Having a mare with Sump :(

[always4lora]

Hi'

I'm starting to get really peeved with my sump setup, i have a 72"x30"x30" tank (just over 280g) and have 2 2" inch diameter overflow holes just below from the top. The water then go's into a 75galon waterbutt which holds the media, then from there into 30 galon container which contains the pumps and heaters. From here the pumps pump the water back into the tank.

The massive problem i am having is with flow, i have a 5500lph pump which when put into the container with the pumps it emptys the water and nearly overflows the tank, the water covers the two overflows so its as if gravity isnt fast enough, i dont want to be putting more holes into the tank so apart from have slow pumps is there anything i can do ? Do i just need to re-design the sump?

Ideally i want as much flow as possible and as im thinking of getting so paraya's im thinking of 7-8k lph?

I'#ve put a dodgy sketch of the setup below:

 

[Clay]

So, it sounds like your filtration setup (doesn't appear to be a traditional sump, but closer to a large canister) can't handle the flow. You need to identify where and correct it, OR, throttle back your pump by putting a ball valve on the return to the tank. This wastes electricity, but allows you to dial in the appropriate lph.

 

[black056mtc]

Mod one of your drain to full siphon instead of gravity drain. this will more than double your drain and the other one back up whats left over.