Some serious sump help! (PICS)

[Jgisler]

Hello all,

I have recently put together my first DIY sump for my 55 gallon. I had everything prepped a few years ago and now I have finally had the time to put this thing into action! Do not judge on the light in the pic as I am only using it for cycling. I also included pics of my plumbing to better explain my system.

I had my tank drilled and my sump (a 10 gallon due to size limitations) baffled at the LFS a few years ago as well. I have plumbed everything including a 1-1/2" intake and a 3/4" return. There are no leaks however I am having a huge amount of water loss probably due to evaporation and a ton of micro bubbles! I have posted some photos to show my set up. I am working with a Rio1700 submersible pump and no bubble trap in my sump. I am concerned about the evaporation occurring so rapidly in the return section of my pump as I often leave for days at a time on work trips. I am deathly afraid of ruining the pump by having it run too dry.

Any and all advice on micro bubble solutions as they look terrible in the DT! Advice on how to ATO or fix the water loss in the return section would be greatly appreciated! The water level drops so fast!

Thank you,
Jake

 

[Reefer54]

Can you afford to put more water in your sump, raise the level in the return section a little..... ATO is the only other way and are easily implemented, even just a gravity feed with float switches will do. I cannot stand filling my tank up every day, so after my first tank almost 10 years ago, i have used ato ever since. i now go a week in the winter and sometimes 10 days in the summer without having to lift a finger, aside from filter socks and skimmer cup. It is worth it's weight in gold.

as for the micro bubbles.....if you empty the sump, you could add another baffle in front of the only baffle separating the return chamber, which would allow the bubbles to rise to the surface and not enter your display......but maybe someone else has a better idea....

i would even go so far as to suggest putting a diffuser like a black carbon foam pad in there which the water must pass through, but this is then going to have to be cleaned regularly or it will become a nitrate factory; but it would POSSIBLY be a simple solution.

 

[Gorgok]

You could turn the sump around... Make the return the larger section and the drain the small one. That and an ato would make it much more user friendly.

 

[uncleof6]

Hello all,

I have recently put together my first DIY sump for my 55 gallon. I had everything prepped a few years ago and now I have finally had the time to put this thing into action! Do not judge on the light in the pic as I am only using it for cycling. I also included pics of my plumbing to better explain my system.

I had my tank drilled and my sump (a 10 gallon due to size limitations) baffled at the LFS a few years ago as well. I have plumbed everything including a 1-1/2" intake and a 3/4" return. There are no leaks however I am having a huge amount of water loss probably due to evaporation and a ton of micro bubbles! I have posted some photos to show my set up. I am working with a Rio1700 submersible pump and no bubble trap in my sump. I am concerned about the evaporation occurring so rapidly in the return section of my pump as I often leave for days at a time on work trips. I am deathly afraid of ruining the pump by having it run too dry.

Any and all advice on micro bubble solutions as they look terrible in the DT! Advice on how to ATO or fix the water loss in the return section would be greatly appreciated! The water level drops so fast!

Thank you,
Jake

You can't fix the evaporation. It is what it is based on ambient conditions, but making the return section larger can help. You need to search out the latching circuit ato and get busy.

The bubbles are from your drain line. There is only one cure for that: reduce the flow rate till they go away. Putting in more junk to deal with it creates other problems.

Your sump is just way too small, but such is life with a 55, which is why they are rather poor marine tanks. A bubble trap may help, but you need to work on the drain system, angle it down, and lower the flow rate to < 350gph. That is counter productive as the flow should be up at 550gph at least, so it is time for a siphon system, which will eliminate the bubbles altogether. You said you had the tank drilled, which means it is not tempered? Converting to a siphon will require some more holes.

 

[Willistein]

I may be wrong, but is there salt creep around the bulkhead on the back of the 55? Could be a slow leak. I would agree that adding one more baffle in front of the first one would help. Water would go under it and bubbles would not (as much).

 

[spkennyva]

Yeah, a 10 gal on a 55 is going to be tricky. What's the water level in your sump with the system shutdown? If you have some extra capacity when shutdown, then raise the level in the return section, which will help with the micro bubbles. I suspect that you're getting bubbles from both the return and the water cascading over the singe baffle next to the pump's inlet. Can you face the pump inlet towards the outside of the sump?

 

[Jgisler]

Can you afford to put more water in your sump, raise the level in the return section a little..... ATO is the only other way and are easily implemented, even just a gravity feed with float switches will do. I cannot stand filling my tank up every day, so after my first tank almost 10 years ago, i have used ato ever since. i now go a week in the winter and sometimes 10 days in the summer without having to lift a finger, aside from filter socks and skimmer cup. It is worth it's weight in gold.

as for the micro bubbles.....if you empty the sump, you could add another baffle in front of the only baffle separating the return chamber, which would allow the bubbles to rise to the surface and not enter your display......but maybe someone else has a better idea....

i would even go so far as to suggest putting a diffuser like a black carbon foam pad in there which the water must pass through, but this is then going to have to be cleaned regularly or it will become a nitrate factory; but it would POSSIBLY be a simple solution.

I think for the micro bubble issue in going to give the foam pad. A try versus adding another baffle and completely draining the sump. If the problem persists I think I'm going to have to add a bubble trap

 

[oblio]

You could turn the sump around... Make the return the larger section and the drain the small one. That and an ato would make it much more user friendly.

I think this is your simplest solution to the bubbles, and while you have the sump out silicone in a simple bubble trap between the two sections. The combination of the trap, and now really increasing your pump area will probably fix your issue. Also by swapping the functions of the sections your pump volume goes way up, thus giving you much more time between fill ups. Although you truly need to invest in a ATO if your going to be gone long periods. With the volume of water going up and down, so is your salinity, so not good.

 

[Jgisler]

I think this is your simplest solution to the bubbles, and while you have the sump out silicone in a simple bubble trap between the two sections. The combination of the trap, and now really increasing your pump area will probably fix your issue. Also by swapping the functions of the sections your pump volume goes way up, thus giving you much more time between fill ups. Although you truly need to invest in a ATO if your going to be gone long periods. With the volume of water going up and down, so is your salinity, so not good.

My only concern is room for the skimmer. I like the idea of swapping the sections but I feel that their won't be enough room for the filter sock and future skimmer in the smaller compartment.

 

[Jgisler]

You could turn the sump around... Make the return the larger section and the drain the small one. That and an ato would make it much more user friendly.

I think this is the route I am going to go for the evaporation however I do not think there will be enough room to add a skimmer to the constant water level portion of the sump if I reverse it. There just won't be enough room with a filter sock and I think the skimmer has to have a constant water line right?

 

[Jgisler]

Yeah, a 10 gal on a 55 is going to be tricky. What's the water level in your sump with the system shutdown? If you have some extra capacity when shutdown, then raise the level in the return section, which will help with the micro bubbles. I suspect that you're getting bubbles from both the return and the water cascading over the singe baffle next to the pump's inlet. Can you face the pump inlet towards the outside of the sump?

There just simply isn't enough room :/ I wish I could have purchased an extra tall and narrow 20 gallon haha. I guess I could of had one made really deep somewhere online.

 

[Jgisler]

You can't fix the evaporation. It is what it is based on ambient conditions, but making the return section larger can help. You need to search out the latching circuit ato and get busy.

The bubbles are from your drain line. There is only one cure for that: reduce the flow rate till they go away. Putting in more junk to deal with it creates other problems.

Your sump is just way too small, but such is life with a 55, which is why they are rather poor marine tanks. A bubble trap may help, but you need to work on the drain system, angle it down, and lower the flow rate to < 350gph. That is counter productive as the flow should be up at 550gph at least, so it is time for a siphon system, which will eliminate the bubbles altogether. You said you had the tank drilled, which means it is not tempered? Converting to a siphon will require some more holes.

I was looking into reducing the flow rate by using the ball valve in my return line. This helped a little bit when I messed with it but it was still not enough to rid the bubbles from the DT. I also read that the back pressure, resulting from the use of the ball valve, can reduce the lifespan of the pump. Is this true? Also, do you suggest flipping the sump around to allow for more volume of water in the return section?

 

[Jgisler]

I may be wrong, but is there salt creep around the bulkhead on the back of the 55? Could be a slow leak. I would agree that adding one more baffle in front of the first one would help. Water would go under it and bubbles would not (as much).

I had a slight leak from the bulkhead that resulted in the paint coming up. I ended up sealing this with superglue as it was about a drop of water every 24 hours. Either the super glue or the salt fixed it. Now I just need to repaint :bigeyes:

 

[Jgisler]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP! I really appreciate getting all of these suggestions even though I am a newer member. You have all been super helpful.

 

[Willistein]

Good deal. I mentioned it because I had a similar leak on a bulkhead on my new frag tank set up. With a slow enough leak, all you see is the salt creep.

 

[Jgisler]

Good deal. I mentioned it because I had a similar leak on a bulkhead on my new frag tank set up. With a slow enough leak, all you see is the salt creep.

What did you end up doing to fix it?

 

[Gorgok]

I think this is the route I am going to go for the evaporation however I do not think there will be enough room to add a skimmer to the constant water level portion of the sump if I reverse it. There just won't be enough room with a filter sock and I think the skimmer has to have a constant water line right?

The sock would fit, but a skimmer most likely wouldn't. But i didn't see one as is so assumed that wouldn't be an issue. You could instead use a HOB skimmer, intake in the small section, or an external skimmer if you have room. Not sure if you have any extra room though or you would have gotten a larger sump.

The sock isn't all that necessary, but i do like having the ability to use one on occasion.

 

[Jgisler]

The sock would fit, but a skimmer most likely wouldn't. But i didn't see one as is so assumed that wouldn't be an issue. You could instead use a HOB skimmer, intake in the small section, or an external skimmer if you have room. Not sure if you have any extra room though or you would have gotten a larger sump.

The sock isn't all that necessary, but i do like having the ability to use one on occasion.

Would you suggest another form of mechanical filtration or do you go without? I think I will flip the sump around as a fix to the evaporation issue. I will also try a foam carbon pad as well as place the pump on the far end of the new larger return section to allow more space between the drain and the pump. I'll keep you guys updated! Thanks again

 

[Jgisler]

If I were to add a bubble trap while my sump is out, how could I do this while only adding one more baffle? Doesn't a trap usually consist of 3?

 

[Willistein]

What did you end up doing to fix it?

Well, I noticed it last night, so I'm not sure it's fixed yet. I just tightened the bulkhead nut a quarter turn. I had only had it barely hand tight, so now it's a little past hand tight. These light duty bulkheads break pretty easily.