Overflow Box and Sump Question

[PK Tester]

So I have a few questions!

I bought an overflow box that is rated at 600GPH.

I bought a pump that is rated at 540GPH.

Now, my sump does not overflow, but it is half full of water, and I feel like it is a little too full. It is above the MARKED water level on the sump itself.

It is stable at this about half full level, do you guys think it is necessary for me to buy a bigger pump?

 

[mdaniel2882]

We need some more Info. What size tank..what size sump. how deep is the water in the sump. how far is it from the top. I your skimmer ok.....and so on

 

[dannyb]

Should be fine.

Dont forget your headloss though from the pump. Maybe you should of gotten a 600GPH pump as well because it going up however far, It'll loose "GPH".
But it'll work.

To test if you have a power outage or siphon break..

Pull the plug on the tank.. Watch the water go into the sump and see where it stops by itself.. (where the overflow box stops siphoning).

If you see it and its going to overflow the sump, break the siphon.. and obviously your going to have to have your sump less full unless you want a flood in a power outage.

Now to test your siphon breaking.. Well you dont really need to test it.
But a float switch is a good idea for a pump. Connect it all up and if your siphon breaks the float switch goes off and turns the pump off stopping the pump from pumping all the water into the DT causing it to flood.

Also, Be aware that the return pump that goes into the DT will siphon to the sump as well when the power goes out or if you run that float switch. So make sure your return line into the DT is as short as possible to the waters surface in the DT.

Hope ive made sense. Lol.

 

[BigJim]

Your overflow should always have a larger flowrate than your pump to prevent flooding. The pump is the driving factor in the system. The overflow can only flow as much water as the pump pushes back up.

Try raising the overflow box in the tank or removing some water from the system. Theoretically, your tank should have a constant water level and the sump a variable water level. Raising the overflow box will increase the volume of water in the tank, reducing the sump level.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion forum.

 

[PK Tester]

Thank you guys for all the help!

If I turn the power off, everything stays constant. I left the pump off all night, nothing over flowed at all.

Also, I did raise the over flow box a little bit, and did get the sump level to drop, however I still don't know if it is going to be extremely effective as a filter being half full.

Right now, I still have the bioballs in it that came with it until I get reef rock to put in it and they float high. Half of them are in water and half of them are out of water.

The water is about two inches above the MARKED water level on the Eshopp Sump, but like I said it does not overflow if you turn everything off.

Do you guys think it would still filter good enough...or should I get a bigger pump?

 

[David S]

no, it should be fine,you'll find the water level will drop in your sump(return pump section) first due to evaporation,as long as it doesn't overflow during pump shut down just leave it until evaporation drops it to the level you want.then shut down your return pum and then mark all your levels in your sump with a permanent marker pen,do your pwc and water make up to these marks then turn the pump back on.this should keep your levels,just keep adding ro/di for evaporation.