Water level constantly dropping

[Jbird745]

I recently added a sump to my system and now every 30 hours or so I'm having to add a gallon of water cause the pump starts sucking air and filling my tank with bubbles. The problem is there's no Lfs near me with ro water so I've been treating tap water but now I'm getting a diatom algea bloom so idk what to do I'm not noticing any leaks anywhere so I'm lost

 

[Henry405]

the pump from sump to your DT? if thats what you're having problems with, I think it might be that your pump is pumping faster than your overflow so you're slowly taking water away from your sump and filling it into your DT

 

[Jbird745]

Well my sump has 3 chambers 1st is the drain from overflow and skimmer second is live sand rock and macro, 3rd us return the water level in here is dropping the level in the dt constantly stats the same but that last chamber drops rapidly

 

[sdergar]

Evaporation I'm guessing. Top off with RO/DI water other wise your algae is going to get a lot worse. My evaporation varies depending if it's dry or wet.

Steve

 

[Firemedic1081]

Unless you have a wet floor, it's evaporation. I have a 75 gal tank with a 30 gal sump and I have been adding about a gallon a day. I'm not sure where you are but here on Ohio the weather is warming up to the point that my furnace will not be running nearly as much. The increase in humidity in my house will mean that the evaporation will slow down.

 

[Henry405]

So the DT, first chamber, and second chamber is constant, but the third chamber keeps loosing water?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I cut evaporation almost entirely by getting tight fitting lids on everything with a water surface for my freshwater tanks. The evaporated water stays on the glass and then turns back to water and drips back into the tank. If you don't have a leak and you've been running for a while now, there's nothing else it could be.

 

[David S]

Thats normal,its just evaporation,you should only see the water level drop in the return pump section,You can put a lid on the sump but not the dt.if you turn off the return pump,start topping up into the dt until the level in the sump is at its highest point you would want it in a power cut.then mark the sump with a permanent marker,plug your pump back in,when everthing has settled mark the new level.This has now given you 2 marks,the bottom mark is for topping up with RO water for evaporation,the top mark is for PWC when the pump is off.I put in about 2 gallons every 2-3 days.

 

[Dary421]

Thats normal,its just evaporation,you should only see the water level drop in the return pump section,You can put a lid on the sump but not the dt.if you turn off the return pump,start topping up into the dt until the level in the sump is at its highest point you would want it in a power cut.then mark the sump with a permanent marker,plug your pump back in,when everthing has settled mark the new level.This has now given you 2 marks,the bottom mark is for topping up with RO water for evaporation,the top mark is for PWC when the pump is off.I put in about 2 gallons every 2-3 days.

Sounds about right... Time to buy and install a ATO ,...automatic top off system,....it'll automatically add RODI water to your tank to compensate for any evaporation issues you may have,...otherwise it'll drive you nuts trying to keep up