Sump help

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Tseering23

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2021
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Green Bay, WI
I'm going to be turning my 125g into a sump for my 360g I'll be setting up soon. Can I control the water level in the input chamber, and the water level in the return chamber? I will be using a gate valve on the intake to control flow and a controllable return pump(Jabeo DCP 10000).

This is first sump I've ever used or built, so not sure if my baffle heights make sense for what I'm trying to do.
 
The water level in your 360g will be set by the overflow in the 360g tank and remain constant.
The water level in the input chamber will be set by the baffle the separates the input chamber from the return chamber and remain constant.
The water level in the return chamber will be variable. As water evaporates from the entire system the water level in the return chamber will lower. When you "top off" the system the water level in the return chamber will rise. You will have to periodically add water to the entire system to keep the pump in the return chamber submersed.

Make sense?
 
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Tseering23 said:
I'm going to be turning my 125g into a sump for my 360g I'll be setting up soon. Can I control the water level in the input chamber, and the water level in the return chamber? I will be using a gate valve on the intake to control flow and a controllable return pump(Jabeo DCP 10000).

This is first sump I've ever used or built, so not sure if my baffle heights make sense for what I'm trying to do.
Click to expand...

Below is a drawing of the sump set up I use on my 180g. Other than having no baffles at all, which some people do, mine is about as basic as you can get.

As already mentioned above the water level in your display tank remains constant and this is set by your overflow. The water levels in compartments 2 and 3 of my sump remain constant too, and this is governed by the height of the left baffle. The water level in the pump compartment though is "live". Evaporation will reduce this level overtime, and adding top up water to your display tank will lead to the water level rising in this compartment.

The pump compartment is the important one, you need to periodically check this so your pump isn't starved of water, you'll hear it anyway because it'll start sucking air and cause a racket.

Like I said this is very basic and shows you the main principle behind it, you can have umpteen baffles and compartments, it just depends what you want out of it. Hope this helps a little.

20210212_154258.jpg
 
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Oughtsix said:
The water level in your 360g will be set by the overflow in the 360g tank and remain constant.
The water level in the input chamber will be set by the baffle the separates the input chamber from the return chamber and remain constant.
The water level in the return chamber will be variable. As water evaporates from the entire system the water level in the return chamber will lower. When you "top off" the system the water level in the return chamber will rise. You will have to periodically add water to the entire system to keep the pump in the return chamber submersed.

Make sense?
Click to expand...
Does make sense. Here is my drawing. With using a gate valve on main drain to control flow, can i get the water level about where i have drawn. Then with a controllable pump, can i keep water level in return chamber about where have drawn?
What changes would be made to my design?
 
Tseering23 said:
Does make sense. Here is my drawing. With using a gate valve on main drain to control flow, can i get the water level about where i have drawn. Then with a controllable pump, can i keep water level in return chamber about where have drawn?
What changes would be made to my design?
Click to expand...
Still new here, so don't think I can post pics yet.
 
The water flow through your tank and sump varies slightly overtime so trying to set water levels by limiting flow rates and balancing overflow rates with pump flow rates to try to maintain a specific water level really doesn't work. Conversely gravity works very well! Setting water levels by setting the level the overflow is mounted in your tank is a very well tested and proven method for maintaining a consistent water level.
 
Might want to add a bubble trap if you dont want to pump to return micro bubbles to the tank. Leave enough gap to clean between the baffles.

sump bubble trap.jpg
 
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