I just bought a 180 acrylic, but have a problem I can't figure out. As soon as the water level reaches the overflow level the sump begins to overflow past the "high" level. Due to this, I can't keep the tank at maximum level of water with out water pouring over the sump's edges.
sounds like you are adding too much water to the system... or your sump is too small
start with the system OFF.. add water to the sump and then turn on the pump.. once the water starts to drain from the tank (via the overflows) stop adding water...
if you pump is pumping the sump dry and your tank is starting to overflow your overflow can not handle what your pump can provide... you either have to increase the overflow size (or add another since its acrylic and its easy to do) or you need to cut the flow from the pump (ball valve.. or ball valve and a T fitting so the pump continues to pump full force but some of the water is diverted back into the sump and refiltered)
once you get that sorted out the next fun job is to see what happens when the power goes out as it does from time to time here wonderful socal... cut the power and see how much water drains from the tank back to the sump.. be ready to turn the power back on before the sump overflows.. its pretty obvious (water level rises) when this is going to happen... the way to correct this is to get a bigger sump...
that looks about right... the pump line being below the waterline means it will turn into a syphon when you lose power.. (this is the reason for the MAX water line in the sump) only real way to change that on your setup is to move it higher (drill a new hole and patch the old one... not a fun job once you already filled the tank)
Try this fill yur tank just shy of the water running over in the overflow. then add water to the pump /sump;enough so it will cause the water in the tank to run over into the overflow (a decent amount, enough so it fills the the overflow a little around half way then adjust it so that the water passes over the outlet 2''-3'' once settled). if your outlet as a control or ball valve you may have o adjust to the flow. RandyW.
