New 240 and my DIY Sump issues

[nmadsen4]

So I've had this 240 since February but laziness and a few other issues have kept me from completing the setup until now. Tank is in the house and the sump is operational. No leaks for the last 4 days and the water levels are stable for the tank/sump.

Here's the issues. The sump is a DIY 90 gallon tank with a plastic 3 drawer tower inside. There are a few unfortunate design flaws which I take full responsibility for but I'm in too deep! I need some ideas on how to fix my issues without scrapping it.

Issue 1 is the tower is slightely too tall. The bulk head is snug against the roof of the stand so i can't really manuever the tower a whole lot.

Issue 2 is the top drawer only opens about 2 inches due to the center brace of the sump. I can't push the tower back at all because one of the pumps is behind it..... Terrible design issue, I know.

Issue 3 (this is the big one) My filter pads are in the second drawer because I can't get the top one open enough...... I can live with that but the water is not draining into the bottom drawer fast enough. This is causing the drawer to over flow into the sump tank and the water is bypassing the filter pads..... I need to know if i can drill a hole in the side of the drawer or if i have to take the drawer out completely and drill more holes into the bottom. I'm hoping the first option will do.

I have some pictures but it looks like i have to save them to a photobucket or something.... Any way to just upload pic's directly to the site? I don't have a photobucket or instagram.

 

[markstrimaran]

.you might have to reduce your picture size.

 

[nmadsen4]

 

[nmadsen4]

So I need to know what I can do to either improve the drain speed into the bottom drawer or if I can put a filter sock over the pump intake possibly. I'm open to any idea that doesn't require breaking down the entire thing really

 

[BERSERK]

The best option would be to take out the drawer and drill some more holes in the bottom. Drilling more holes in the side would simply cause the water to adopt the path of least resistance and flow out the side. Besides this would also completely bypass your 3rd drawer (which i assume has your plastic scrubbers or bio balls in it) Since the third drawer is going to be partially submerged (judging by the photo) i recommend that you have some lava rock in it. This you should be able to get at your local hardware store. you can also add the existing scrubbers just below the filter pads in the second drawer, however doing this means that you do need to drill those holes at the bottom. Overall nice setup.

 

[nmadsen4]

Thanks for the help. You are correct in assuming that the 3rd drawer has the bio balls. I did fear that i would have to remove the drawer completely to add holes. My only issue with that is it's already fairly riddled with them. I had suggested a side hole to try improve the air flow and help the water pull through the filter but I'm guessing that just isn't going to work the way i want it to.

Is the filter sock over the intake of the pumps a bad idea? They are only on about 3/10 power so I could really bump it up to compensate for the restriction that the sock would cause.

What's the idea with the lava rock all about? Does it act the same as the bio balls or does it serve another purpose?

 

[nmadsen4]

Bump.... i feel like a few years ago this site was much busier.

 

[nmadsen4]

Maybe this thread should be moved to DIY?

 

[nmadsen4]

Can a moderator move this to diy? I'm not getting much response and I'm still having some issues with the drain speeds.

 

[asteele.19]

Having had a DIY Wet Dry/Trickle filter, I would just get rid of it and do a filter sock for mechanical and submerged media around the pump, or put a baffle in for some K1. Especially since you are having problems opening the drawers.

Loved my Wet Dry Filter, but it was loud and a pain.

But, more holes on the bottom is going to be the only way to increase the drain speed of the 3rd drawer.