Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Ok, I got my sump built. I put in my test tank, and I now have my overflow and such all hooked up. I seem to have it adjusted well, but I have a question.

After I let the tank sit there and run for like 30 minutes, the return area of the tank seems to run low and then I have to adjust it down some more. Is this a trial and error thing that I have to spend a few hours adjusting on? Looks like it wouldnt be that hard to get close, but Ive been fiddling with it for hours now and it keeps doing it.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like your return pump maybe too large for your drain plumbing. Or you may need to add a bit more water to the system.

Yea my return seems to be putting out more then I can take in. If I crank it up more, the overflow starts gurgling and surging. So I have a valve now on my return, to slow it down some. Is there some other way I can do it?

Im now thinking what I might do is put a T inline of the return and send it back into the sump. Put a valve on it so I can adjust how much goes back into the return and what goes into the main tank.

Will that work? I dont see why not, but I might be missing something. This way though at least Im not causing backpressure on the pump, or very little.

HCJohn wrote:Im now thinking what I might do is put a T inline of the return and send it back into the sump. Put a valve on it so I can adjust how much goes back into the return and what goes into the main tank.

Will that work? I dont see why not, but I might be missing something. This way though at least Im not causing backpressure on the pump, or very little.

That is the best way to remove the extra flow without causing back pressure.