Plumbing and pump question

[chriz2]

I just finished my 375 gallon build . I'm running the system with the reeflo barracuda / hammerhead hybrid . I currently have the larger impeller running and noticed its sucking all the water out of the sump when fully opened faster than it can be drained. I have 2 2" drains . I choked back the pump half way and that has stabilzed my water level in sump to about 5 " I was going to switch to smaller impeller first. Also can pump be choked back that much. Second question is I have ( 4 ) 1 1/2 " returns that I plumbed to the back of the tank I noticed that one has a small drip coming from were the bulkhead and pvc elbow were glued. I added extra glue when attaching to bulkhead because it was not a snug fit . Any suggestions on fixing without taking the whole return manifold out. I was thinking like and epoxy pipe wrap.
As always thanks for any suggestions

 

[zachfishman]

Yes you can choke the pump back 1/2. Can you simply fill the sump more to compensate for the lower level when running open more than 1/2?

 

[ericarenee]

You can Valve some of the water back with a valve . I would use a T pipe with a valve above the T and the off side of the t to by pass some of the water back into the sump. You can also run say Skimmer Media reactors and so on off this by passed water.
My Reeflo hammer head is pushing water about 16 feet to the tank. and this is what i do with extra water that the overflow cant handle..

Also 5 inches of water above the pumps input may not really be enough unless you have a good ATO... If my water level is not atlest 3 inches above the input it will cause turbulence and suck air

 

[chriz2]

Should i T off after the pump so some of the water could go directly back into sump and the rest to the returns to help the drains out

 

[chriz2]

How about repairing that pipe that has small drip