Help: Water level in a Wet Dry Filter

[chopsteeks]

Happy Holidays.

I will be going on vacation for 1 week and a half. Due to water evaporation, I want to fill up the wet dry sump as high as possible.

How high can I go with regards to water level ? When I turn off the pumps, can I fill this up to an inch below the bream ?

When I do this, then turn on the pump, the water level will only be 2" from the top. Will this be ok ? With this much water, will I kill the bacteria on the bio-balls ?

Thanks much.

 

[boldtogether]

The way I do it is exactly what you propose. And no, the bacteria will not die, in fact, you may increase the colony mass. Remember, a wet/dry has the same beneficial bacteria as submerged media, but the wet/dry has the advantage of air/gas exchange....the dry bio-media won't have any colonization.
If your sump isn't covered, I would rig some sort of cover to reduce evaporation like a blanket or towel careful not to let a blanket or towel dip into the water and wick it out onto the floor... (been there, cleaned up the mess)...

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

Take into account how much water can back siphon from your tank into your sump should the power goes out unintentionally. You can do that by either calculate the volume of water between your tank's water height to the outlet of the pump and then convert it back into height in terms of your sump's dimension.

Or you can just do it the lazy way. measure your current water height in the sump and turn over the pump and let the water back siphon all the way. Afterwards, measure the new water height in the sump. The difference is how much water will enter your sump in a power failure.

Take that height and add an inch or two (as a safety precaution) and fill your sump all the way till there is that amount of space left.

For example, if my back siphon causes a raise of 1". I would fill my sump until there is a 2-3" gap.

If your output is not in the water, you don't have to worry about back siphon.

 

[henria86]

setup a drip system or a ATO system check out the reef forums on it

 

[DN328]

As others noted above, I'd just turn off you return pump and fill up your sump/wet-dry - this will be the max water level if your pump were to shut off for any reason. The water would not fill beyond that. Depending on how much time you have, I'd do it as close as possible before you are gone to maximize the time. Obviously want to try out in advance.

I have submerged bio-balls. Although they are used for wet-dry, there's no reason why they cannot be submerged and wont harm BB.

After my first time being gone, I ended up purchasing a ATO. I bought 5 gallon backup jug and use the Smart ATO from AutoAqua. There are many other brands and design, but I liked the SmartATO for its simple design and set up.