Trick to balancing water level in sump?

S

SycoCell

New member
Is there a trick to gettin the right water level in a sump? I play with closing and opening my siphon ball valves to slow the flow, etc to get the right water level. But, I can't get the level to stay where I want. It either raises way too high or goes way too low. Tricks?
 
Just to clarify, you have a valve on only a single siphon right? That would be adjusted slowly until water in the overflow rises just enough for a trickle through the open channel. I'm "assumin" if you have a valve you are running a bean or herbie anyway. For the sump, turn everything off and make sure nothing overflows. Fill the sump almost to the top, then turn on your return pump. Mark the level it ends up at and this is your max running height. It may be too much and above the baffles so remove water from the system until it's the height you want and mark that spot as your normal running height. When it drops below that it would be due to evaporation and you know where to fill it back up to.
 
scooters reef said:
Just to clarify, you have a valve on only a single siphon right? That would be adjusted slowly until water in the overflow rises just enough for a trickle through the open channel. I'm "assumin" if you have a valve you are running a bean or herbie anyway. For the sump, turn everything off and make sure nothing overflows. Fill the sump almost to the top, then turn on your return pump. Mark the level it ends up at and this is your max running height. It may be too much and above the baffles so remove water from the system until it's the height you want and mark that spot as your normal running height. When it drops below that it would be due to evaporation and you know where to fill it back up to.
Click to expand...

THIS .. 1+


But OP are you getting huge water fluctuation in the sump or is it going low slowely
 
You also have to remember that just an 1/8 of a turn is a huge difference. Sometimes I barely have to turn mine(1/16 to 1/32of a turn) to make a big difference in the overflow/sump height.
 
Yeah, I'm sorry. I was half asleep when I wrote this.... To clarify:

I have dual corner overflows with the "J" tube upside down inside of each. I have one (left side) siphon turned off 100% because I'm working on the plumbing over there with a new idea....So for now, it's purely being siphoned from the right side J. The returns are both open on both corners.

On each siphon, I have a ball valve (left one is off) while I have been adjusting the right side on to maintain optimal flow rate into the sump. I set the tank up about 2 weeks ago and over-all, I had the levels holding steady - until I'd shut the return off and then back on and the level would be all screwed up again - making me have to re-adjust the ball valve. But last night, I did a 50% water change. Filled it back up and can't seem to get the water level to hang out where I want it (about 4" in the return section of my Eshopps RS-200 3rd Gen). If I do a slight 1/16th turn, it will slowly start rising, while going back the other way causes it to slowly drop. I can't seem to find the "sweet" spot. Am I doing something wrong?

If I'm reading this correctly - is it best to fill the tank up to whatever level I so choose and let it back flow into the sump until the sump is at the level that I want?

I know my Reef Octopus Classic 150 says that 8" of water is optimal - and that's where the baffle is on my RS-200, but as I said, when the water rises, I can't imagine that is very "good" on the skimmer....but I'm a complete newbie to this so it's all trial and error thus far.
 
Edit: I can't figure out how to edit...

I realize that shutting the return pump off will tell me how much to fill the tank so it doesn't over-flow, so that's covered..
 
Ok

Sounds like you have a dual Dorso type over flow system. (a stand pipe in your over flow that reaches above the over flows water level with a turned down elbow below it ) I think YOU Are pushing to much water into the tank for the over flow Your water level inside the over flow box should be just below the top of the elbow that is turned down. Do this with a ball valve on the the return pump limiting its water supply to the tank.
without seeing your plumbing this is my best guess.

Also your skimmer needs to be in a sump chamber where the water level is maintained differently then the return pump.. To me its best to be the first chamber with a baffle higher then your return chamber will over flow with a power outage. Sometimes to get this accomplished you have to sit the skimmer on a stand. you can make it from egg crate or anything reef safe
 
Okay, so sounds like I'll have to try to limit my return pump with the valve. I have a ball valve on each return line.

The Skimmer is in the chamber that sits at 8" at all times before it overflows into the return area. The only way the water level in the skimmer area gets higher is if the return portion fills up and then raises the entire level.

Thanks for the reply.
 
SycoCell said:
Is there a trick to gettin the right water level in a sump? I play with closing and opening my siphon ball valves to slow the flow, etc to get the right water level. But, I can't get the level to stay where I want. It either raises way too high or goes way too low. Tricks?
Click to expand...



I drilled more holes in the drip plate to solve this




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
SycoCell said:
Okay, so sounds like I'll have to try to limit my return pump with the valve. I have a ball valve on each return line.

The Skimmer is in the chamber that sits at 8" at all times before it overflows into the return area. The only way the water level in the skimmer area gets higher is if the return portion fills up and then raises the entire level.

Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...

Kewl.. then i recommend you get a high water shut off float to put on your skimmer ..

http://www.autotopoff.com/Single/s_skimmer.jpg this will keep your skimmer from over flowing when the power goes off . There is a thread on here how to add a start delay timer but if your power goes off you can unplug your skimmer until you get the pump back up and running..

Skimmers freak out so easily..
 
ericarenee said:
Kewl.. then i recommend you get a high water shut off float to put on your skimmer ..

http://www.autotopoff.com/Single/s_skimmer.jpg this will keep your skimmer from over flowing when the power goes off . There is a thread on here how to add a start delay timer but if your power goes off you can unplug your skimmer until you get the pump back up and running..

Skimmers freak out so easily..
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about the skimmer overflowing. The head of it is taller than my sump-but sits inside of the sump. Plus, when the water level rises in the sump (power failure), the water in the skimmer only rises as much as the sump.
 
SycoCell said:
I'm not worried about the skimmer overflowing. The head of it is taller than my sump-but sits inside of the sump. Plus, when the water level rises in the sump (power failure), the water in the skimmer only rises as much as the sump.
Click to expand...

Yes i know this..
the issue is if the skimmer. well when it over flows if the collection cup is full it will over flow all of that raw waste back into your sump.. just keep your skimmers collection cup empty is the simplest solution to this .

My Skimmer has a drain line on the bottom of the collection cup that has a vinyl hose that goes into a 5 gallon bucket Inside the bucket i have a float switch to where if the bucket gets half full it will shut off my skimmer.. I WILL Prob get a skimmer over flow 3 times a year and its always when i am not home.. It would drain my sump into my basement floor drain and run my return pump dry .

Sorry not trying to complicate things to much at once.. :uhoh3:
 
ericarenee said:
Yes i know this..
the issue is if the skimmer. well when it over flows if the collection cup is full it will over flow all of that raw waste back into your sump.. just keep your skimmers collection cup empty is the simplest solution to this .

My Skimmer has a drain line on the bottom of the collection cup that has a vinyl hose that goes into a 5 gallon bucket Inside the bucket i have a float switch to where if the bucket gets half full it will shut off my skimmer.. I WILL Prob get a skimmer over flow 3 times a year and its always when i am not home.. It would drain my sump into my basement floor drain and run my return pump dry .

Sorry not trying to complicate things to much at once.. :uhoh3:
Click to expand...

Ah, I follow you now. Now I realize what that little drain plug and rubber hose is for on the skimmer cup. Never really thought of that.
 
ericarenee said:
My Skimmer has a drain line on the bottom of the collection cup that has a vinyl hose that goes into a 5 gallon bucket Inside the bucket i have a float switch to where if the bucket gets half full it will shut off my skimmer.. I WILL Prob get a skimmer over flow 3 times a year and its always when i am not home.. It would drain my sump into my basement floor drain and run my return pump dry .

Sorry not trying to complicate things to much at once.. :uhoh3:
Click to expand...

I do somewhat of the same thing, except I have a dedicated skimmate locker container.
 
SycoCell said:
Explain. What's a drip plate?
Click to expand...



In my sump, I don't know about yours, the water comes from the tank to a filter pad under the filter pad is a plate that holds this to disperse th e water in small streams to disperse the water over the bio balls.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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