Flooded the living room twice!

[Bosco83]

Third times the charm I think I have it right lol. I'm trying to set up my first saltwater tank and first time using a sump I pretty much hate it. Now I am draining the tank so I can move it to suck the water out of the carpet. I really hope everything goes smoothly when I set it all up again. Other wise I will be using a canister filter.

Brian

 

[Curtswearing]

My uncle used to tell us as kids that you weren't a cowboy until you've been bucked off 3 times......then you're officially a cowboy.

Well, you're officially a reefer

 

[Reef Monkey]

Are you trying to use too big of a pump on your return for your overflow?

 

[ac7av]

I feel for you. Can you tell us what you think happened to cause the water to end up on the floor and what mite prevent that from happening again when you set it back up. I am curious to know what happened so it may be avoided by others or my self.

 

[Bosco83]

I thought I was using too fast of a return pump two days ago I was trying everything out for the first time and it would fill up the tank faster then it would return. So I talked to someone at my lfs and they suggested that I drill another hole in my hob overflow and run two return pipes to the sump. So I got that all setup and today I tested it out and it worked too good lol yea that was a mess. I think I figured out the problem in the first place I don't think I filled the sump enough the first time I tried it. Today it was working good after I plugged the second hole I made and filled the sump all the way full before I plugged in my lifter pump and return pump. I still dont feel that confident with everything yet.

 

[Bosco83]

The tank is a 46 gallon bow front so there is not that much room under the stand. I am using a cpr sump and it needs to be pretty full for the water to flow through all the chambers I kinda wish that the level didn't have to be so full that way it would be easier to make it so it wouldn't overflow so easy here is the model and I am not using the skimmer it has with it. http://shotankaquariums.com/cy192.aspx

 

[Reef Monkey]

What are you running for a return pump?

 

[danno14]

May I also suggest you tailor your "running" sump level to handle all the water that overflows when the power is off...... PM me if you need to know how to determine that.
G'luck!

 

[lizardarm]

I know that you've already dropped good cash on that sump, but have you considered running sumpless? There are some really good HOB skimmers out there nowadays. Don't get me wrong, I run a sump and will always do so if I've got the space underneathe; but going sumpless would greatly reduce the threat of soaking your carpet again. I'm not sure if that sump that you're using has enough volume to handle the amount of water that's going to drain down when the power goes out. The baffles seem too high.

 

[mmn_usn]

While you have the tank moved... tile the area where the tank goes... then you don't have to move it again

 

[apollothesun]

you can adjust the overflow box up or down to the height where it can only drain so much before overflowing. i suggest gate valve be added to the return pump to fine tune.
also, your gonna need an automatic top off with these kinda of setups.

 

[dnjan]

May I also suggest you tailor your "running" sump level to handle all the water that overflows when the power is off...... PM me if you need to know how to determine that.
G'luck!

This is so important it must be repeated:

Your sump must be able to handle all of the water above the siphon-break point in your tank (be it the overflow or the return line). Otherwise you will flood every power-outage.

 

[ac7av]

That sump does not hold much water, I am suppressed it over flowed the tank even if the level was high. Here is what I think. If the level of the water in the tank has to be so high that the volume of that small sump will over flow lots of water onto the floor, then the water level in that tank is just too high. Some overflow boxes are adjustable in height. Try lowering it all the way so the goose neck is resting on the edge of the tank. If this can not be done for some reason then I would recommend a different over flow box to allow you to do so on that tank. Second you do not want the amount of water in the sump to be overflowed if the power goes out or return pump stops for some reason. That may be hard to do because of the small size (percentage of the tank) you have in the sump. You may have to experiment a bit with water level and turning on and off everything to see where the levels will rest if something goes wrong. I have a feeling you will have a very small volume of working area between overflowing, working correctly, and sucking air into the return pump. You may even have to put marks on the sump and keep the water levels in the sweet spot when running in a daily basis. You do not have to run the sump at is maximum GPH, you can install a valve on the outlet of the pump. 100-200gph would be fine for its purposes IMO. You can use a closed loop and or power heads in the tank for more water flow in the tank.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've got a 46g bowfront, and have to agree with the suggestion made earlier... just go sumpless. There just isn't enough room under the stand to start with, and the odd shape doesn't help either. You don't *need* a sump to maintain good parameters as long as you're on it with your maintenance. Then again... if I had a larger tank, with more room under it, there's no doubt I'd have a sump!

 

[Bosco83]

I have a 90 gallon african cichlid tank that is acrylic and I was thinking about putting the cichlids in the 46 gallon and then doing the saltwater in the larger tank. I could fit a pretty good size sump tank under my 90 gallon and I could drill it for the overflow.

 

[Willy]

OK I am a little confused.Did the sump over flow when you shut off your return pump? Or did the tank over flow while you had the pump running? What size pump and what type of overflow box are you using? If it is a CPR overflow box, they tend to be problematic, if it is a U-tube style over flow they are very simple to run with out flooding anything.

If the tank is over flowing while you have your return pump running, you are trying to push too much water through your overflow box. Put a ball valve on the return line and throttle the pump down OR get a smaller pump. If the sump is over flowing when you turn off the return pump, you will need to drill a small hole in the return line. This will act as a siphon break and keep the sump from overflowing when you lose power. Drill the siphon break hole right at the water level of the tank with the return pump running. If you need a picture of where to drill the siphon break let me know and I will get you one of my tank.

HTH

 

[Bosco83]

Well the first time it overflowed I didn't have enough water in the sump for it to work correctly and didn't realize what the problem was. It would overflow the top tank and I would have to unplug the pump then let it fill back up and then plug it back in. I just didn't plug it in fast enough a few times and then the sump would overflow. I think I have it down now and I did drill the anti-siphon hole just above the nozzle that flowes back in the tank I just have to play around with the right height to put it. I think I might just use a canister filter though because I don't really like the hob CPR overlflow it's loud and the sump is so small it really wouldn't take much to make it overlow.

 

[ac7av]

That’s probably not a bad idea to go to a canister filter in your case and maybe a HOT skimmer. The capacity of that sump just amazes me, I can not believe it is rated for 100 gallon. I would think it would be better for a 20 gallon or less IMO. Going with the canister will help you sleep better and besides as you indicated the noise from the overflow box will take its own modifications to quiet it down. I’ve been there. Took me some interesting ideas to make that waterfall sound more like a babbling brook

 

[Bosco83]

I think I will just use the canister filter I don't really wan't to break up my 90 gallon cichlid tank just yet. I already do have a hot skimmer I just need to get a new pump for it.

Thanks,
Brian