Need some help

[Reef inebriated]

I got my sump up and running and have noticed the water level in my return chamber is slowly going down. Is this due to evaporation or does the pump valve need to be tightened. Also where will I notice evaporation, in display or sump?

 

[drew2007]

How slow is the water level dropping? If its a day or 2 then its evaporation. It will be noticed in the return chamber of your sump.

 

[Reef inebriated]

It was overnight about an inch or so. Prob evaporation thanks hey one more question is it ok to cover a sump to slow down evaporation

 

[drew2007]

It was overnight about an inch or so. Prob evaporation thanks hey one more question is it ok to cover a sump to slow down evaporation

Not necessarily. You could be pumping more to ur display then is being returned. How big is your sump? For me an inch is about a gallon. I have a 25g sump.

 

[Reef inebriated]

That's what I was thinking the water level in chamber was stable for a good a 2 hours sump is ten gallon

 

[drew2007]

That's what I was thinking the water level in chamber was stable for a good a 2 hours sump is ten gallon

Top off ur sump to where u want it run and mark the level with a marker. Keep an eye on the level and see how much your losing in a 24 hour period. That way its easier to determine whether its evap or if u need to dial back your pump a bit. It could very well be evaporation. Your return chamber is probably half the size of mine in a 10g.

 

[Reef inebriated]

will do, i know i said one more question but i just attempted to feed fish and noticed that the overflow is just sucking it up. am i gonna have to re siphon the overflow twice a day to feed these guys. i always get tank water in my mouth :/

 

[drew2007]

will do, i know i said one more question but i just attempted to feed fish and noticed that the overflow is just sucking it up. am i gonna have to re siphon the overflow twice a day to feed these guys. i always get tank water in my mouth :/

Also test your sump level to be sure it doesnt overflow from a power outage.

You shouldnt have to siphon the overflow once u get it running. Are you losing siphon? U could turn ur pumps off when feeding.

 

[Donkeykong]

Is the food just staying on the surface and that is why so much of it is going into the overflow? If so you can hold the food under the water for a second, this will allow it to saturate and sink down in the water column. But why would you have to resyphon the overflow? What type of overflow do you have? you might have a problem there.

 

[Reef inebriated]

i meant would i have to stop siphon to keep it from getting sucked up. its not stopping on its own. i spot feed my fish at the top so it doesnt get messy. i found a low flow area and feed them there. i just added to water to sump yesterday and my coral look stressed there all closed. this is weird i let plumbing cement cure over night too. is it maybe the new flow or something? also to make things worse my psuedochromis is missing its a sad day in my tank.