Sump flow bypassing middle section.

[Philipgonzales3]

Yours doesn’t work this way because it is overfilled by several gallons. Fill it to the proper height and it will work as described

You good sir are a genius! I get now (finally!) lol. I see that when filled to the proper level that the return side of the sump is the only level that fluctuates.



Would you say it this OK to make this my maximum fill up line for top off? Or should I drop the level a wee bit? My main concern is evaporation happening too fast (I live in Texas so I think evaporation happens fast here?) and the pump running dry or semi-dry.

 

[TheEngineer]

You good sir are a genius! I get now (finally!) lol. I see that when filled to the proper level that the return side of the sump is the only level that fluctuates.



Would you say it this OK to make this my maximum fill up line for top off? Or should I drop the level a wee bit? My main concern is evaporation happening too fast (I live in Texas so I think evaporation happens fast here?) and the pump running dry or semi-dry.

That looks so much better!

I set my ATO a bit below the baffle height. The extra drop can cause bubbles. You should be great where you have it. You’d have to evap over a gallon to run dry.

 

[Vahanyos]

It looks much better for sure! That is IMO how a sump should be working... only the return level fluctuating.

Your design is similar but slightly better than the one I had to replace. Mine had the middle chamber baffles so low that in order to make it get flow, it made the return chamber water level really low too... I couldn't even submerge my return pump

Glad you got it working! How are the micro bubbles from the skimmer??

 

[ihavecrabs]

This is my first saltwater tank. It is an SCA 50 gallon PNP. First of all the SCA-301 produces a crapload of microbubbles after restarting. I took it out to cut the barb flush when put inside the skimmer body. Supposedly this helps with the microbubbles but as you can see there are still a very large amount of microbubbles. I guess I just have to deal with this every time it restarts?

Also the flow in my sump seems to be bypassing the middle section. That can't be good right? I have about 8" of water in the sump.

Here are the specs on the sump:

One 3 camber glass sump (19-3/4"W x 16-1/2"L x 13"H)

Does this flow look normal? Any easy way to fix? Maybe my water level is too high?

That is weird. The bubble trap going into the return seems backwards or needs to be a triple glass baffle. I.e. the water travels over the top and down rather than through the 2nd chamber.

If it doesn't affect temperature or a hob overflow (if you use one), I would slow the return pump flow and that should help more of the bubbles escape.

The second option would be to lowe the water height and close the height tube in the skimmer letting out less bubbles.

Hope this helps!

 

[ihavecrabs]

That is weird. The bubble trap going into the return seems backwards or needs to be a triple glass baffle. I.e. the water travels over the top and down rather than through the 2nd chamber.

If it doesn't affect temperature or a hob overflow (if you use one), I would slow the return pump flow and that should help more of the bubbles escape.

The second option would be to lowe the water height and close the height tube in the skimmer letting out less bubbles.

Hope this helps!

Edit: when I opened this none of the responses loaded so please forgive me being repetitive.

@TheEngineer has you covered!

 

[JBKReef]

Just an observation... are you using a metal hose clamp on the soft tubing to attach the return pump? I would be weary of this rusting.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Just an observation... are you using a metal hose clamp on the soft tubing to attach the return pump? I would be weary of this rusting.

I was, after reading a thread on a rusting impeller shaft I decided to swap it out for plastic. Right now I have plastic on the one that is under water. I am going to replace the one that is out of water also. Already have the clamps, just need to get my fat *** under the stand and do it lol.

Doing this maintenance to switch out the metal clamp for a plastic one is what led me to look into my sump flow issues.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

It looks much better for sure! That is IMO how a sump should be working... only the return level fluctuating.

Your design is similar but slightly better than the one I had to replace. Mine had the middle chamber baffles so low that in order to make it get flow, it made the return chamber water level really low too... I couldn't even submerge my return pump

Glad you got it working! How are the micro bubbles from the skimmer??

Well the micro bubbles are still there. I think less of them are getting in the DT now, but some are still making it unfortunately. Even less would probably make it if I lowered the return level a wee bit but we'll see how my evaporation looks in 24 hours.

I'm thinking as far as the bubbles go that it could be a couple of things still. One is that maybe it is still breaking in. I've had it for 17 days, and in between that time I took it out to replace the pump (was rattling really loud), taken it out to do the barb cut modification, etc. So maybe I ought to give it a few days to straighten out. Also I dosed ammonia and have not fed the tank any fish food at all yet. So it doesn't really have anything to skim yet. I can get a foam head to rise to the top by turning the knob to 2.5 but the head is only like an inch or less thick. I'm thinking the foam head will increase over time and I will need to adjust the knob down closer to 2?

One other thing is that I have a blue filter pad that came with the sump under the filter sock. Maybe this is affecting the skimmer somehow?


@TheEngineer what do you think? Let it be for a few days or is something wrong with it still? As you can tell I am pretty new to all this stuff so not sure what is what yet.

 

[TheEngineer]

That looks about right. I run mine at 3.5-4. I think it just needs to break in.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

@TheEngineer

I suspect that I also have microbubbles being introduced somewhere else. The other day I turned off my skimmer for a couple of hours and still had a small amount of micro bubbles coming out of the two return nozzles. Everything seems tight to me though. No leaks that I am aware of.

 

[TheEngineer]

Are you sure they’re bubbles and not fine particles? Do you run a filter sock?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Are you sure they’re bubbles and not fine particles? Do you run a filter sock?

I run a filter sock. A 200 micron 4" wide 10 inch long filter sock. I bought 8 and replace them every few days. They don't even get that dirty as my tank is still cycling. I can probably go a lot longer but figured I'd get used to being on a schedule. I also am running my herbie with the emergency 100% dry.

I'm thinking maybe I will remove the stand pipes and reseat them. The plumbing in my overflow is not glued. Maybe unclamping and reclamping my 1" flexible hose. I don't really see where the microbubbles could be coming from. I can't budge the bulkheads with my hands but maybe I should double check those with channel locks?

Also they are indeed microbubbles. They eventually rise to the surface and seem to expand into a small bubble and then pop.

 

[rkpetersen]

The last pair of baffles before the return chamber could use a coarse plastic mesh baffle sponge, like the black ones that Red Sea uses in their Reefers. They trap detritus slightly, but do stop microbubbles from continuing down and out. From your description it sounds like you might have another source for microbubbles somewhere in your plumbing, but this will stop those that are generated by the skimmer. Something like this stuff might work well for you. Of course you have to clean it out now and then, how often depending on whether you use filter socks, etc.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So I tried to figure out where the microbubbles were coming from. I pulled the pipes from the overflow and made my drain a little shorter just in case it was sucking in any air. I don't think that's where the air is coming from but couldn't hurt.

I noticed what appears to be a break in the silicone.



Also a small amount of sand. Also some sand getting in the bottom openings of the overflow. I assume that is normal?



Here is the break in silicone from the outside.



Drained the overflow when I pulled out the stand pipepipes and seemed to hold water fine. This may just be cosmetic. There is a bead of silicone on the inside running from top to bottom that I felt with my hand.

Hopefully this is just cosmetic but I notice a lot of little breaks in the silicone where it is not completely full.





Pretty much from top to bottom on all the seams.

I noticed a small stream of water around the loc line or whatever it's called.



Put some teflon tape around the threads and it went away. May do the other side tomorrow.

I also tightened the bulkheads another 8th turn or less with channel locks.

There still appears to be a few microbubbles but not sure if I'm just being too OCD. I can see them if I squat down and look up in the water towards the light. There are also little particles floating around too. I think I'm just nitpicking at this point lol. Sorry for all the detail just wasn't sure which parts are important as I've never had an overflow or sump before.

 

[TheEngineer]

The bubbles should calm down once the tank breaks in. I would not go glueing everything down.

When you say gaps in the silicone... what do you mean? I can see changes in light in the pictures but I can’t tell why.

 

[wangspeed]

Looks like your aquarium has a corner guard. I think the bubbles you are looking at are from the acrylic strip meant to protect the glass to glass silicone seal. Do you have a triangular shape shoved into the 90 degree corner when you look from the top? If so, don’t worry about the bubbles. It’s almost impossible to get a perfect acrylic to glass seal.

Also 17 days is a long time to wait for break in. If you are at full salinity, and have finished your cycle, I would be looking at a different skimmer. For me the skimmer is the heart of the sump, so it’s where I concentrate a lot of time and effort. There are cheap quiet good skimmers these days, like Coral Box. Good luck!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

The bubbles should calm down once the tank breaks in. I would not go glueing everything down.

When you say gaps in the silicone... what do you mean? I can see changes in light in the pictures but I can’t tell why.

The width of the silicone does not 100% cover the channel for the silicone on the outside. There are some spaces where there are air gaps to the left or right of the silicone on the outside. Does that make sense? Not sure if I'm explaining it right. I think this is just cosmetic.

The glue was for one piece of the emergency drain , under the sump, that was not glued. Under my sump everything is glued, I had just missed one connection lol.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Looks like your aquarium has a corner guard. I think the bubbles you are looking at are from the acrylic strip meant to protect the glass to glass silicone seal. Do you have a triangular shape shoved into the 90 degree corner when you look from the top? If so, don’t worry about the bubbles. It’s almost impossible to get a perfect acrylic to glass seal.

Also 17 days is a long time to wait for break in. If you are at full salinity, and have finished your cycle, I would be looking at a different skimmer. For me the skimmer is the heart of the sump, so it’s where I concentrate a lot of time and effort. There are cheap quiet good skimmers these days, like Coral Box. Good luck!

I think what you are seeing is the overflow cover. Well I don't think the skimmer has anything to skim yet. Still waiting for Nitrites to drop for cycle to complete. I dosed ammonia so the tank has not been fed at all yet. I think once I start feeding the skimmer will start producing better foam and it will be happy. If not I will replace it.

View attachment 20181227_221630.jpg

 

[wangspeed]

I think what you are seeing is the overflow cover. Well I don't think the skimmer has anything to skim yet. Still waiting for Nitrites to drop for cycle to complete. I dosed ammonia so the tank has not been fed at all yet. I think once I start feeding the skimmer will start producing better foam and it will be happy. If not I will replace it.

View attachment 20181227_221630.jpg

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to the vertical seams in your display tank. It looks like there is a piece of acrylic glued in place to protect the silicone seals.

 

[wangspeed]

The part I circled is likely not glass. Look at how your glass panels butt up against each other. The black piece is not actually structural, if I’m viewing it correctly. I think Reef Savvy started this feature, though it quickly spread in the industry. I have them on mine too. It helps with things like preventing your algae cleaner from damaging the structural silicone seal.