[Reefer769]

hey!

i just need to know when i have the sump all plumbed up and ready to go, do i fill up the sump with FSW, or do i just let water drain from the main tank into the sump and add more water later? or should i just put water covering up the pump in the compartment it is in, heres a pic so you get a better understanding.

[Reefer769]

sorry about the pic, its really small, but the baffles are 8" high

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by Reefer769

sorry about the pic, its really small, but the baffles are 8" high

Ok, if you let water drain from the main tank to the sump, you will only drain as much as can overflow the grate into the downpipes. Once you drop the level below that, no more water can overflow (which is why it is an overflow - if it was a hole at the bottom of the tank, the whole tank volume could drain down).

Once there is some water in the sump, you can fire up the return pump and start the water flowing round. You will probably have to add water to the system (either to the sump or the main tank) to get the total water level up to where is should be.

Assuming your sump is 24x12 and 8" high at the baffles, I would expect you'll need to add something in the order of 10 gallons of FSW to the system (in fact, it will probably be a little more than this to account for the capacity of the pump, pipes and overflows involved too)

Steve