Sump Level Too Low When Doing Water Change?

[Tnops]

Hello, I have a 75 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump which is only filled to around 8 gallons because of my skimmer. When I take out just 5 gallons of water, the sump is almost empty. Is it fine for the sump to have no water with running equipment for just a short amount of time? That way, I can do a larger amount of water change.

 

[homer1475]

Why not just shut the equipment off?

I do my WC's from the sump also. I turn off my skimmer, reactor, heater, return pump, and ATO while doing them.

 

[Tnops]

Why not just shut the equipment off?

I do my WC's from the sump also. I turn off my skimmer, reactor, heater, return pump, and ATO while doing them.

Yea I tried that once and it screwed me over. My sump overflowed due to the return pump being off. Took me a minute to notice and my things were flooded

 

[Tnops]

Why not just shut the equipment off?

I do my WC's from the sump also. I turn off my skimmer, reactor, heater, return pump, and ATO while doing them.

Also its not that I pull water out of the sump, I pull it out of the display which lowers the overall water level

 

[homer1475]

Then you have larger problems. Your sump should be able to hold a drain down event in case of a power outage.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Yea I tried that once and it screwed me over. My sump overflowed due to the return pump being off. Took me a minute to notice and my things were flooded

Your sump should never overflow due to everything being turned off. If it does then it would do the same during a power outage which is a big problem. You need to figure out why its overflowing. Either you run your sump level too high or you're running more flow then the sump size can handle.

 

[Little c big D]

So equipment off, yes. Can you post pucks of your overflow and sump? Somethings not plumbed or built right if more that a few gallons drain off of a 75g.

 

[Tnops]

Then you have larger problems. Your sump should be able to hold a drain down event in case of a power outage.

Your sump should never overflow due to everything being turned off. If it does then it would do the same during a power outage which is a big problem. You need to figure out why its overflowing. Either you run your sump level too high or you're running more flow then the sump size can handle.

I mean the sump can only hold 12 more gallons of water without over flowing and even 1/5 of 75 gallons is is 15 gallons

 

[Tnops]

I mean the sump can only hold 12 more gallons of water without over flowing and even 1/5 of 75 gallons is is 15 gallons

It is actually able to hold 8-9 more gallons of water instead of 12*

 

[ninjamyst]

Like others said, your sump should never overflow. I always turn off return pump when doing water change. I leave other equipments running.

 

[Tnops]

Like others said, your sump should never overflow. I always turn off return pump when doing water change. I leave other equipments running.

What prevents it from overflowing?

 

[Little c big D]

It is actually able to hold 8-9 more gallons of water instead of 12*

Should still not take that much water on.

What prevents it from overflowing?

Pics of the overflow and plumbing with sump would greatly help figure the problem out

 

[Tamberav]

What prevents it from overflowing?

A larger sump or drains higher. Sometimes the return will back siphon so placing that higher can make less water drain.

I use a 40g sump on my 80g.

 

[ninjamyst]

What prevents it from overflowing?

When I turn off my return pump, about 2-3 gallons of water flow from return drain down to the sump. Your sump should be able to accommodate 4-5 gallons easy of extra water.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Your sump should never overflow due to everything being turned off. If it does then it would do the same during a power outage which is a big problem. You need to figure out why its overflowing. Either you run your sump level too high or you're running more flow then the sump size can handle.

He could have his return outflow where it creates a siphon and pulls too much water down from the DT also. You do need to get to the bottom of why you had the overflow because your power will go out at some time.

I pull water out of the sump with an inexpensive wet/dry vac occasionally to clean out the detritus. But mostly I vacuum the DT. I turn all my equipment off to do a water change.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Should still not take that much water on.

Pics of the overflow and plumbing with sump would greatly help figure the problem out

We need pics to figure this out.

 

[Tnops]

Background: I'm relatively new to saltwater and sumps (2 months). I got this tank second hand so I really don't know what the original owner had planned with this.

 

[Tnops]

Background: I'm relatively new to saltwater and sumps (2 months). I got this tank second hand so I really don't know what the original owner had planned with this.

The owner also had this as a wet dry system but I took those out and replaced it with a refugium

 

[Tamberav]

Background: I'm relatively new to saltwater and sumps (2 months). I got this tank second hand so I really don't know what the original owner had planned with this.

Need a pic of the return/s inside the display. They may be too low.

 

[ying yang]

Maybe do 10% water changes instead of 20% but more often.

But what i do is have all the equipment in sump that i turn off on a wc on same power strip and just turn power strip off and siphon into 25 litre bucket till full then my newly made saltwater in 25 litre bucket i throw pump in attached to hose and hose goes in sump and turn pump on to start filling new saltwater then as levels rise i turn power strip back on then its at exactly same level as my ato set at before.
Pump to pump water out sump into 25 litre container.
Then pump in newly mixed saltwater container to pump back into sump then turn power strip back on so as sump filling up the return pump filling dt back up and starts overflowing.can take as quick as 10 minutes to do just 10 % wc on my 300 litre/ 80 gallon tank dt

If you forgetting to turn return pump back on maybe write a note and stick to front door or somewhere you will see it to remind you to switch on.