I have a wet/dry sump with a 1" overflow pipe drilled in the side of my display tank. My pump is only rated for 500gph but for some reason i keep running out of water in my sump causing me to run the filter at its lowest setting. If i had a small sump this would be understandable, but I am running a 4 drawer plastic container in a 24g tote that I purchased all at Home Depot. Do I need another overflow I thought the one I have was rated for 600gph if im not mistaken. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Sump Problem from a beginner
- Thread starter tbradley97
- Start date
maybe instead of adding another why not inrease the diameter of the current hole to 1 1/4"? should increase the flow quite a bit to the sump
Im at school right now so that won't be possible at this time. Am i better off just putting a ball valve after my return pump redirecting flow back to the filter tower??
What is the water level (from the top of the tank) in your main tank with the sump running?
What is the water level (From the top of the tank) in your main tank with the sump pump shut off?
My tank runs about 3/8" above the non running level with a 1" diy siphon based overflow tube.
I add water about once a week to counter act evaporation.
If you add enough water for everything to continue to run properly is your main tank in danger of overflowing?
It is also worth a try increasing the intake for your current overflow to 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" and use your current 1" bulkhead. 1" should be able to handle a 500gph pump pretty easily.
What is the water level (From the top of the tank) in your main tank with the sump pump shut off?
My tank runs about 3/8" above the non running level with a 1" diy siphon based overflow tube.
I add water about once a week to counter act evaporation.
If you add enough water for everything to continue to run properly is your main tank in danger of overflowing?
It is also worth a try increasing the intake for your current overflow to 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" and use your current 1" bulkhead. 1" should be able to handle a 500gph pump pretty easily.
With the sump running it is 1 3/4
With the sump off is it 31/4
When i continue to add water to the sump it will eventually overflow if i fill the sump too high.
And would it be a good idea to add a non drilled pvc overflow? possibly just a half inch??
With the sump off is it 31/4
When i continue to add water to the sump it will eventually overflow if i fill the sump too high.
And would it be a good idea to add a non drilled pvc overflow? possibly just a half inch??
Its a 40g long 48x13Wx16L and the sump is a 67liter tote i purchased from walmart which I thought was actually oversized for this tank.
when I add water to my sump and increase the speed of my pump the water level in the tank continues to rise above the normal water line which already sounds a bit high compared to the post Oughtsix described.
1" should be able to handle 500 gph with ease. Post pics if you can. There is a problem somewhere
That is a large sump, which is good. Bigger is better with sumps.
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Are there any traps in your drain line? If there are, you could be getting air bound, which could stop the flow on the drain side almost completely. It should be gravity fed the whole way down without any upturns in the plumbing. Even a small upturn can cause an air pocket to collect and drastically reduce flow.