Sump Overflowing Tank

[Griff1327]

I recently acquired an Eshopps Sump for my 125. As my 125 is currently on the floor, I am testing the sump/pump on my 10g q tank.

The problem is that the flow out of the tank does not match the flow coming in from the pump. The pump is a Via Aqua 2300. I bought the setup used and it came with a clear plastic ball that is not on the pump's parts list. Is this ball used for anything?

How do I regulate flow out of the pump?

 

[duanes]

You can throttle the flow back on any centrifugal pump by installing a ball valve between the pump and the tank and adjusting. LFSs could supply this, or your local hardware store has them in PVC. I like to hard plumb everything with PVC, as it seems more stable and check valves and unions make maintenance easy.

There is 1/2" PVC valve in the pic, the red handle is where you adjust the flow.

THe union is to the left of the top PVC valve, on the verticle line, it allows the pipe tp be easily separated for maintenance.

 

[Griff1327]

Thanks for the quick response! Going to head to the store and I'll update when I get back.

Thanks again Duanes!

 

[cchhcc]

This may be a dumb question, but do you have an overflow or are you usng a siphon to get the water from the tank into the sump?

If the latter........ long story short........ it will never work correctly. You must use a gravity flow from the main tank.

 

[Mattyou]

I would have to agree, very hard for me to see you getting your 10 gal to keep up with the pump unless it has an 8ft + head hieght or sumthing crazy. That isnt a sound test IMHO.

 

[Griff1327]

the reason for the test is simply to see if it operates under normal conditions. The eshopps come with an overflow box. The sump itself was cracked and I did a fill test and tested the pump in a bucket. I want to get everything working properly (ie. tubing, couplings, etc.) before I set up the 125.

Where is the problem with checking my work by running the sump?

 

[Griff1327]

ball valve did the trick!
Sump is running fine on the 10g q tank!
Now I just have to get the 125 set up.

 

[duanes]

I use overflow boxes (w 1/4" siphon U tubes) on some of my tanks. This overflow is powered by a 2400 GPH mag dr pump split between 2 tanks and has been working fine for over 10 years, I have had a few overflows when plants or a dead fish plugs it up, but not many.