“Best” depth for return pump?

[mike550]

Newbie Q here. I’ve got my sump set up so that the baffle maintains a good water depth for my skimmer. But wondering how deep the water should be on the return pump side.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

 

[homer1475]

Deep enough that it won't create a vortex and start sucking air.

Every pump is different, you'll have to play with the depth on yours to see where that depth is. For me and my return, that's eight inches of water in my return compartment.

 

[WVNed]

The water level in the return section will go up and down as water evaporates and you add it back. You dont want the pump to suck air at the minimum level. Or maybe you do. I had a tank with no ATO and that was what reminded me to put water in the system.

 

[mike550]

The water level in the return section will go up and down as water evaporates and you add it back. You dont want the pump to suck air at the minimum level. Or maybe you do. I had a tank with no ATO and that was what reminded me to put water in the system.

Thanks! I have an ATO that feeds into return section. So I can have pretty good control over water level to the pump. That’s what got me thinking about water level

 

[arturoo1977]

Also, If you go for a higher level, is going to be probably quieter, water noise I mean.

 

[Bryknicks]

I currently have mine roughly 2" under the water surface. The reason I did this is so my sump doesn't fill too much when turning off the return to feed the tank. Originally I had it about 6" under the water surface but the sump would fill up more than I liked and would submerge my dosing lines. Since moving there haven't been any negative impacts.

 

[mike550]

I currently have mine roughly 2" under the water surface. The reason I did this is so my sump doesn't fill too much when turning off the return to feed the tank. Originally I had it about 6" under the water surface but the sump would fill up more than I liked and would submerge my dosing lines. Since moving there haven't been any negative impacts.

Those are really good thoughts. Thanks @Bryknicks

 

[mfinn]

Thanks! I have an ATO that feeds into return section. So I can have pretty good control over water level to the pump. That’s what got me thinking about water level

I have about 6" of water above mine.
I like to maintain as much water as I can in the sump and still have room when the return pump shuts off.

 

[Dragon52]

I currently have mine roughly 2" under the water surface. The reason I did this is so my sump doesn't fill too much when turning off the return to feed the tank. Originally I had it about 6" under the water surface but the sump would fill up more than I liked and would submerge my dosing lines. Since moving there haven't been any negative impacts.

You can alleviate the overfill issue by drilling a 1/8" hole about 1" below the water level on the return line in the DT. You want to keep enough water in your sump so that it will hold the water coming from the DT if the power goes out (will happen) or the ATO accidentally stays on & pumps all the water into the sump (consider this a high possibility).

 

[link81]

just enough water so my return pump doesn't suck air.

 

[Bryknicks]

You can alleviate the overfill issue by drilling a 1/8" hole about 1" below the water level on the return line in the DT. You want to keep enough water in your sump so that it will hold the water coming from the DT if the power goes out (will happen) or the ATO accidentally stays on & pumps all the water into the sump (consider this a high possibility).

Yea I already have a hole drilled in my return line and a check valve. My issue is I push a lot of water into the display with my return pump set high (DC pump), so the display drains between 1-2" back through the drain line into the sump when the return is off. I also have my ATO controlled with my APEX to shut off and defer 45 minutes when the return is off or lose power.

 

[Dragon52]

Mine does the same. I have my ATO setup to turn off if water gets to high in the sump or to low in the ato tank. No controller.