Pump continues sucking my sump dry... What to do??????????????

[CJG]

Once I plug in my pump the water level lowers, and lowers, and lowers some more. Eventually the water level gets so low that a tornado effect of air begins to drag into the intake of the pump. Any easy and effective ways of fixing this problem? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[DonW]

Once I plug in my pump the water level lowers, and lowers, and lowers some more. Eventually the water level gets so low that a tornado effect of air begins to drag into the intake of the pump. Any easy and effective ways of fixing this problem? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

Add more water if you have room if not your sump is to short. You can float a piece of acylic over the pump inlet. You will have to support it so it doesnt sink. If you have room a simple elbow pointed down will work. Lots of ways to fix this, just depends on how its set up.


Don

 

[mmkeeper]

How full is your tank? Is your overflow working? Is your pump to strong for your overflow?

 

[CJG]

Add more water if you have room if not your sump is to short. You can float a piece of acylic over the pump inlet. You will have to support it so it doesnt sink. If you have room a simple elbow pointed down will work. Lots of ways to fix this, just depends on how its set up.


Don

My sump is a little too short, I've pretty much topped it off. I tried the elbow pointing down, it works for about 1 minute, then the tornado effect kicks in. How do I go about floating a piece of acryilc? What do you mean by supporting it?

 

[CJG]

How full is your tank? Is your overflow working? Is your pump to strong for your overflow?

My overflows are working fine. I took some rubble rock out of my sump so that the water could flow more freely, it seemed to help a bit... I'm so close I can tell its almost there

 

[joker577]

My third chamber in my biocube gets dry unless I keep alot of water in it. Basically you just need to keep excess water in your sump.

 

[mmkeeper]

Can you reduce the flow of your return pump some to balance inflow and outflow ?

 

[Jan]

Yeah, what mmkeeper said. Install a ball or gate valve to reduce the output of your pump to match the input of your overflow.

 

[trillyen]

In the long run i think it would be better if he had a return that matched his over flow.

What is the over flow rated at??

what kind of return is it (GPH????)

You can adjust your over flow by raising it and lowering it also< for instance when your sump starts to get sucked dry lower your over flow causing it to let more water in in the sump, and even itself out

try it im sure it will work

usually if your return is rated higher than your overflow youll get a loud sucking sound because the return is over working your over flow, hope you dont get that, Sometimes by adjusting the height of your over flow you can prevent this

I think if you try the method i just mentioned it may work, if not and you do infact hhave to put some slack in your return line or turn down the flow by plumbing i wouldnt reccommend it for life cause for 1 youll reduce flow in your display, and its good to have as much gph as you pay for thats right for your tank that you can IMO of course

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

 

[DonW]

In the long run i think it would be better if he had a return that matched his over flow.

What is the over flow rated at??

what kind of return is it (GPH????)

You can adjust your over flow by raising it and lowering it also< for instance when your sump starts to get sucked dry lower your over flow causing it to let more water in in the sump, and even itself out

try it im sure it will work

usually if your return is rated higher than your overflow youll get a loud sucking sound because the return is over working your over flow, hope you dont get that, Sometimes by adjusting the height of your over flow you can prevent this

I think if you try the method i just mentioned it may work, if not and you do infact hhave to put some slack in your return line or turn down the flow by plumbing i wouldnt reccommend it for life cause for 1 youll reduce flow in your display, and its good to have as much gph as you pay for thats right for your tank that you can IMO of course

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Really over complicating the issue. The overflows are obviously working just fine. The pump just needs to be valved down like others said or the surface area blocked from air. The sump is just plain to short. If you shut down the return let the water drain back to the sump. If its full almost to the top then the sump is to short and cannot take any more water. Also keep in mind you dont need a overly large return pump and should keep flow throught the skimmer fairly low.

Don

 

[trillyen]

Sorry dude, i had a similar prob before, and i thought i would just try the trouble shooting issue.

Didnt have a pic so i wasnt sure what the sump looked like, i figured it was anybodys guess

Guess not sorry i wont try helping no one else, or adding my 2 cents any more!!!

Just wanted to HELP!!!

 

[DonW]

Sorry dude, i had a similar prob before, and i thought i would just try the trouble shooting issue.

Didnt have a pic so i wasnt sure what the sump looked like, i figured it was anybodys guess

Guess not sorry i wont try helping no one else, or adding my 2 cents any more!!!

Just wanted to HELP!!!

No one asked you to not help or attempt to help. I didnt mean to offend you either. Its always difficult to diagnose problems over the internet. Keeping things as simple as possible makes it much easier. This is a very simple and very common problem and is easily delt with.

Don

 

[joker577]

I feel your pain Don...I'm basically the senior post replier at reefbuilders and I put about 100 addons to my total posts yesterday...i'm only 16 and I feel like i'm getting gray hairs!