water level wont settle in sump

[s10469]

I got a problem with my setup. I got a 90gal. tank and i built my stand myself.I got a reefmaster sump/refugium filter system with a hobs? overflow box. I set it up in my garage for a week so i could test the stand and plumb in my filter system. I turned on the filter pump to get things going and it ran fine(quiet, no air traps, a good flow), but the water level never settled in. It would rise, and i would adjust the shutoff valve, and it would fall. I got to the point where i was only adjusting the valve .010 of an inch at a time with dramatic results which cant be right. I went for about 8-10 hours of this on and off adjusting, and it would seem to settle for about 10-15 min. then it would gradually rise or fall. I got to tell you it was pretty frustraiting. I only had hose water in my tank, and i gave the water 5 days to warm up thinking that could have something to do with it, but still failure. I was thinking it was the pump, maybe i got a cheaper one with wider tolerences( a set rpm +/- 20 rpm or something like that). It came with the filter system, but i got 5ft. of head pressure(3000gph. at 0ft.-325gph at 5ft)possibly a turbulence problem in the pump? I dont have any experience with this kind of filter system, so i dont know where to trouble shoot other than replacing the pump. Everything else seems to be pretty basic. Before i invest in a better and bigger pump is there anything else it could be? Sorry about the long story just trying to give you all the info. i can. Anybody got any ideas?

 

[tamra&steven]

what shut off valve are you adjusting? what are you running for a main pump? how much gph? do you have a check valve after the main pump on the return to the tank?

 

[ccCapt]

How many gph can the HOB overflow you got handle?
How many gph does the pump push?
The pump should/must push less than the overflow can handle. The only place you should have a shut off valve that would need to be adjusted is after the output of the pump. If you have 1 on the overflow line, it should always be left wide opened.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with ccCapt. Your overflow has to be able to handle the amount of water the pump moves. How is your drain line plumbing done? Did you do PVC or flex hose? A 1" diameter pipe will handle about 600gph.

 

[s10469]

The adjustable shutoff valve is just below the overflow, becouse the overflow box is somewhat bigger than i need, actually the pump is smaller than i need. Again, the pump is pumping 325gph becouse i have 5ft of head pressure,and if i just let the water flow to the sump without restricting the water flow it will flood over in a min. or two.I only have the valve open about a quarter of the way. By the way, i am using 1 1/4in. PVC pipe to the sump, and 1in. hose from the pump to the tank. The pump is a CA-3000 powerhead/pump. I am just trying to figure out why my water level wont settle in, it either rises, or falls.

 

[ccCapt]

What happens when you pull the plug on the pump? Does your sump overflow?
If you need to slow down the overflow, something is not setup right.
The overflow will only drain as much water as the pump will push up into the tank.

 

[Ziggy953]

Can you post some pics of your setup for us? ccCapt is correct, the water leaving the tank is only what the pump can push. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[tamra&steven]

yeah sounds like somthing isnt right, you dont need the valve after the overflow box either.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.