Ongoing Sump Fiasco

[Selaineh]

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.

I can do that--I have ball joints in place for both in-flows. I just don't want to have to throttle it way back...also, I don't want the water in the first compartment to flow over that baffle (that's just an emergency route in case the media becomes clogged)--I want it to flow under the baffle and up through the media in the second compartment. It sounds like I can try putting less dense media in that chamber and see where I go from there...

 

[Selaineh]

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.

Thanks--I'll give the pot scrubbies a try. Have already drilled holes in the top baffle and still getting leaks over the top of the sump if the media in the second chamber shifts.

 

[Selaineh]

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.

Yes, the tank is drilled in the bottom and I have tall durso pipes in place. The issue is the flow rate seems to be so high that the water is backing up in the first chamber instead of flowing under the baffle and up through the media in the second chamber. I will try less dense mechanical filtration.

 

[Selaineh]

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

No, sorry, the issue is that with everything functioning properly and at the flow rate I want to achieve the water is backing up in the first sump chamber. I have tall standpipes so the top tank won't drain fully if I lose power.

 

[duanes]

You could also tee off the pipe to the first chamber so half (or whatever portion works for you) of the flow is diverted to the 2nd chamber, so as not to overwhelm the first chamber.
Put a filter sock under the 2nd chambers teed off pipe for mechanical. In this way you wouldn't need to (I'm guessing) cut the flow back.

 

[Selaineh]

You could also tee off the pipe to the first chamber so half (or whatever portion works for you) of the flow is diverted to the 2nd chamber, so as not to overwhelm the first chamber.
Put a filter sock under the 2nd chambers teed off pipe for mechanical. In this way you wouldn't need to (I'm guessing) cut the flow back.

Thanks--that's a great idea. I will look into as a future modification. For now I've removed the filter floss from the second chamber and it looks like the water level in that first chamber has dropped about half an inch (you can see in this side view that it's now below the top of the tank rim). I do love how crystal clear the water looks with the filter floss (cichlids are little piggies) so might try the diversion strategy you suggest going forward. Hopefully this temporary fix will hold while I'm out of town on business (because that's when everything happens)!

 

[Dixon81]

Reading through this thread it just seems that there was too much mechanical filtration in that small area and when it got the least bit clogged it didn't take much to overflow the sump. Try using a filter sock in the first chamber and the floss over your drip plate above your bio balls

 

[duanes]

When your out of town is usually when this kind of thing becomes problematic.
I usually took anything like mechanical media out of direct line that could possibly be plugged up, or anything like that when I leave town. Even to the point of removing filter socks and just laying them in sumps.
I also never feed (or have someone else feed) fishes when I leave town to eliminate need for water changes, even when I'd leave for as long as two weeks.
That half inch of wiggle room in your sump is not very much.
Slipping a tee and an extra length of PVC sending some flow to the second chamber should be a fairly easy, and quick fix, which could save lots of trouble in case of a power outage that could overflow that sump with such a small margin for error.

 

[Selaineh]

When your out of town is usually when this kind of thing becomes problematic.
I usually took anything like mechanical media out of direct line that could possibly be plugged up, or anything like that when I leave town. Even to the point of removing filter socks and just laying them in sumps.
I also never feed (or have someone else feed) fishes when I leave town to eliminate need for water changes, even when I'd leave for as long as two weeks.
That half inch of wiggle room in your sump is not very much.
Slipping a tee and an extra length of PVC sending some flow to the second chamber should be a fairly easy, and quick fix, which could save lots of trouble in case of a power outage that could overflow that sump with such a small margin for error.

Good idea about removing cloggable media before going out of town! I actually stopped using socks because I had to change them every three days and this was a problem when I was gone since the fish tanks are "my deal." I don't know why it didn't occur to me to just take stuff out before a trip! Thanks

 

[Selaineh]

When your out of town is usually when this kind of thing becomes problematic.
I usually took anything like mechanical media out of direct line that could possibly be plugged up, or anything like that when I leave town. Even to the point of removing filter socks and just laying them in sumps.
I also never feed (or have someone else feed) fishes when I leave town to eliminate need for water changes, even when I'd leave for as long as two weeks.
That half inch of wiggle room in your sump is not very much.
Slipping a tee and an extra length of PVC sending some flow to the second chamber should be a fairly easy, and quick fix, which could save lots of trouble in case of a power outage that could overflow that sump with such a small margin for error.

I should also clarify that only the first two chambers of my sump are that full--it can actually absorb about 20 gallons in case of a power failure, which is adequate (tested).