Seemingly too high flow in drain and filter sock chambers?

[Lunchboxau]

Hi, I'm new so try and be gentle

Read a heap on this forum and watched too many youtube clips and finally setup a waterbox 180.5 Reef Pro the other day after being out of the game for quite some time and have started the cycle.
One thing that I just can't seem to work out is that there is quite a lot of flow entering the main drain chamber (irrespective of how much I back off the gate valve) even though it seems I have balanced it correctly with the water level just sitting below the overflow stand pipe. There is so much flow that it overflows from the first filter sock area directly into the second, as well as overflows over the side into the skimmer chamber (which I will obviously setup once I have completed the cycle). The filter floss there is just to reduce noise and didn't impact waterlevel if it was in or not.

Not sure if it is to do with the pump I am using? It's a Hydor Seltz D 12000 which I have backed off to it's slowest setting, and I tried opening both manifold lines to try and reduce return flow, but that didn't seem to make a difference.

Any ideas on what to try next would be great, not a fan of having the water level so high!

Cheers

 

[Oropher]

Welcome to R2R.

That's quite a big pump. 12000 lph and the system volume 800 liter = 15 times turnover.

If the return line is running a few reactors then you won't get a high water level.

 

[Nick Steele]

It’s possible that the socks are the issue they can become trapped with detritus and not allow water to travel through them fast enough (one of the reasons I don’t like socks). Are they brand new socks?

 

[mike550]

What happens if you reduce the overall volume of the water in your system? If it seems like your flow is balanced but you’re still overflowing the chambers maybe too much water?

 

[Kryptonian]

You're definitely correct that the water level should not be that high. The bubbles (they go away after your equipment breaks in) do make it hard to see but I'm running the same tank and the water level in that return chamber is at least 1.5" below the top of the glass. With it running that close, you're going to have salt buildup on everything behind the tank as droplets and bubbles escape.

My socks filled with detritus and other stuff pretty quickly and started overflowing into the next chamber within 2-3 days. That started about 2 months after setting up the tank. You shouldn't have that much 'stuff' to clog the socks right on start-up. I quickly got sick of sock maintenance and replaced them with filter cups.

If you turn off the sump pump and let the tank drain into the sump, the water level should stop in the sump about 3-4" from the top of the glass in all chambers. I've found it very difficult to have an incorrect water level with this tank. The skimmer chamber (while the pump is running) should nicely overflow into the last pump chamber. Not too much water so it rises above that level though or the skimmer will need a stand. If you drop to too little water, the pump will start to suck air and shoot microbubbles into the tank. You've only got maybe 1-2 gallons of give/take between too much and too little water so imo that makes it pretty easy to have the correct amount of water.

Your pump is pretty big but imo not too big for the tank. It can run 3,000 gph and 700-900 is probably plenty for this tank. I run a 2,000 gph pump at 50% and am getting around 750gph.

 

[Lunchboxau]

Thanks people, some good ideas to try!

Yeah brand new socks, might try rinsing them both though and seeing if they have picked up some crap from the rock/sand during the initial build phase.

I might also try reducing the overall amount of water in the system and see if that makes a difference, and using a slower pump (i have a smaller one floating around somewhere) and see if that makes a difference! I'll do that at the same time as checking my pump-off water level and compare it to yours Kryptonian and get a feel for how its sitting.

Thanks again.

 

[Alchameth]

For testing purposes, just remove the socks.

 

[Lunchboxau]

and it was the brand new filter socks, the level has gone back to normal without them! Maybe I should have given them a good rinse out in RODI before putting them in.

Either way might start looking at filter cups as I was hoping I would need to buy something else. It had been over 24 hours and my wife had been pushing me to make another fish tank related purchase!

 

[Alchameth]

and it was the brand new filter socks, the level has gone back to normal without them! Maybe I should have given them a good rinse out in RODI before putting them in.

Either way might start looking at filter cups as I was hoping I would need to buy something else. It had been over 24 hours and my wife had been pushing me to make another fish tank related purchase!

You've got the mesh in the first chamber? I always wash new socks in a quick wash with double rinse with a cap of bleach. And, if there is any scent of bleach then I run it through the cycle again without bleach.

 

[mike550]

@Lunchboxau something still doesn't seem right. I'm assuming that the Waterbox was designed to work with filter socks -- so I'm not sure if you solved your problem or just a symptom. I guess the bigger question is what happens when you turn your pump off. Will the sump hold the residual water or will it overflow?

 

[Lunchboxau]

Understood, I’ll operate under the assumption I should have cleaned the socks out before using them and maybe I didn’t rinse the sand properly before setting the tank up. if the level remains better after reusing the same socks cleaned out properly hopefully that means you guys solved the issue and it’s not a deeper underlying issue I have created in setup (which wouldn’t surprise me going through the entire learning process).

cheers