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To sump or n̶o̶t̶ to sump? (Swan Lake)

DeepMetropolis said:
It is the working level the pump already runs.. I could run it higher but it was set at this when starting up.. For me it is fine for now the sea don't jump out so easily.. This is about 2cm now.. f4a2c6b0c8ede9d8d4c767dd4b01c936.jpg
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Awesome stuff! What is you in tank flow rate like versus the canister filters you had before?
 
Much and much better i used to have the cannister + two wavemakers to get some flow.. Now I run the pump at 70% and I don't see any need for wavemakers.. The drop checkers turn nice green, fish love to play with the flow..

The sump is set up to have good mechanical filtration a coarse and medium chamber then trough the filter floss in a trickle tower. Where sits the hel-x media from the cannister after that there is purigen.. I have a part for plant clippings to grow out and then the pump chamber..

I used the drill a hole trick for the lowest outlet and it works like a charm.. If I switch of the power water flows back but I have plenty of room left in the sump..
 
DeepMetropolis said:
Much and much better i used to have the cannister + two wavemakers to get some flow.. Now I run the pump at 70% and I don't see any need for wavemakers.. The drop checkers turn nice green, fish love to play with the flow..

The sump is set up to have good mechanical filtration a coarse and medium chamber then trough the filter floss in a trickle tower. Where sits the hel-x media from the cannister after that there is purigen.. I have a part for plant clippings to grow out and then the pump chamber..

I used the drill a hole trick for the lowest outlet and it works like a charm.. If I switch of the power water flows back but I have plenty of room left in the sump..
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I'm glad the hole trick worked. how many holes did you put in each pipe - just one, or several as backup? Do you see much water firing out of these during normal operation? - I did think about this the other day; you could actually add a hole above the water level, even on the top of the pipe, with a non-return valve so air can get in but water can't flow out, then you should get almost no back flow into your sump.

Also another question. When water does back flow into your sump, and the level in there increases, what happens when you turn the pump back on, does the water level go back to where it should be, or does it stay raised in the sump? Also what happens when you get evaporation, does that just reduce the level in the sump?

Have you done any other failure testing on the tank so far (weir blockage, pump failure, sump compartment blockage) etc etc?
 
Wookii said:
Also another question. When water does back flow into your sump, and the level in there increases, what happens when you turn the pump back on, does the water level go back to where it should be, or does it stay raised in the sump? Also what happens when you get evaporation, does that just reduce the level in the sump?
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When the pump kicks back on, water level in the tank and sump go back to normal. Evaporation is only going to occur in the sump. since the pump is constantly feeding water to the main tank from the sump, the only place for water to be lost from evap is the sump.
 
Not sure if I’m seeing it right, but it appears your drains go all the way to the bottom of the sump floor, am I correct? You may have an issue with air purging when you do have to shut the pump off or a power failure. The result will be lots of gurgling and the overflow’s inability to equalize due to trapped air.
 
Wookii said:
I'm glad the hole trick worked. how many holes did you put in each pipe - just one, or several as backup? Do you see much water firing out of these during normal operation? -
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Just on. But thinking about a back up.. its just a small hole so no water is pouring from it as far as i can see its below the water level.. I won't do it above the water I guess it will look weird if water is spitting out from the side, just as hoses and return valves.. I think an overflow and two pipes is enough in tank gear already.. Glad I got rid of the wavemakers.

Wookii said:
Also another question. When water does back flow into your sump, and the level in there increases, what happens when you turn the pump back on, does the water level go back to where it should be, or does it stay raised in the sump? Also what happens when you get evaporation, does that just reduce the level in the sump?

Have you done any other failure testing on the tank so far (weir blockage, pump failure, sump compartment blockage) etc etc?
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Jups I did test out a few scenarios all works well.. The sump fills back up and I have 10cm from the top left can do less If I drill a hole just a bit higher then I did now.. But might just go with an return valve and have the hole for back up.. But that is an option for an other time..

The water level allways goes back up to where you set your weir.. Even if it evaporates.. I notice that if the weir gets blocked by debris the water height changes that the level in the sump lowers and since the tank has a big surface compared to what I have in the pump compartment.. I just ordered a auto top off to help counter the evaporation or the weir blockage problem.

Mr.Shenanagins said:
Not sure if I’m seeing it right, but it appears your drains go all the way to the bottom of the sump floor, am I correct? You may have an issue with air purging when you do have to shut the pump off or a power failure. The result will be lots of gurgling and the overflow’s inability to equalize due to trapped air.
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Yes its about 5cm from the bottom and I hear gurgling when I switch of the pump but did not notice any air got trapped in all the times I did switch it off.
 
Today i have sanded the weir leveler to a more rounded shape to streamline the water a bit more it was falling in the in tank box that created trickling noise it got a bit less now I will try to make some sort of lit..
Raised the water level now with have around 1 cm below the rim, no change in the trickling volume so its set as it was supposed to be..
Installed Blue marine ATO.. works like a charm.. Only the water container there is had a to small opening, need around 4cm to get the small pump in. Placed it in a bucket for now..
 
DeepMetropolis said:
Today i have sanded the weir leveler to a more rounded shape to streamline the water a bit more it was falling in the in tank box that created trickling noise it got a bit less now I will try to make some sort of lit..
Raised the water level now with have around 1 cm below the rim, no change in the trickling volume so its set as it was supposed to be..
Installed Blue marine ATO.. works like a charm.. Only the water container there is had a to small opening, need around 4cm to get the small pump in. Placed it in a bucket for now..
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mine does this too sometimes depending on if there is an interruption in flow, a single leaf can do it. I believe the solution is to raise the height of the drains so that there is very minimal or no negative space between the water level and bulkhead. I believe the trickling is the water passing through the bulkhead
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
mine does this too sometimes depending on if there is an interruption in flow, a single leaf can do it. I believe the solution is to raise the height of the drains so that there is very minimal or no negative space between the water level and bulkhead. I believe the trickling is the water passing through the bulkhead
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Yes I understand but my bulkhead is flooded its simply because the water level in the overflowbox is lower then my tank lavel so everything through the weir is falling and if it catches some air in the meantime it makes more noise.. Yes plant leaves clogging up the weir makes it more worse.. I would recommend people buying this box consider cutting a part of the inner box so that the water level from the outer box sits a bit higher making the fall less.. Wish I knew that beforehand..
 
DeepMetropolis said:
If I just place a lit over the wet/dry chamber would that help with the water evaporation and co2?
It would be much easier to make that part airtight then the whole sump..
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Yes, you want to make most areas as airtight as possible to reduce CO2 off gasing.
 
In all honesty, if your injecting enough CO2 I don’t think off gassing will be an issue. I have almost 10x turnover with very noticeable surface movement and obviously the overflow. My tank is saturated with CO2. In regards to evaporation there isn’t much you can do without covering the tank and sump.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
In all honesty, if your injecting enough CO2 I don’t think off gassing will be an issue. I have almost 10x turnover with very noticeable surface movement and obviously the overflow. My tank is saturated with CO2. In regards to evaporation there isn’t much you can do without covering the tank and sump.
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But that’s precisely the point - a wet and dry filter is going to be the main point of CO2 off gasing. Sure you can increase your CO2 injection so you have ‘enough’ CO2 to reach your target levels in your tank, but preventing the off gasing in your wet and dry filter should mean you need to inject less CO2, no?
 
Looks good - really impressive Buce growth to be honest. Plus you can’t even see the overflow weir!
 
What are the dimensions of the tank? Can you share a full tank shot from the front. It looks good.
 
Tankless said:
What are the dimensions of the tank? Can you share a full tank shot from the front. It looks good.
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As told in the first post at least, 130*50*50cm. Here is a front tank shot.. Not so great quality as Tapatalk mess up the picture send with it.. 59986802231cc5b54739b28c8cc43ab9.jpg
 
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