So I am not a newbie to saltwater but am to tanks with a sump. I had several AIO tanks and got out of the hobby about a year go but IM BACK! I was able to snag a excellent condition waterbox 45.2 (discontinued) on craigslist for an amazing price. I had a couple questions though as to how to fill it so the sump doesn't overflow. any tips or tricks to initially filling it? I will have all the water premade in brute trash cans and using live sand and dry rock. It will be set in my basement on carpet and I have heard to fill the tank with water and let it sit for about a week so that way you make sure its level. Thoughts? tips and tricks? Let me know
Filling new tank
- Thread starter Reefguy13
- Start date
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Brett S
Valuable Member
I’m not sure there’s too much of a trick to it. Fill the tank all the way up until water starts to overflow into the sump, then fill the sump most of the way up and turn on the return pump. The water level in the sump will lower as water gets pumped up to the main tank.
Keep an eye on the water level in the chamber with the return pump. This is the only chamber that will have a variable water level. If the pump starts running dry then you’ll need to either turn down the pump speed or add some additional water.
You don’t want to add too much additional water without turning off the pump and checking the water level in the sump with the pump off. When the pump is off the water level in the main tank will lower to the top of the overflow and the water level in the sump will go up. This is normal, but you want to make sure that there isn’t so much water in the system that the sump overflows when the pump is off. Otherwise this could cause a flood in the event of a pump failure or a power failure.
Once you have the pump running and everything is stable you can fine tune the water level in the return pump chamber. As I said above, that is the only chamber with a variable water level, so as water evaporates the water level in the return pump chamber will go down. If too much water evaporates then the return pump will start running dry, so you want a fair amount of water in there as a buffer against evaporation. If you have an ATO you’ll need to put the float switch for it in the return pump chamber.
Keep an eye on the water level in the chamber with the return pump. This is the only chamber that will have a variable water level. If the pump starts running dry then you’ll need to either turn down the pump speed or add some additional water.
You don’t want to add too much additional water without turning off the pump and checking the water level in the sump with the pump off. When the pump is off the water level in the main tank will lower to the top of the overflow and the water level in the sump will go up. This is normal, but you want to make sure that there isn’t so much water in the system that the sump overflows when the pump is off. Otherwise this could cause a flood in the event of a pump failure or a power failure.
Once you have the pump running and everything is stable you can fine tune the water level in the return pump chamber. As I said above, that is the only chamber with a variable water level, so as water evaporates the water level in the return pump chamber will go down. If too much water evaporates then the return pump will start running dry, so you want a fair amount of water in there as a buffer against evaporation. If you have an ATO you’ll need to put the float switch for it in the return pump chamber.
