Water Level in sump

[BrianKC]

If you continued removing water after it got to the teeth, you would start to see the return area get lower while the fuge area stayed the same level.

That said, it doesn't matter if it runs higher. I run mine the same way. I like having more water volume in the system. Like I said earlier, the only reason you would *need* to run it at the teeth is if you wanted to keep creatures restricted to that section of the sump. Not a fan of sponges between the baffles; it's just another thing to clean and if it got really clogged, could cause an overflow or a dry pump.

 

[gottalikesharks]

I think you still have to much water in it. Just make sure that when you shut your pump down the sump can handle the water coming from the tank.

 

[CStrickland]

The overflow rate might be affected if your higher water level is submerging the outlet of the drain. That can slow the flow by trapping air in there. Like the flow will slow until there's enough pressure to "burp" out the air and then the drain will flush and start again. If you are trying to run a full siphon like a herbie I think you want the pipe submerged to avoid that burp-flush cycling.

Also, another purpose of the baffle with the teeth is maintaining a steady level for the skimmer. You want the skimmer always in the same depth of water, and then you use the knob to regulate how much higher above that level the water goes inside the skimmer. You can't really set the skimmer level to be steady when the depth it sits in is moving. Think of the valve on the skimmer as setting the inside water level relative to the sump level (I saw your other thread about tuning skimmers).

Basically, if you run the sump level at just below the baffle teeth, then the skimmer is always at that depth, and evap only shows in the return section.

 

[dabob79]

I'm agreeing with everyone else here, too much water in the sump.

 

[JMorris271]

Like I have said earlier, I have removed 5 gals of water out of the sump until the amount of water was below the teeth of that baffle and let it run. So instead of having 30 gals in there I had 25.
After letting it run for an hour or so,the levels in each of the chambers were still at 11 inch matching each other. No matter how much water there is in this system have in this system, whether it's over the teeth or at the bottom of the teeth, the level in each chamber stays the same corresponding to how much water is in the sump. And I just happen to find that confusing. That's all I'm trying to say.
Thank you for your help.

 

[JMorris271]

The overflow rate might be affected if your higher water level is submerging the outlet of the drain. That can slow the flow by trapping air in there. Like the flow will slow until there's enough pressure to "burp" out the air and then the drain will flush and start again. If you are trying to run a full siphon like a herbie I think you want the pipe submerged to avoid that burp-flush cycling.

Also, another purpose of the baffle with the teeth is maintaining a steady level for the skimmer. You want the skimmer always in the same depth of water, and then you use the knob to regulate how much higher above that level the water goes inside the skimmer. You can't really set the skimmer level to be steady when the depth it sits in is moving. Think of the valve on the skimmer as setting the inside water level relative to the sump level (I saw your other thread about tuning skimmers).

Basically, if you run the sump level at just below the baffle teeth, then the skimmer is always at that depth, and evap only shows in the return section.

Yes I am running a herbie. .The full siphon is 8 inches below the top of the surface No burps there but I get what you are saying

 

[TangingOut]

I bet if you take out more the level in the return section will get lower than the other.

 

[shermanator]

No matter how much water there is in this system have in this system, whether it's over the teeth or at the bottom of the teeth, the level in each chamber stays the same corresponding to how much water is in the sump. And I just happen to find that confusing. That's all I'm trying to say.

As said earlier, if you remove more water than you already have (e.g., take another 2-5 gal out), you'll find that the fuge section will stay where it is, water level wise, and the return and pump sections will have a lower water level than the fuge section. If you don't believe us, take another 5 gal out and see what happens.

It's fine to run as you have it now (with the 5 gal removed). But regardless of what level you decide to keep it at, I would check the return pump off level and make sure you have room for the additional water.

 

[CStrickland]

Like they said. The point of the baffle with the teeth is that no matter how much water evaporates, the water level in the first 2 chambers will never be lower than the teeth on the baffle. If it is higher, then all 3 are high and same. If it is lower, only the last chamber will drop below the teeth. This is how the baffle with teeth "sets" the water level of the sump, unless you fill the sump higher than it is designed to be filled. If you do that, then the tooth baffle can't set the level and it will rise and fall with evap/topoff.

 

[JMorris271]

As said earlier, if you remove more water than you already have (e.g., take another 2-5 gal out), you'll find that the fuge section will stay where it is, water level wise, and the return and pump sections will have a lower water level than the fuge section. If you don't believe us, take another 5 gal out and see what happens.

It's fine to run as you have it now (with the 5 gal removed). But regardless of what level you decide to keep it at, I would check the return pump off level and make sure you have room for the additional water.

I'll do that pronto. Thanks for your patience:beer::beer:

 

[JMorris271]

Like they said. The point of the baffle with the teeth is that no matter how much water evaporates, the water level in the first 2 chambers will never be lower than the teeth on the baffle. If it is higher, then all 3 are high and same. If it is lower, only the last chamber will drop below the teeth. This is how the baffle with teeth "sets" the water level of the sump, unless you fill the sump higher than it is designed to be filled. If you do that, then the tooth baffle can't set the level and it will rise and fall with evap/topoff.

Ok. I am going to do that now.

 

[JMorris271]

I removed water down to about 1/8 inch from the bottom of the teeth. The is a difference of 1 inch. big change from before.



Why would removing water from the sump cause the level in the right over flow to go down? I don't want to close down the drain line because there is such a low flow already due to 3/4 in pipe size. Nothing changes with the drain pipe itself.


Now back to the skimmer issue.

.]

 

[BrianKC]

Imagine your return pump was just a hose pumping from the return area straight to the fuge area. If you visualize that, I think you'll be able to understand how this works.

 

[JMorris271]

I removed water down to about 1/8 inch from the bottom of the teeth. The is a difference of 1 inch. big change from before.

View attachment 340149

Thanks everyone.

 

[garyinco]

As mentioned earlier, start thinking about an ATO setup. Makes life much, much easier if you do it right. I run the same sump, modified a little. You do want the water running thru/over those teeth in the center section. Perhaps your return pump is pumping more water into the tank than your overflow can balance - thus increasing the DT water level. Keep at it and you'll get it balanced out. My eShopps sump, a rs-300 second generation I believe, came with a silk screened printed mark for the return level. I run the last section higher than that mark but not too, too much (maybe 2 to 3 inches, but the water level is definitely lower than the center secton). When you get a properly functioning ATO setup you will think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I put my pumps, what have you, on little 1/8" silicon pads to reduce vibration noise. The tank runs silently.