Help me with my sump.

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G

gveng

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2010
302
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46
Los Angeles, CA
well i bought this wet/dry sump with my tank. here is what i plan to do with it. currently, it's running with only baseball sized live rock. i built a 9x9 box out of eggcrate for both the live rock and chaeto. i have a cpr overflow box with aqua lifter and rio 1100 return pump.

untitled.jpg


questions:

-should i add a micron sock to the overflow tube?

-how do i prevent the sump from over flowing if the power goes out? i "tested" a power outage and it seems like the overflow holds siphon but the return starts to flood the sump. should i add a check valve to stop reverse flow? do they make a check valve for 3/4" tubing?

-if i lose siphon, i would overflow the tank, right? should i elevate the return pump so that it only pumps out only 1-2" of water in the sump?

any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
 
I just had the same problem with my sump over flowing, First mistake i made is i had the out let pipe to far under the water and when it was all turned off the out let pipe acted as a syphon and sucked all the water down to the level under water . so lift the outlet pipe up so it is just on top and that will help. The other is i placed a non return valve and that stopped all the problems.hope that helps a bit for you
Cheers
Dave
 
gveng;4999211; said:
well i bought this wet/dry sump with my tank. here is what i plan to do with it. currently, it's running with only baseball sized live rock. i built a 9x9 box out of eggcrate for both the live rock and chaeto. i have a cpr overflow box with aqua lifter and rio 1100 return pump.

untitled.jpg


questions:

-should i add a micron sock to the overflow tube?

-how do i prevent the sump from over flowing if the power goes out? i "tested" a power outage and it seems like the overflow holds siphon but the return starts to flood the sump. should i add a check valve to stop reverse flow? do they make a check valve for 3/4" tubing?

-if i lose siphon, i would overflow the tank, right? should i elevate the return pump so that it only pumps out only 1-2" of water in the sump?

any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

Definitely add a micron filter sock. Otherwise the live rock area will act as a settling chamber and you will have stuff rotting on the bottom of your sump. The filter sock will prevent this. Just make sure you clean the filter sock frequently.

By putting the live rock and chaeto in these boxes, you are limiting flow through them which is not ideal. The algae in particular is losing out on getting light and is going to grow out of the box anyway.

Also, due to the way you have the baffles, your water level is going to be really high on both sides just to keep the rock and algae out of the water which may not leave you enough space to prevent your sump from overflowing in a power outage.

+1 to above in that you need to either add a valve or make sure your return pipe is not very far into the water of the main tank. You also need to make sure you leave enough space in the sump for all the water to flow into before the siphon breaks on the overflow box from not having enough water.
 
I am a fan of filter socks, but no matter what you do, you are going to have to clean our your sump every now and then.
 
enwelz;5000145; said:
Protien skimmer!!! Wheres the protien skimmer!?!?!?!?!?
Click to expand...

+1, although Im 90% certain the OP is planning on one.
 
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