We're read... we studied, we did our homework and still...

[muss60]

... I'm ready to throw this 3 year old tank out the door.

After 6 months of preparing for this day, we have a sump all ready to go; but we are having problems getting the levels of flow working in sinc.

In the overflow tank, adjusting the overflow control rod is doing nothing; it says pulling the rod up will cause water level in overlow box to rise; pushing it down will cause it to drop - but which one will cause the flow to go faster? We tried both (for hours now) and can't get it all to work.

My terminology could be off here...... ; siphoning is working well, everything's good..... except flow in and out

Any suggestions? I feel like we're missing one small simple piece.

Thanks

 

[tike]

What brand overflow is it? i am sure we can find a solution to this.

 

[krisfal]

If you cannot get your overflow faster you may have to slow down your return pump.

 

[muss60]

Thank you! It's a Tidepool bio-wheel filtration (but we're not using the biowheel); we have the flow levelled now; but we both feel it's too 'slow'?

 

[tike]

Why do you feel it's slow?

 

[muss60]

In comparison to the ones we've seen, the in-take seemed to have a faster flow than ours once we got it working the same at both ends.

Not sure if that makes sense??

 

[krisfal]

So I went and looked at the unit you are using, says it can do 300-600gph. First of all if you are using the pre-filter sponge I would get rid of it as it will only slow the flow. What size return pump are you using and what size is the return plumbing?

Your flow is limited by the siphon tube. But you also control the amount of flow by the level of water in the tank (to a certain point), the higher the tank level the more water going over the teeth on the overflow. Your return pump is what would control the height of the water in your tank. Since you say you have seen them running and yours seems slow I would wonder if your pump is not big enough or your return plumbing is too small, too long, too many bends and therefore has too much head pressure to perform as you need it.

I believe the control tube you are talking about might be some type of standpipe, but I am not sure without seeing it, if it is a standpipe (is it in the back part of the box hanging on your tank connected to where the water will drain down to the sump?) it's main function is to make the unit quieter is would not effect the amount of flow much.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[muss60]

Makes a ton of sense, thank you... am heading out to work now and will answer your questions tonight; appreciate your help more than you know!

Have a great day

 

[muss60]

The return pump we're using is 500 gph - we have the flow happening no problem now. But, a new problem has arisen! The siphon tube 'cap' is on tight as the instructions indicate, but the water level doesn't go up past the cap and it makes a lot of noise. With the flow going full tilt, I've adjusted the post like it said but nothing makes the water level go up to where it says it should. As for the prefilter pad, do you mean the one in the skimmer box attached to it?? If so, yes, we have it in there...

As for the part of the box where the water drains, yes, the box hangs outside the back of the tank.

So now, if I can get this thing to be quiet - we're good!

Any suggestions? The siphon is good; everything's flowing good, I just can't figure out why the water level doesn't go up to where it says it should.

 

[beoks]

try building one of these my overflow was stupidly loud and these helped a lot.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/?page_id=6

i also had to play with the way the hoses from the overflow came down that helped a little too

 

[muss60]

I don't suppose you have a picture of your sump available........ if not, no worries, just thought I'd ask (or if you know of a website that has pics of these, it may help us to make sure we have the right set-up).

Thanks again for all your help - you guys are GREAT

 

[muss60]

We got everything working fine except for one final thing... when we remove the overflow control rod, it goes quiet; as soon as I put the seal cap back on (like the instructions say, there's this huge noise from the water gurgling back into the return).

What is the purpose of that overflow tube "cap" specifically... my husband wants to just leave it off, but I'm nervous because instructions say in CAPITAL letters, make sure the seal is on good!

 

[krisfal]

Can you post a picture of what you are talking about?
If it is in capital letters in the instructions I pay attention. But I am a girl and we tend to actually read the instructions:razz:

 

[muss60]

I wish I could... (I tried) but I need to re-size the pics somehow and ran out of time; need to head out to work; will try to do that tonight.. thanks

 

[krisfal]

I wish I could... (I tried) but I need to re-size the pics somehow and ran out of time; need to head out to work; will try to do that tonight.. thanks

You can resize in paint if needed. But the best way is to host your pictures somewhere (like flickr or photobucket) and then copy the link to where it is hosted, click the insert image icon on the message toolbar here on RF and paste the link in the pop up window (doing it that way you do not have to resize).

 

[muss60]

Was busy doing a water change tonight; and finalizing the sump set-up... will try to get a picture posted somehow this weekend. Thanks again.

So far, the only solution to avoiding the "toilet flushing" sound is to remove that cap altogether; was told that this was ok... keeping my fingers crossed. And as for the sump - WOW, the tank has a whole different look without all that junk in the back of it; will definitely post a picture of the tank etc. asap. (Take note: we're not "pros" like most of you on here, but we love our tank)... as we speak, hubby is sitting in front of it just starring! : )

I'd call us 'addicted'.