Sump pump question

[kjamaya]

I am trying to add more water in my tank and not in my sump. I am currently running a mag 12 for a 150 but it is still not pushing enough water to my DT tank with out having to fill up my sump....

Any suggestions on what pump I should purchase next?

 

Thanks,

Kristin

[jimlin]

maybe you need to raise your overflow if you want to increase your water level in your dt.

[Viktoriia]

do you have a valve on your overflow. it sounds that your overflow has a higher flow rate than your return pump? close it slightly to find the perfect balance.

[pizzaguy]

When I had that tank I also used a mag 12. I didn't feel like it was enough. I personally would go up to a 18 or 24. Just my 2c.

[davelin315]

do you have a valve on your overflow. it sounds that your overflow has a higher flow rate than your return pump? close it slightly to find the perfect balance.

I would not restrict your overflow... You want the overflow to handle more than the pump max. If the water in your display is too low then adjust the height of the overflow as was suggested.

[Origami]

do you have a valve on your overflow. it sounds that your overflow has a higher flow rate than your return pump? close it slightly to find the perfect balance.

I would not restrict your overflow... You want the overflow to handle more than the pump max. If the water in your display is too low then adjust the height of the overflow as was suggested.

I'll emphasize Dave's response. Don't restrict your overflow. You're asking for a spill if you do that. Instead, raise your overflow. That's what sets the water level in your tank, not your return pump.

[kjamaya]

I'll emphasize Dave's response. Don't restrict your overflow. You're asking for a spill if you do that. Instead, raise your overflow. That's what sets the water level in your tank, not your return pump.

:ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: Not a third time. Ok, I will adjust the overflow.

 

Thanks everyone!

[kjamaya]

So now the question is how do I raise it without spilling water everywhere?

[Origami]

Send a picture of your overflow. It may be adjustable, but maybe not.

 

Something to be aware of: If you raise the level in your tank, you reduce the open, unused volume that could hold water. Think of this unused volume as that part of the glass that is not filled. In the event of a drain blockage, you rely on this unused volume to hold water that would otherwise wind up on the floor. If you raise the level of the tank and don't reduce the volume in the sump that the return pump draws from, you introduce a risk of a spill. The way that you mitigate that is to reduce the risk of blockage with either redundant or backup drains.

 

It can be a complicated line of thinking. I remember when I first set up a 90 with a sump a few years ago, I thought about two different failure modes: a) What happens if my return pump fails or loses power? And, b) What happens if my drain clogs?

 

To address the former, I made sure that 1) my overflows did not leak water from the main tank down to the sump; 2) that my return lines had holes that acted as siphon breaks so that they didn't suck more water from the tank than desired; and 3) that my sump had enough extra unused capacity to handle the water. The best test to see if you're prepared for this is to just unplug your return pump and see what happens. If everything settles and not a drop of water spills, you're doing OK. On the other hand, if you find yourself scrambling to plug the pump back in to keep the sump from overflowing, then you have some thinking to do. Today, with my larger system, I address this by having plenty of extra room in my sump.

 

Addressing the latter, I made sure that my (on my old 90) return pump sat in a sump compartment that had a limited amount of volume in it. (That compartment was defined by a baffle and gave the return pump chamber something like 3 gallons of capacity.) In the event of a drain clog, the return pump would pump the last chamber empty and just run (close to dry). As long as my main tank had capacity for that 3 gallons, not a drop would spill. I might lose a return pump to overheating, but I'd avert water damage which can be far more costly. Wire up a level switch right in that last compartment and you can use it to turn the pump off when that last compartment runs dry, saving the loss of the pump. Today, I deal with the risk of clogged drains by having redundant, large drains (4 each at 1.25" each).

[kjamaya]

Send a picture of your overflow. It may be adjustable, but maybe not.

 

Something to be aware of: If you raise the level in your tank, you reduce the open, unused volume that could hold water. Think of this unused volume as that part of the glass that is not filled. In the event of a drain blockage, you rely on this unused volume to hold water that would otherwise wind up on the floor. If you raise the level of the tank and don't reduce the volume in the sump that the return pump draws from, you introduce a risk of a spill. The way that you mitigate that is to reduce the risk of blockage with either redundant or backup drains.

 

It can be a complicated line of thinking. I remember when I first set up a 90 with a sump a few years ago, I thought about two different failure modes: a) What happens if my return pump fails or loses power? And, b) What happens if my drain clogs?

 

To address the former, I made sure that 1) my overflows did not leak water from the main tank down to the sump; 2) that my return lines had holes that acted as siphon breaks so that they didn't suck more water from the tank than desired; and 3) that my sump had enough extra unused capacity to handle the water. The best test to see if you're prepared for this is to just unplug your return pump and see what happens. If everything settles and not a drop of water spills, you're doing OK. On the other hand, if you find yourself scrambling to plug the pump back in to keep the sump from overflowing, then you have some thinking to do. Today, with my larger system, I address this by having plenty of extra room in my sump.

 

Addressing the latter, I made sure that my (on my old 90) return pump sat in a sump compartment that had a limited amount of volume in it. (That compartment was defined by a baffle and gave the return pump chamber something like 3 gallons of capacity.) In the event of a drain clog, the return pump would pump the last chamber empty and just run (close to dry). As long as my main tank had capacity for that 3 gallons, not a drop would spill. I might lose a return pump to overheating, but I'd avert water damage which can be far more costly. Wire up a level switch right in that last compartment and you can use it to turn the pump off when that last compartment runs dry, saving the loss of the pump. Today, I deal with the risk of clogged drains by having redundant, large drains (4 each at 1.25" each).

 

Thank you soo much. I have tested my tank and did scramble to plug the pump back in. Made a hole in my return lines and unplugged it again and SUCCESS! I will take photos real soon and post it for all to see.

[Origami]

Thank you soo much. I have tested my tank and did scramble to plug the pump back in. Made a hole in my return lines and unplugged it again and SUCCESS! I will take photos real soon and post it for all to see.

Great. This takes care of one risk.

 

The next risk to address is less common but it happens. If you block your regular drain(s), will your main tank overflow as the return pump tries to empty the sump compartment that it's in? If your tank is drained by a single drain (for example), without a suitable backup, then this simulates something like a snail crawling into and blocking the drain. If the return pump is in a sump compartment that is larger than the excess capacity of the tank, then the tank will overflow if the drain is plugged.

 

Address these two risks, and you'll take care of the most common reasons for spills. Of course, there are other risks (sump, plumbing, or tank failure, for example) but these are even less common and, in some cases, catastrophic.