Waterline touches tank bracing
- Thread starter lbear
- Start date
Yah, what he said ^ Definitly keep on eye on that.
Solitaryensis
New member
I personally would find a way to fix it (i.e. throttling the pump back, enlarging the overflows etc) since it might be a disaster waiting to happen. A minimal obstruction the the overflow would probably send water to your floors. And besides, it makes cleaning the tank more difficult, as the water will rise when your arm is in the tank and any storng movements will also send water out of the tank. Thats just my suggestion though, and im sure many people have similar problems with no ill effects
dots
Premium Member
It sounds like you were really close in matching your pump and your outlet, but a little too large on the pump side. Your input is slightly overmatched for your output. The result is the excess level in the display. Now on my standard AGA overflow kit, it is adjustable....by pushing down all the way I am able to control the water level in the display. Can you push yours down farther if you have the same setup?
If you find that your overflow and drains are properly maintained and you want to lower the water level, you need to decrease the flow slightly so that the input and output are matched, but better yet the input is a little less than the output so you don't run into this situation.
Another option is if this is a submerged pump in the sump, drill a hole in the return line before it comes out of the water. This will act as a "spoiler" and bleed off some of the pressure. This works better than adding say a valve and IMO is cool because it adds some additional flow into the sump and at least the energy is put to good use rather than wasted as friction.
Though you could easily add a gate valve. Because you seem pretty close already, just adding the gate valve would be enough and the minor losses associated with it would be enough and the gate valve would stay fully open. But use a gate valve, not a ball valve....better for flow control and a more positive lock.
If you find that your overflow and drains are properly maintained and you want to lower the water level, you need to decrease the flow slightly so that the input and output are matched, but better yet the input is a little less than the output so you don't run into this situation.
Another option is if this is a submerged pump in the sump, drill a hole in the return line before it comes out of the water. This will act as a "spoiler" and bleed off some of the pressure. This works better than adding say a valve and IMO is cool because it adds some additional flow into the sump and at least the energy is put to good use rather than wasted as friction.
Though you could easily add a gate valve. Because you seem pretty close already, just adding the gate valve would be enough and the minor losses associated with it would be enough and the gate valve would stay fully open. But use a gate valve, not a ball valve....better for flow control and a more positive lock.
Last edited:
fishnfst
New member
If you wanted to loop the return back into the sump I would just cut a tee into your return line with a valve on it then you could control your flow by recirculating water back through your sump with the valve.. I have 2 1" bulkheads with strainers and they can barely keep up with a mag 9.5 at almost 5 foot of head...
lbear
New member
Thanks for your feedback!
I found this problem during fresh water test of my 150 gal custom tank. The tank is drained last week. I will fill it up this week and post some photos. Hopefully you can help out.
By the way, what's the optimum sump to display tank turn-over rate? 4x or 5x?
Regarding to algae buildup. Will algae grow under the bracing because it traps stuffs?
I found this problem during fresh water test of my 150 gal custom tank. The tank is drained last week. I will fill it up this week and post some photos. Hopefully you can help out.
By the way, what's the optimum sump to display tank turn-over rate? 4x or 5x?
Regarding to algae buildup. Will algae grow under the bracing because it traps stuffs?
Solitaryensis
New member
Regardless of how high your water line is (unless it is significanly below the bracing) you will probably get some algae and salt creep buildup. I wouldnt worry about that too much. Either way, i would suggest doing what you can to make sure a flood doesnt happen 
