Help with new setup

[huss]

i have a 120 gal with overflow and durso pipe.
the sump is directly below it. so i set everything up. the sump is half full and the tank is full enough that water doesnt flow down, but is right there. the pump is also quite loud, its a mak 4.
is there not enough water in the system? like i said when i pull the plug on the system the sump goes half full.

[ruuskystar]

when you pull the plug on the system i believe the sump should go close to completely full. that is the failsafe. if you pull the plug and it only goes half full then there isn't enough water in the system, but each is different.

[huss]

could someone with a sump offer me some advice?

[petes]

huss, Id fill it up so that it just fills up the sump. because otherwise, if youre gone for a few days and you dont have a auto-top off then it gives you more time before the sump could run dry... and gives you more water volume of course. how large is the sump? how full is the sump when its running?

[wsg55]

alot of sumps don't run full the water level is determined by your baffles most will hold about 8" of water prior to hydro shut down that is why skimmers are set there to add more water you nedd to build up your skimmer platform it is possible to run more water in your sump but at what height are your baffles set??

[huss]

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/pp-classifieds/showproduct.php?product=165

i bought this set up

[Duce]

I think you have to find out how much your overflow can handle (GPH) first and then go from there....
I have no experience with the mak 4 (Is it mag 4?) If it is a Mag4 then I will have to say it is way undersize for your setup.... Is your pump cavitating? have you try putting some foam and such to dampen the vibration?

[huss]

its a gen x pump a mak 4 i believe.

[petes]

damn huss, I was suppose to buy that mak 4 from him... :) Hes the one you told me to put a mantis in this tank because of the ro/di unit.. haha...

I would set it up so that when its pumping, the water in the last baffle with the return pipe should reach near the top of the last baffle. Then try turning off every piece of equipment and see if the sump can handle all the water from the tank, skimmer and plumbling. I'm very certain it will. The mak4 does 1200 gph.. cant remember if its that at 4 feet or at 0

[aesop]

huss:
I have a 120g with a sump thats about 40-50g. With the system on - my sump is about 50% full; the pump should *not* be caviating; and there should be enough water there that If my top off fails to add water in or my fresh RO supply is drained; it will take at least 2-3 days for the sump to be running dry (water low enough that it won't push anything up).

With all the power off; the sump will reach about 90% full - but not overflow. This includes my skimmer which is situated in the sump.

The trick is to get the water that returns from the tank to be as little as possible - this involves drilling some siphon break holes and what not. that way u can minimized the amount of water that gets sucked back down - so there is a lower chance of a flood when the power goes out.

[Cellenzweig]

I agree - the sump should be close to full when you shut down the power.

[huss]

sweet, thanks for all the help guys.

if the hole at the top of the durso looks dirty and is possibly partially blocked could that the over flow box act like a toilet?
it goes down in a flush and then fills and then flushes again. over and over and over and over........ i wanted to kil.

[Cellenzweig]

If completely blocked, it should create a siphon until the water level is below that of the dursos intake. After the siphon breaks, it may work like you've described, depending on things like back-pressure. (If your overflow pipe goes down into the water in your sump, it may not suck any water, possibly causing a flood). From what I've read, it's very important to keep the air hole clean. This is why many people don't add an adjustible air valve onto their dursos- they have to be cleaned often.

[Cellenzweig]

I just looked into it more and it sounds like it could either be caused by not enough air getting in OR too much back pressure.

Go here and click on "Build Your Own Standpipes". Near the bottom, there is an explanation of both of these problems.
www.dursostandpipes.com

[huss]

thanks for info. you have really saved me a lot of mental torment.
im pretty sure the problem is the drain pipe is about 6 inches under water in the sump.
thus i have a flushing effect, that quite frankly, deeply disturbed me.....

[Michael_Lambert]

Originally posted by Cellenzweig

www.dursostandpipes.com


Huss,.

this was the link i was telling you about on the phone, check it out and see if the one you have now is made like this.. if not.. fix it :D

[neemo]

Try drilling like a 3/16th hole through both the cap and the standpipe so that they overlap. Then you can simply turn the cap if you need a slightly smaller opening until the flow is just right.
If the hole is not big enough simply overlap the two holes and drill a slightly larger opening through the cap and standpipe again and try adjusting.

HTH
Nick

[Michael_Lambert]

Neemo..

I also suggested to him on the phone to make the hole in the cap larger and pick up a larger Air needle Valve.. and silicone it in.. so that he can do all the adjusting there.. and you can do the real fine adjustments..

[huss]

ok, im back up at my house up north. mmmnnn staring at the lake......
i have a couple questions

1) someone suggested that the drain pipe should not be any deeper then 2" intot he sump. i cut it and now it is barley in the sump. should i get a new one and make sure its 2" in?

2) my pump is still loud, enough that you can hear it over the tv accross a room. i put it on a piece of foam as suggested....... i was wondering if it either needs cleaning or new seals. as it was dry and out of a system for a couple weeks.

3) the hole on the top of my durso is still making a slight sucing noise, and the water level is dropping, but not a close to as bad as it was before i cut back the drain pipe. im wondering if i need to open the air hole more, right now its a little bigger then 1/8th

4) the water noise into the overflow box is quite loud. will this settle down once i fix the other things?

[huss]

.

[neemo]

The middle of the elbow for the durso should be about 2" below the botto of the teeth of your overflow, this ensures that you have a good overflow (eventually the teeth on your overflow box will build up with calcareus algae and slow things down a little)
You have to play with the adjustments until you have a good flowthrough but not such a big drop on the inside of the overflow box that it sounds too loud.
HTH

[huss]

i opened the hole up on the durso. there is still a slight sucking noise from the hole on the durso but the water level came up to about 2" fromt eh teeth. the water rushing in is still quite loud, or im too picky.

[huss]

the pump has been silenced. and no i didnt shoot it.
i found the foam it was sitting on was to dense and that the plumbing was butted up against the wood stand. now all i hear is the soothing sound of the fan and the loud rushing water into the over flow and the sucking noise of my durso.