How does a sump work?

[Openbrain]

Have a reef creation sump in mind but how does it work. When i do a water change do i turn it off? If i turn it off does all the water come out?

Im terrified i will flood my room

[somethingsfishy]

Your dt would have some sort of overflow either external or internal, causing the water to be gravity fed into one chamber of your sump. Depending on the sump setup, the water goes through a few chambers and is finally pumped back up to the dt. As long as the plumbing is good, sumps should never leak.

[crister13]

You also have to test it to see what water level to keep it at so it doesn't overflow when power goes off or you turn it off.

[Openbrain]

Originally Posted by crister13

You also have to test it to see what water level to keep it at so it doesn't overflow when power goes off or you turn it off.

I don't understand how to test it. When i was vacuuming the water level went low and the sump made a weird noise and i panicked and dumped water back in bc i thought i was gonna kill the motor.

So when i cut the power i watched the water fill up the box and panicked again and plugged it back in.

I hate it

[Sniperhank]

This is because when you cut the power to your return pump, water then comes back in through the return pump line. If you don't cut the power, you can burn up your return pump if the water lvl dips below it, which is what it sounds like you did.

In mine, I simply pick up the pump setup and get the return line out of the tank. It is made of PVC so this helps.

[Openbrain]

This is a cylinder tank the line run up the center of the tank. To get to the sump is in a tiny stupid door underneath. Im not sure here are some pics...

[Marine4life]

Show us the tank picture so we can see your return pipe position plus do u have a small hole on your return to cut the siphoning?

[Marine4life]

Do you want me to make a video of my system to explain how a sump works? And how you should have it?

[fort384]

If you set up your sump correctly, it will not overflow when you shut off the power. You must leave some room in your sump for the total amount of water that drains from DT in the event power is lost. Otherwise, if you have a power failure, you will have a mess on your hands.

[Squidy07]

Originally Posted by Marine4life

Do you want me to make a video of my system to explain how a sump works? And how you should have it?

yes u shud this will also help me. I currently don't have a sump

[Sniperhank]

Originally Posted by fort384

If you set up your sump correctly, it will not overflow when you shut off the power.

Wow, really? How is that pulled off? I thought I did great until it sprung a leak and lost siphon.

[fort384]

Hence the reason for a drilled tank . No siphon to worry about except the return which is easy to fix by having a few holes in it above the waterline.

[Hondatek]

I agree if you set it up right water messes do not happen . I have no syphon break hole on my return but keep the nozzle right under the water line and have enough room for my sump to take the water when power goes out. I have had power go out and come back on overnight and my system was running normal the next morning even with my hang on overflow.

[Marine4life]

I will upload a video in 20min time explaining sump system.

[Marine4life]

Originally Posted by Squidy07

yes u shud this will also help me. I currently don't have a sump

Here's video for you guys. I've tried my best to explain how sump works and how you stop overflowing the sump. Hope it helps. Leave a comment on youtube if you prefer.

[Openbrain]

Ok so heres what I've got so far. If you look at the cylinder tank from far away you see the center cylinder has groves about 3" from the top. The water falls into those groves. When i bring the water level below them the pump runs dry. ....

Please be patient...

So when i turn the power off the sump will rise but not overflow? I want to try it out but this was established long before me and im assuming they have it rigged correctly.

What do you guys think? Should i just cut the power and see? And while i watch it what measures can i have in place in case its not properly calculated?

[Squidy07]

Originally Posted by Marine4life

Here's video for you guys. I've tried my best to explain how sump works and how you stop overflowing the sump. Hope it helps. Leave a comment on youtube if you prefer.

__________________

05-13-2012, 10:34 AM	#18
bavass Aquarium Advice Addict     Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Waynesboro Virginia Posts: 1,797	If you take the water out of your sump till it barely covers the main pump. Then cut the pump off let the tank drain till it hits the siphon break see where the level is in your sump. Fill the water with pumps off till about 1-2" from the top cut pumps back on take a shapie and mark where the water line is once the tank fills back up and you will know what level to keep sump and you will be safe. Or you can buy a loc-line system for your return and have the spray across the surface and you should only have very little that siphons back to sump __________________

05-13-2012, 12:07 PM	#19
Marine4life Aquarium Advice Activist   Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Manchester United Kingdom Posts: 111	Originally Posted by Squidy07 thanks for the video that really helped me alot No worries. __________________

05-26-2012, 03:15 AM	#20
Openbrain Aquarium Advice Activist     Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 156	Originally Posted by bavass If you take the water out of your sump till it barely covers the main pump. Then cut the pump off let the tank drain till it hits the siphon break see where the level is in your sump. Fill the water with pumps off till about 1-2" from the top cut pumps back on take a shapie and mark where the water line is once the tank fills back up and you will know what level to keep sump and you will be safe. Or you can buy a loc-line system for your return and have the spray across the surface and you should only have very little that siphons back to sump Ok.... Im gonna try it when i go back to the shop next week. Wish you were on speed dial or FaceTime so you could "hold my hand" while i sweat it out __________________

[bavass]

If you take the water out of your sump till it barely covers the main pump. Then cut the pump off let the tank drain till it hits the siphon break see where the level is in your sump. Fill the water with pumps off till about 1-2" from the top cut pumps back on take a shapie and mark where the water line is once the tank fills back up and you will know what level to keep sump and you will be safe. Or you can buy a loc-line system for your return and have the spray across the surface and you should only have very little that siphons back to sump

[Marine4life]

Originally Posted by Squidy07

thanks for the video that really helped me alot

No worries.

[Openbrain]

Originally Posted by bavass

If you take the water out of your sump till it barely covers the main pump. Then cut the pump off let the tank drain till it hits the siphon break see where the level is in your sump. Fill the water with pumps off till about 1-2" from the top cut pumps back on take a shapie and mark where the water line is once the tank fills back up and you will know what level to keep sump and you will be safe. Or you can buy a loc-line system for your return and have the spray across the surface and you should only have very little that siphons back to sump

Ok.... Im gonna try it when i go back to the shop next week. Wish you were on speed dial or FaceTime so you could "hold my hand" while i sweat it out