Air uplifts to take water to sump

[RecycledElectrons]

Has anyone tried to use air uplifts to get water from a tank into a sump?

Would an air uplift adjust its flow rate enough as water levels changed to keep the system from overflowing?

I am planning to pick up a 250 gallon tank this weekend and convert my 75 gallon tank into a sump, if it fits under the stand.

 

[RecycledElectrons]

After rethinking this, I am pumping water both ways. That is probably a bad idea, but I really want to vacuum the bare bottom of my tank.

What if I use a float switch to kill the power to the air pump running the air uplifts when the sump is over-full? Then I also have a switch to cut power to the return pump when the sump is running dry to protect the return pump and the heaters?

 

[TwoHedWlf]

After rethinking this, I am pumping water both ways. That is probably a bad idea, but I really want to vacuum the bare bottom of my tank.

What if I use a float switch to kill the power to the air pump running the air uplifts when the sump is over-full? Then I also have a switch to cut power to the return pump when the sump is running dry to protect the return pump and the heaters?

There's a reason most everyone uses an overflow from the main tank back to the sump. Air uplifts will have basically no flow at the 3-4 foot head height of a sump. And pumping both in and out will result in your tank overfilling and flooding or your sump overfilling and flooding without some additional, failure prone mechanism to control them.

 

[Backfromthedead]

There's a reason most everyone uses an overflow from the main tank back to the sump. Air uplifts will have basically no flow at the 3-4 foot head height of a sump. And pumping both in and out will result in your tank overfilling and flooding or your sump overfilling and flooding without some additional, failure prone mechanism to control them.

I think op is actually suggesting some kind of air powered overflow from the tank into the sump...perhaps to boost flow rate through a smaller overflow (???). Similar to forced air induction in modern engines i guess...

 

[celebrist]

Sounds overly complex compared to a basic sump and power heads aimed at the bottom

 

[Galantspeedz]

Why can't get a submersible pump with adjustable flow rate

 

[esoxlucius]

It looks to me like you are trying to greatly over complicate something that the rest of us just do so easily and efficiently, not to mention safely.

 

[Kichi]

You could try this diagram. Your main tank and sump would need to be side by side (level). Can’t be top and bottom.

 

[TexasMFK31]

I've though about this for an Overhead sump, using the super lift tubes from Swiss tropicals to get water up instead of a pump.

 

[RecycledElectrons]

Thank you for your replies. I wanted to vacuum the bottom of the tank with the air uplifts. I decided that is inviting a flood by pumping water both ways. Instead, I am trying to build a custom overflow that sucks water from the top and from the bottom of the tank.