Ongoing Sump Fiasco

[Selaineh]

Help! I have just replaced my 125 gallon tank and keep having sump overflow disasters...given that we have hardwood floors this is becoming a divorce issue with my husband. I need advice!

Basically, I had an old scratched tank that I bought from Craigslist that had a convoluted 1 inch outflow pipe that started in the main tank and made a U and then went up and over the edge and down to the sump--no overflow box. The whole thing was a gigantic siphon and if I ever lost the siphon it was a nightmare.

So I just sprang for a new 125 gallon tank, with overflows in the corner and bulkheads in the bottom. I'm using the same 30 gallon sump I had on the old setup but now I keep overflowing the first compartment. I did increase my flow rate to a pump that will do 800 gallons/hour. The in-flow and out-flow are balanced, but the first compartment of my sump looks like the boiling cauldron at the bottom of Niagra falls and water keeps leaking over the top....and onto the hardwood floors which have taken on a very unhappy wavy characteristic. A lot of the water in the first compartment seems to be flowing over the divider directly instead of going under it and up through my mechanical filter media, which defeats the purpose. So my questions are

1. Do I just need to reduce the flow rate?
2. If so, how do people actually manage higher flow rates? Why can't I get the water to flow through the filter media (filter floss, sponges, ceramic beads)? I have a bunch of cranky and messy mbuna who could benefit from a higher flow rate.

Thanks in advance. Please help me save my floors and marriage.
Sharon

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

If you can post some pictures, that would be best. At this point though, it sounds like you have so much mechanical filtration and bio media that the higher flow can't get through them fast enough.

A few thing you can try:

First, ditch the sump and go with canisters or HOB's.

Next, get a new sump or find a cheap 55 and build a new one. Here is a picture of my 55 that I have under my 220:



I'm running about 1600gph through this one.

Lastly, as a last resort, get rid of the tank to save your marriage.

 

[Selaineh]

If you can post some pictures, that would be best. At this point though, it sounds like you have so much mechanical filtration and bio media that the higher flow can't get through them fast enough.

A few thing you can try:

First, ditch the sump and go with canisters or HOB's.

Next, get a new sump or find a cheap 55 and build a new one. Here is a picture of my 55 that I have under my 220:

View attachment 1242800 View attachment 1242801 View attachment 1242802 View attachment 1242803

I'm running about 1600gph through this one.

Lastly, as a last resort, get rid of the tank to save your marriage.

Ok, so I love the idea of a 55 gallon sump--that's what I have on my 150 gallon tank. Unfortunately that won't fit into the stand for my 125 gallon. I actually do have a canister filter on this tank (to circulate water behind my background) as well but I don't want to go all canister because I hate cleaning them and they don't provide a lot of surface area. It's possible that I've overdone the mechanical filtration but I keep removing more and more...

 

[Selaineh]

Ok, so I love the idea of a 55 gallon sump--that's what I have on my 150 gallon tank. Unfortunately that won't fit into the stand for my 125 gallon. I actually do have a canister filter on this tank (to circulate water behind my background) as well but I don't want to go all canister because I hate cleaning them and they don't provide a lot of surface area. It's possible that I've overdone the mechanical filtration but I keep removing more and more...

View attachment 1242804

Oh, I should add that the rock in the second compartment is to add weight to hold the filter media down...it's a low tech solution, lol. Also, if this comes down to my husband or the tanks I'm not sure which way it will go. I really love my fish.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

It does look pretty packed in the second upflow compartment. How big is the gap at the bottom of the first baffle?

Another suggestion would be to drill a lot of holes at the top of the first baffle. This way if the water starts to overflow that compartment it won't overflow out of the tank, but will instead just overflow into the next compartment.

I would try removing all of the bio media from the opflow compartment and put it in with the pot scrubbies. Then reduce your mechanical media to just what you need for decent but not sparkling clean filtration.

 

[DN328]

Ok, so I love the idea of a 55 gallon sump--that's what I have on my 150 gallon tank. Unfortunately that won't fit into the stand for my 125 gallon. I actually do have a canister filter on this tank (to circulate water behind my background) as well but I don't want to go all canister because I hate cleaning them and they don't provide a lot of surface area. It's possible that I've overdone the mechanical filtration but I keep removing more and more...

View attachment 1242804

Is it overflowing in the first, very left chamber where your drains are in? Do you mean to say the water just rises and overflows the sump sides rather than over the first wall to the second chamber?

 

[duanes]

Sounds to me, like the wall in the first sump chamber is too high for the amount of flow to cascade over it without splashing on the floor (or is the space where the water flows to the next chamber below the partition).
I never use partitions chambers in my sumps, I just use filter socks for mechanical, and place bio-media in mesh bags this eliminates any water back up problems.
I have used 30 gal tanks for sumps without problems in the above manner.
The only solution I see other than removing (or making the first partition smaller) is to reduce flow. You could put a ball valve on the output of the pump to throttle back flow to the tank to a point where the water flow by gravity to the sump doesn't overwhelm the first partition/chamber.
All centrifugal pumps can be throttled back on the output, without damaging the pump.

 

[celebrist]

You said that the bulkheads were on the bottom of the tank? Are you saying that they will drain the tank if you lose power? Are they at full siphon and draining faster than the return pump can handle maybe? I hope you get it figured out, good luck and keep us posted po

 

[duanes]

I agree with celebrist, are there standpipes in the bottom of tank bulkheads leading toward the surface tank water level?
For any tanks I have had that were drilled on the bottom, I have placed a a standpipe from bulkhead to the surface, so the tank doesn't overflow the sump.
The photo below, is of a tank that is drilled on the bottom, you can see the standpipe on the right, which keeps water level high enough to "not" allow gravity to quickly drain the tank.

A closeup of the stand pipe at the surface,
I usually tee off the top to allow for redundancy in case one opening becomes plugged.

 

[Selaineh]

Is it overflowing in the first, very left chamber where your drains are in? Do you mean to say the water just rises and overflows the sump sides rather than over the first wall to the second chamber?

I does both, actually--rises and flows over the first baffle (which is slightly lower than the top of the tank to provide a relief in case of clogged media) and it is seeping out between the plastic rim at the top of the sump tank and the glass wall. I do have holes drilled in the top of the first baffle and am still having the problem of overflow outside of the sump if the media in the second chamber shifts (hence the rock). Someone asked about the space under the first baffle--it's about one inch and the media in the second compartment is on egg crate that is also raised about an inch above the bottom of the tank.