How do I balance the water flow when using a Sump?

[heerism]

I plan on using PVC to take the water from my tank to my sump with a siphon effect and then returning it with a pump back up to the tank. Will I have to adjust the pump power to the speed the water is being siphoned out of my tank? Any other tips and info would really help. Thanks

 

[Nitrate]

Ball valve will help regulate the flow.

 

[CBRGuy]

yep ball valve on the return side is the way to go. But you should really look for a pump that can match the GPH. Also you may want to look at hose instead of PVC. Elbows and ball values not only lower your GPH, but the gernerate heat...

 

[heerism]

Where do I get a ball valve?

 

[CBRGuy]

homedepot has them. This is what they look like, but you can get them much cheaper and HD

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=FT3118

 

[Nitrate]

I opted for a pump that was rated higher than my overflow so I had no choice but to add a valve. It can cause the life span of the pump to decrease.

 

[Brad]

It isn't as difficult as it might seem. As you increase the amount of water you pump, the siphon will automatically increase the amount of water that is returned. Decrease the pump and the siphon matches.

Things will stay balanced unless you exceed the limit of the siphon's capability. If that happens, you will overflow the display tank. That's a sign you have to throttle back the pump a bit.

And...of course...you have to give a bit of thought to the possibility that something (suicide snail) could cause a sudden change in the flow rate of the siphon. That's where some sort of float switch can save you. The float senses a sudden change in water level and shuts off the return pump before something bad can happen.

 

[fishfreek]

I would strongly recommend an overflow vs simply using a PVC pipe to syphon the water out of the tank. Overflows are fairly inexpensive and will go a long way in giving you pieace of mind over the PVC syphon method. Should air get into the PVC the syphon will be lost and the pump will continue to fill the tank. If the pump cuts off the pVC will continue to syphon the water into the sump until air can get in to break the syphon and then when power returns the syphon wont start back up.

Overflows are designed so they will start their syphon up again when power fails and since they remove water from the surface of the tank they will only drain water as fast as the pump is filling the tank. Ideally you size your pump smaller than your overflow will process. This will asure that you dont overdrive the overflow and slowly overfill your tank.