Ok, I give up on the sump/ refugium

[honey1998p]

Hi Fellow Reefer's,
Well thanks for all your advise on getting rid of the backflow. I stopped it from backflowing through the return pump, But I really think I am going to dump the whole idea of a sump/refugium. Apparently I don't know what i'm doing.
Now I have a slurping sound thats really aggravating coming from the overflow. The only way to stop that noise is to add more water to the main tank, then this causes the sump to starting burping and shooting water out of the sump and onto the floor. Played with this for 3 days straight, mopped about 25 gallons of saltwater off the floor, and now i'm at the end of my rope.
Can anyone tell me what is the next best filtration method is besides this sump/refugium?

Thanks,

[patsfan1130]

Hi Fellow Reefer's,
Well thanks for all your advise on getting rid of the backflow. I stopped it from backflowing through the return pump, But I really think I am going to dump the whole idea of a sump/refugium. Apparently I don't know what i'm doing.
Now I have a slurping sound thats really aggravating coming from the overflow. The only way to stop that noise is to add more water to the main tank, then this causes the sump to starting burping and shooting water out of the sump and onto the floor. Played with this for 3 days straight, mopped about 25 gallons of saltwater off the floor, and now i'm at the end of my rope.
Can anyone tell me what is the next best filtration method is besides this sump/refugium?

Thanks,

I am not sure what you have done thus far to your overflow or even if we are talking RR tank or an external overflow but do a search for "durso" or "stockman". either one of these standpipes (I run a durso) should fix your problem right away. I had similar problems when I purchased my RR 120 and all of my woes quickly vanished after I installed the standpipe.

Mark

[honey1998p]

Ok here are the details,
I used these plans from the 3 sites listed below to build my sump/refugium: Its a 20 gallon sump/refugium used for a 55 gallon tank:
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/sump.html

http://sjpdesigns.com/NewReef/sumphowto.htm

Instead of building a acrylic sump, I used a 20 gallon aquarium. Yesterday the problem was when you cut the power, the sump would overflow. Well I corrected this problem by moving the return pipe up a bit, this way it didn't backflow into the sump.

Well now the overflow box is making a horrible noise and is draining the main tank below the return pipe. To stop the noise I have to add more water to the tank, and then the sump starts overflowing because the return pump don't seem to be able to keep up.

At this time I have nothing in the aquarium except saltwater and my live sand. I am just setting up the system and am new to the hobby. The return pump is supposed to pump like 600 gph. The sump is plumbed with 1 inch pvc, because this is what the site I used suggested. Well the water now is all cloudy, I guess from messing with it so much. I don't know, just tired and discouraged I guess.

Thanks so much,
honey1998p

[Sueet]

Ok here are the details,
I used these plans from the 3 sites listed below to build my sump/refugium: Its a 20 gallon sump/refugium used for a 55 gallon tank:
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/sump.html

http://sjpdesigns.com/NewReef/sumphowto.htm

Instead of building a acrylic sump, I used a 20 gallon aquarium. Yesterday the problem was when you cut the power, the sump would overflow. Well I corrected this problem by moving the return pipe up a bit, this way it didn't backflow into the sump.

Well now the overflow box is making a horrible noise and is draining the main tank below the return pipe. To stop the noise I have to add more water to the tank, and then the sump starts overflowing because the return pump don't seem to be able to keep up.

At this time I have nothing in the aquarium except saltwater and my live sand. I am just setting up the system and am new to the hobby. The return pump is supposed to pump like 600 gph. The sump is plumbed with 1 inch pvc, because this is what the site I used suggested. Well the water now is all cloudy, I guess from messing with it so much. I don't know, just tired and discouraged I guess.

Thanks so much,
honey1998p

You need more than a 600gph pump... The rating on a pump is at 0' height... when you raise the height the pump has to push the water, the amount per hour is drastically reduced, and that is most likely the problem..... Your overflow is flowing faster than your pump can return the water, so instead of having a smooth flow, you have a fill/dump scenario, kind of like a toilet, which of course is not a pleasing sound. I can't tell you how big of a pump to get, I'm no expert for sure, but I can definitely tell you that 600gph is too small. Of course, I suppose you could try re-plumbing the overflow with smaller pipes, but for the tanks well-being, I would suggest the better pump instead.

[honey1998p]

Thanks for the quick response. That sounds like a good answer to me. I will try it. I still have my receipt for the pump and they said I could bring it back if it was too small. Do you think I need to change my water out since its that cloudy? Without the sump running, it just has a protein skimmer and a power filter on it to move the water around. If not, is there something I can use to clarify it?

Thanks again, honey1998p

[Sueet]

Thanks for the quick response. That sounds like a good answer to me. I will try it. I still have my receipt for the pump and they said I could bring it back if it was too small. Do you think I need to change my water out since its that cloudy? Without the sump running, it just has a protein skimmer and a power filter on it to move the water around. If not, is there something I can use to clarify it?

Thanks again, honey1998p

Just give it a few days, it will clear up on its own.

[LazyReef]

To get the intake from making the sucking noise use a piece of 3/8"-1/2" tubing and push it down the middle of the intake tube. You can control the "breaking" of the siphon, which is causing the noise by breaking it down further where you cannot hear it by using this inside tube. Instead of the water rising to the top of the intake before breaking siphon and making a sucking sound, it will break where the bottom of the 1/2" tube is. I use this method very successfully. Sometimes I need to adjust the tube up and down to get it completly silent.

[Pickles]

To get the intake from making the sucking noise use a piece of 3/8"-1/2" tubing and push it down the middle of the intake tube. You can control the "breaking" of the siphon, which is causing the noise by breaking it down further where you cannot hear it by using this inside tube. Instead of the water rising to the top of the intake before breaking siphon and making a sucking sound, it will break where the bottom of the 1/2" tube is. I use this method very successfully. Sometimes I need to adjust the tube up and down to get it completly silent.

I agree with Ken, this works well. There are a couple of pre-filters on the market now that also use lids as well as the tubing in the standpipe to silence a filter. They work really well, at least they do in the cases where I used them.

[Arctic Fox]

Depending on how much higher your main tank is going to be in relation to the sump you'll need anywhere from 700 gph to almost 2000(!!) gph. I know for mine, I am going to be setting up a 55 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump/reefugium under it, (very similar), I am going to get a 1200 gph pump.

Also, see if you can get your 55 gallon drilled for PVC at your lfs, if you can get it drilled, you can make an overflow box inside the tank, and put the outflow from it way below the waterlevel, and you will never have to worry about overflow, because the setup,... I realize, that's hard to visualize, but email me and I will send you drawings on what I'm talking about.

hope that helps

[Zephrant]

Quick note that I did not see mentioned- The water level in the tank will stay the same, it is set by the overflow. When you add more water to the main tank to quiet it down, it will accumulate in the sump, making it overflow.

You don't have to have more water flow, but it would not hurt. The key is to quiet down the overflow as said above. Adding more water to solve a problem rarely works.
Just adding a larger pump will make the problem….. larger.

Zeph

[Constructor]

In order for your overflow to work properly be it inner tank or on the back your standpipe MUST be one size larger than the plumbing going to your sump refugium. This insures proper flow. A stand pipe can be made out of PVC pipe with holes drilled 1/2" from the end around the circumference of the pipe and glueing a cap one size larger than the pipe to the the end with the holes. Drill a small hole in the center of the cap and run a small piece of airline through it. Raising and lowering the airline level in the standpipe with control the (flushing) gurgling sound. The stand pipe must be larger than the plumbing to the sump or you will have continual problems.