overflow line causing it to go dry for about a second witch makes the water level in the sump go up and down, I already try all the other modes in the pump even to slow down the flow but I still have the same issue the only thing that stops the issue is turning off the pump and I don't want to get rid of my ATO, I really don't know what to do so if somebody is out there that had the same issue or think of a solution pleased let me know by the way excused my English is not the greatest!

Not to bag on you and just poking fun but that is the longest single sentence I think I have ever seen. :lmao:

 

[Gorgok]

That is one hefty sentence indeed. I love the fact it still has punctuation in it as well.

Anyway, could you setup the Vortec so that is is all violent and whatnot during the light cycle or a little longer, then have it peaceful enough the rest of the time that it doesn't mess with your overflow? Then run the ATO only during the night (maybe limit it to short periods so it doesn't dump a lot right as the lights go out). I don't think your SG will go up so much in 8-12 hours that you need to have the ATO running 24/7.

 

[dagon138]

The problem isn't your mp40, your ATO system is.

No issues with waves on my elos digital ATO's.

 

[avaneaton2000]

Do you have any baffles in your sump? Your ato should be somewhere that has a stable water height(aside from evaporation), baffles control the level if there is any surging of flow.

 

[Supernova26]

maybe my hydrometer is messing up too I going to have to check with a different one!

I think that might be part of your problem. Do you have a refractometer? If not you should strongly consider getting one. I have 3 hydrometers at home and all of them show different salinity from the refractometer.

 

[fishysteve]

You need some baffles in your sump PERIOD
That will stop the fluctuations PERIOD

 

[d0ughb0y]

I just noticed OP has his tank size in his sig.
Assuming total water volume is 75g, to go from 35 to 32, his ATO has to be on to add 7 gallons of water in one shot. that's one heck of a lot of top off. I say one shot because if it over topped off on the first trigger, it should not turn on again until some water has evaporated. what size is your reservoir? it probably emptied your fresh water reservoir. If that is not the case, then your salinity measurement is incorrect.

baffles will not stop fluctuations. if more water goes down the overflow, the drain rate will be higher than the return rate, so the water level in the sump will rise, starting on the return side if you have baffles. but that will not trigger the ATO. if water was splashing away from the overflow, and the return rate is now higher than the drain rate, then ATO will get triggered, but is there enough time to keep it triggered to load 7 gallons in one shot? possible but not likely. So I think OP figured out he had wrong salinity reading, and adjusting the salinity probably caused more problem.

 

[deneed4spd]

Get a good dosing pump and attach to a rk/apex, etc and have it turn on x times a day. No sensor needed. Adjust couple times a year.