# i am confused



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

So I finally setup my DIY wet/dry. I have an eshopps overflow box. Its rated for 1600 gph. After I set it up and everything runs smoothly, why does it seem to not fill up. It is almost as if the siphon from the actualy overflow in the tank is not big enough. The water drains into my sump too fast almost. Is this possible? Did I set it up wrong....... Its running now but My tank water is really high. Is the actual overflow not big enough?


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

What size tank/ what size return pump are you running? Im a bit confused- you will only be turning over as much water as your return pump is rated for.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

mag dirvie 1200. this is all on a 150 gal tank. I read that the water can only return to to tank as fast as the pump can get it there. Common sense..... If that is the case, why doesnt the whole overflow box fill up?


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

So is there a piece of PVC/ sponge in the bulkhead or just the bulkhead alone in the overflow box? Your overflow shouldn’t fill all the way up- the water level should only be as high as the piece of pvc or whatever is in your over flow allows. Kind of hard to explain but it sounds like your set up right- can you post a picture?


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay.... I think I understand now. There are 2 bulkheads in the overflow box. They are an inch and a half to be exact. Then there are 2 peices of pvc sticking up out of them and then 2 foam cylindrical pads. The water rushes over them and everything flows through. I think that I just answered my own question when I just read your response. I do appreciate the replys though!


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> So I finally setup my DIY wet/dry. I have an eshopps overflow box. Its rated for 1600 gph. After I set it up and everything runs smoothly, why does it seem to not fill up.*What isnt filling up? The overflow box or the sump? Either one shouldnt fill up. The only way the sump will fill is if the pump stops. The overflow keeps the water level at a level equal to the baffle on the other side. Only when more water enters in the overflow will the water siphone to the sump.* It is almost as if the siphon from the actualy overflow in the tank is not big enough. The water drains into my sump too fast almost. *not possible. The overlow will drain only as much as the water that enters it. You practically overflowing your main tank and the overflow box redrains the excess*Is this possible? Did I set it up wrong....... Its running now but My tank water is really high. Is the actual overflow not big enough? *If the actual overflow was too small it would overflow pretty quick, or after it clogs and not seem to drain to the sump too fast.*


On my overflow i can adjust the overflow box height. Can you lower the box so that the water level will be lowered?

For in the overflow box, the water on either side of the tankwall in the box will be level therefore the stuff on the inside of the tank will be equal to the back baffle. This is to keep the tube submerged on either end to keep siphone. It doesnt fil lall the way as when water fills through the teeth the pressure pushes the water through the siphone tube and over the baffle to drain to the sump. When the pressure stops (water not entering overflow- pump off) there is no pressure to drain water after the water level has dropped below the teeth of the overflow.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I can adjust the height on the overflow......Can that be too low? and should the water level in the actual sump fluctuate?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> I can adjust the height on the overflow......Can that be too low?*Yes it can. You want to only allow a certain amount of water to enter the sump if the pump cuts out. Say a 10g with a 10g sump. If the sump can hold 2g of water (so 8g when pump is running) you cant allow over 2 g to be siphoned down before stopping the siphone. Too low and them main tank water level will be lower and the sump will need to accomidate more water when the pump stops If the overflow box is lower then the sump has more water unless you removed it so if the sump has more water you may not be able to accomadate the sipohone Overflow boxes just regulate the siphone rate and how much can be siphoned before being stopped.* and should the water level in the actual sump fluctuate?


The water level only in the pump chamber should fluctuate as the water in previous chambersw has to be a certain height to go over baffles and get to the pump chamber. Just keep the height in the pump chamber at a constant height (well a range). If you did no top offs, this chamber would be the one to lower its level as its like overflowing a cup from a tap. The cup has to be full before the water overflows the sides (baffles) to go in the sink (pump chamber)

The main thing with a sump is that when off the overflow box prevents overflows and excess siphoning which is why sumps arnt filled 100%. In my sump i have about 2" to accout for the water abouve the overflow teeth that will siphone to the sump if the pump stops. Just lowing the overflow box like half an inch will drop the display tank water level by that much, but that half inch heightx the tank footprint will go to the sump now if the pump stops. Do some tests with the sump. Turn the pump off and let it siphone water down into the sump. Assuming you set it up properly, the sump should be albe to hold this water fine and have a bit more room. Then turn the pump on and drop the overflow box a tadand retry. You can repeat this untill you find the lowest the overflow box should be which is the highest volume that your sump can comfortably hold. Just watch carefully as you will overflow the sump if you dropped the box too much then you have to quickly turn the pump on to remove the water from the sump thats about to overflow.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay awesome! that makes a lot more sense now. I will have to do some tril and error type stuff but thats what its all about. I appreciate the write up! This has certainly helped me understand it a bit more now.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Okay awesome! that makes a lot more sense now. I will have to do some tril and error type stuff but thats what its all about. I appreciate the write up! This has certainly helped me understand it a bit more now.


no problem, just remember if you arnt quick enough on turning the pump back on and the overflow box was too low you will overflow the sump. Try to get a level in the sump when the pump is off that still isnt right at the top and mayby an inch under just for any difference if top offs rocks added... Just incase thing


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay I tried some different things and it seems no matter what I do the water in the actual sump, where the pump is, is always the same level no matter what I do. Also I was just thinking; how do I account for reverse siphon through the pump? I am beginning to think I did something wrong. When I raised the baffle with the teeth it basically dried out my sump. Then the lower I go it starts to fill up again. But it seems to never go more than a cpl inches above my return pump. Can the sump be too small? I cant go too low bc then I will overflow. I feel I am pushing the limits as it is.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Okay I tried some different things and it seems no matter what I do the water in the actual sump, where the pump is, is always the same level no matter what I do. Also I was just thinking; how do I account for reverse siphon through the pump? I am beginning to think I did something wrong. When I raised the baffle with the teeth it basically dried out my sump. Then the lower I go it starts to fill up again. But it seems to never go more than a cpl inches above my return pump. Can the sump be too small? I cant go too low bc then I will overflow. I feel I am pushing the limits as it is.


The water level in the sump will always be the the same unless your add more water (from a bucket into the display or sump, if you add it to the display, it will travel down the overflow until the display equalizes, and the extra water ends up in the sump anyways.)

As water evaporates, you will also see it in the sump, not the display... its a good idea to mark your running level with a sharpie or piece of masking tape so you know when to add water, and how much

To determine your running level of the sump, you shut off your return pump and allow all the back siphon from the return to travel down into the sump. You then add water from a bucket until the sump is about 1" from the trim. Turn the pump on and give it a second to level out. Once everything is turning over, you can mark that level in the sump as your MAX. You shouldnt run higher than that because of risk of overflow when the power goes out.

Obviously you shouldnt have water flowing OVER baffles where it shouldnt... so use judgment.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Okay I tried some different things and it seems no matter what I do the water in the actual sump, where the pump is, is always the same level no matter what I do.*This level will stay the same if the pumps running. Its when the pump is turned off that it will change.* Also I was just thinking; how do I account for reverse siphon through the pump?*I drilled 3 holes into the back of the return pump where its in the tank so that it will break siphone* I am beginning to think I did something wrong. When I raised the baffle *overflow box, baffles are just solid dividers*with the teeth it basically dried out my sump*How far did you raise it? If you raised it much that would mean the pump chamber water will decrease as there will be a higher water level in the main tank*. Then the lower I go it starts to fill up again.*Opposite effect. When the main tank level is lower since theres the same amount of water the difference is now in the sump. If you raise the overflow box, you may need to add some more water and vice versa* But it seems to never go more than a cpl inches above my return pump. Can the sump be too small? I cant go too low bc then I will overflow. I feel I am pushing the limits as it is.


 Can you get a pic of the sump?

Ill try to explain it once again:

Since theres a set water volume the total water in the main tank and sump will stay the same so more in the sump=less in the main tank and vice versa. Raising the overflow box will raise the main tank water level and therefore decrease the sump pump area water level ( depending on how much water is added, you may need to add some more water. Lowering the overflow is the opposite effect. When lowering and raising the overflow box, the pump chamber is the first to gain and lose water. Evaporation will also lower the water level in this chamber. Assuming there is a baffle that forces water only over it, we can therefore conclude that the water ,level has to be up to at least the baffle to reach the pump chamber so this is why its only the pump chamber that s level changes. If the pump chamber gets more water and raises past the rest of the sump the adjacent chamber water level will also rise as the same rate above the baffle. Say the sump was filled. When draining water (from the pump chamber) the sump water will drop evenly untill the water level reaches baffle height infornt of the pump and then only the pump chamber will drain. This is the same for any chambers prior to the pump chamber.

Now for when the pump is off:

When the pump stops for whatever reason the overflow box is designed to stop siphone once the main tank water level falls below the teeth. This will stop the siphone from the intake, but the sump must be able to hold the inch or so of water from the main tank that siphoned before the overflwo box stopped it. This is why sumps are never full of water like say cannister filters as if they were the siphoned water would overflow rather then being storeed in the excess sump room. The sump just has to be large enough to receige this siphoning before it stops and any extra volume will be sump water volume.

Hope this helps a bit, but it would be easier to explain with a pic or drawing of your sump as there are a ton of designs you could do. Cheack out melves reef on google if you havnt yet as it will probably help you a bit.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Aegir just reminded me that i forgot to tell you the baffle that im talking about water going over is from a bubble trap. If water goes under baffles the levels will be equal, but if water goes over (like from a refugium) the last chamber will be the the one to lose water. I think AEgir explained the min and max pretty well which is what i was talking about then im saying when the pumps off the sump plus siphoned water should be an inch from the tank rim. The minimum is just your running level in your sump so its good as long as the pump is fully submerged and is submerged enough that evaporation wont cause the pump to run dray if you didn't top up for a bit for whatever reason.

Post a pic then i can explain your questions relating you your sump as right now im describing my sump. 
My sump consits of a suspended box for bioballs this goes directly into a refugium then a bubble trap then a pump chamber. A bubble trap consists of a 3 baffles about aqn inch apart. First forces water over, next under (about an inch from the ground) then the next over again. Its used in saltwater to make bubbles go to the surface to go over the baffle which cuts down on bublbes.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Ok, i just saw your sump in your planted tank topic and its almost identical to mine, however i added a bio ball section on the side opposite to the pump. Im assuming your little chamber is the one with the pump right? This is the chamber whose water level will change first. The rest of the sump will always have a water level at least up to the baffle height.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

You can see here this is what it looks like when it is setup. The part with the pump in it seems to drain too fast and then blows water and air into my tank. If I lower the baffle with the teeth then water splashes all over the damn place when it enters the sump. I also feel as if I have too much water in the sump as well. How do I stop or prevent reverse siphon from the return pump plumbing?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> You can see here this is what it looks like when it is setup. The part with the pump in it seems to drain too fast and then blows water and air into my tank. * so does it do this in almost a cycle? It usually takes my tank a second after the pump turns on for the pumped water to start siphone back down into the sump. You should add more water so this doesnt happen, but it may be a bit complicated since if you add more water you tank may overflow if power goes out.*If I lower the baffle with the teeth then water splashes all over the damn place when it enters the sump. *If you lower the overflow box the excess water will then be transferred to the sump. If you lower the over flow box you may have to drain some water from the sump. Just drain some water into a bucket then you can just readd it later if you need to.*I also feel as if I have too much water in the sump as well. How do I stop or prevent reverse siphon from the return pump plumbing?* I said this already, but drilling a hole in the return tubing on the inside on the tank (where water that returns (and will also go through this hole a bit) wil go into the tank and not splash anywhere. I put the hole in mine at the back of the return about 1" into the tank. You cant see it from the front, but you can tell some return water goes through this hole. *


Your baffles do look kinda high, but its fine if it can still hold the siphone. before the box cuts it off.

The pump should never run dry. after the pump stops like from a power outage the sump is almost full so when the pump kicks back on the pump has a lot of water to return and restart siphone before it runs out of water. Whats you pump size and height under them main tank?
Is this sump running now?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

For my sump all the chambers are at the same level baffle height, bit the middle bubble trappannel divides them. I probably have 2x more empty space above the tank then you do. The pump chamber should run at a constant height hovever it will drop initially when its turned on after being off as it has to refill return lines and increase water level in the main tank enough that it overcomes the water tension and wil lsiphone back to the sump. To get it started, just add a bit extra water in the sump or fill the main tank when starting siphone (so theres plenty of water to drain before it would be stopped and then start the pump. For power outages the sump wil lhave plenty of water so it doesnt run dry, but to just start it you will probably want more as it only has the amount of water in the chamber. Pretty much the overflow box will regulate the main tank water level, but its the sump tyank will always gain or lose this water. Lowering the overflow box will will mean more water in the sump. I may of confused you a bit earlier, but a lower overflow box doesnt mean more siphoning when the pumps off, but rather you can allow less siphoning as the sump contains more water then usual. You can lower the the overflow box and drain some of the sump if the main tank has too high of a water level.

Trial and errors probably the best way to learn, well much better then finding an error by comming home to to a carpet covered in water.

You can use a bit of math to find the max water level by seeing how much the main tank volume drops before being cut off by the overflow. Then with this amount of water calculate the difference in the sump volume and the siphone to find how much water you can keep in the sump as a running level . Take about an inch less then this level so you have a bit of a safety. You should still do trial and error, but this will give you air space height that you need to always have in your sump.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Pretty much a cartain amount of water will always drain when siphoned before its stopped. You have to always be able to hold theis amoun in your sump and have some extra room for safty. Any extra water volume can be used as sump volume. This is the max level you can have your sump at. If you have more then this level you will overflow ex if 2g siphones and you have a 9g running level on a 10g sump when the 2g siphones you will get 1g on the floor. You should only have a 7-7.5g running level then with 2g siphone you would still have 0.5- 1g safety space.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

sean-820 said:


> For my sump all the chambers are at the same level baffle height, bit the middle bubble trappannel divides them. I probably have 2x more empty space above the tank then you do. The pump chamber should run at a constant height * Mine does but that height is just low enough where the pump pumps half water half air, hence a tank full of air bubbles* hovever it will drop initially when its turned on after being off as it has to refill return lines and increase water level in the main tank enough that it overcomes the water tension and wil lsiphone back to the sump. To get it started, just add a bit extra water in the sump or fill the main tank when starting siphone (so theres plenty of water to drain before it would be stopped and then start the pump. For power outages the sump wil lhave plenty of water so it doesnt run dry, but to just start it you will probably want more as it only has the amount of water in the chamber. Pretty much the overflow box will regulate the main tank water level, but its the sump tyank will always gain or lose this water. Lowering the overflow box will will mean more water in the sump. I may of confused you a bit earlier, but a lower overflow box doesnt mean more siphoning when the pumps off, but rather you can allow less siphoning as the sump contains more water then usual. You can lower the the overflow box and drain some of the sump if the main tank has too high of a water level. *<------this might be the answer to the question i am asking but I just want to be sure*
> 
> Trial and errors probably the best way to learn, well much better then finding an error by comming home to to a carpet covered in water.
> 
> You can use a bit of math to find the max water level by seeing how much the main tank volume drops before being cut off by the overflow. Then with this amount of water calculate the difference in the sump volume and the siphone to find how much water you can keep in the sump as a running level . Take about an inch less then this level so you have a bit of a safety. You should still do trial and error, but this will give you air space height that you need to always have in your sump.


My sump and pump are both running now. It is about 4 ft to the top of the tank and another 4 ft to the other side. So that is the distance the pump must pump the water. Plus or minus a few elbows. The lower I lowere the baffle in the fish tank the faster the water flows into the sump. This means the faster the different baffles in the sump fill up and the water level in those baffles also rises. My concern is that I need to lower the baffle in the tank so much to get that pressure that my sump physically cant hold all that extra water. If I were to drain some of the water out of the tank so the actual tank level decreased would I still get the same siphon pressure?


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

65galhex said:


> My sump and pump are both running now. It is about 4 ft to the top of the tank and another 4 ft to the other side. So that is the distance the pump must pump the water. Plus or minus a few elbows. The lower I lowere the baffle in the fish tank the faster the water flows into the sump. This means the faster the different baffles in the sump fill up and the water level in those baffles also rises. My concern is that I need to lower the baffle in the tank so much to get that pressure that my sump physically cant hold all that extra water. If I were to drain some of the water out of the tank so the actual tank level decreased would I still get the same siphon pressure?


4 ft of horizontal pipe will have little effect on the pump if the tubing is large enough. The vertical section is your main concern.

The only reason you adjust the baffle in the tank (the overflow box) is to adjust running level in the tank, you want it to be hidden by the trim on the top of the tank. The reason its "flowing faster" is because its trying to catch up with the draining. And the sump is filling because you are lowering the running level in the tank, and raising the sump level to hold that extra water.

SET your overflow box so your display is running with the top level hidden by the trim.

Let it turnover for a few minutes and equalize.

TURN off your pump and let all the drain and return water siphon into the sump.

Fill your sump to 2" below the top (or the top of your baffles?)

Turn on return pump, and mark the level in the sump as MAX

As for your last question, your siphon pressure wont increase no matter what you do (add a bigger pump and higher turnover?)... its a constant, you are just changing the display running level and transferring more water to the sump, the system volume is still the same total.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

"My sump and pump are both running now. It is about 4 ft to the top of the tank and another 4 ft to the other side. So that is the distance the pump must pump the water. Plus or minus a few elbows. The lower I lowere the baffle in the fish tank the faster the water flows into the sump.* It should even out back to the normal rate. It will only drain as much water overflows which its always determined by the pump. If you drop the overflow more water will be able to overflow at fisrt, but after a couple minutes this water will be in the sump and the overflow rate will slow down. Remember the waters always in the sump or the main tank. If you drop the water level in the main tank its going to the sump. This extra water going to the sump is why the overflow rate temorarily increases, but it will drop back to its normal rate after there is no excess water above the water line that the overflow will create* This means the faster the different baffles in the sump fill up and the water level in those baffles also rises. My concern is that I need to lower the baffle in the tank so much to get that pressure that my sump physically cant hold all that extra water.*remove some water then. Your setup will run the same if you run it with a high overflwo box, and a sump midway full or a low overflow box in which water was removed to lower the sump level to the level you want* If I were to drain some of the water out of the tank so the actual tank level decreased would I still get the same siphon pressure?"
*The siphone rate is determined by the pump so yes. It can only drain as fast as it fills. The only thing is the baffle in the overflow (the part on the outside of the tank) needs keep the water in the overflow box (inside of the tank) at an operational level that keeps the water above the siphone tube to maintain siphone. Just put it how you like and turn your pump off to make sure siphone is maintained. If your moving it mayby an inch just so its not so close to the top rim then it should be fine farily easily. Just try out the level you want in the main tank using a full sump. Then when you get the level you want and you give it a minute to stabalize then drain some from the sump about what you think an inch height would be (volume). When you get the sump to this level turn the pump off to make sure you took out enough water. Be ready to siphone extra so it doesnt overflow or turn on the pump. If you can just siphone then once your about 1" under the tank rim you know thats the total water volume your system can hold. When you turn on your pump the level that the sump goes to will be the maximum volume your sump can safely hold (which you may want to mark). The only possible problem is that the maximum volume would make your pump chamber run dry. If your sump chamber cant hold the siphoned water (if the pump is off) when the pump is just submerged in (with only a couple inches over it) then your baffles are too high as the sump has an operational level that occupies most of its volume, while not leaving enough for poweroutage siphone. If this is the case you will need to lower the baffles.*

My tank (15g with 10g sump) has baffles that are 8.5" tall. The water level in the first chamber is about 9" when running and pump chamber i keep probably about 8". This leaves 2" of free space to hold siphoned water and a bit more in the pump chamber. Say my baffles were an inch higher then i could only hold half of the siphoned water i currently do and i would overflow if power goes out. Say i only had 0.25" taller baffles i may be able to compensate this loss of power outage siphone space by keeping the pump chamber at a lower level. But like i said if the baffles are too high the running volume takes up a volume grater then what the sup has empty. Lowering the pump chamber water level can help, but thats only if the water taken out of the pump chamber is enough volume to contain the poweroutage siphone that wasnt previously accounted for.

Im starting to get confused as to actual quaestions your asking so thats why im rambling a bit. For actual questions can you underline , put a smilie by them or something so i can directly address them.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Ægir said:


> Let it turnover for a few minutes and equalize. * just typing this. I thin kthis is your main problem that you arnt waiting long enough for everything to equalize.*
> 
> TURN off your pump and let all the drain and return water siphon into the sump.
> 
> ...


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay so I took out the mag 1200 that I had and just for laughs I put in my powerhead. ac110. Its just under 1000 gph I believe. This worked perfectly and I do think that the mag was either too big or the compartment it was in was too small. *Does this make sense?*I also drilled a hole in the return piping to break a reverse siphon. So everything should be setup now.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Okay so I took out the mag 1200 that I had and just for laughs I put in my powerhead. ac110. Its just under 1000 gph I believe. This worked perfectly and I do think that the mag was either too big or the compartment it was in was too small. *Does this make sense?*I also drilled a hole in the return piping to break a reverse siphon. So everything should be setup now.


 Powerheads have been used in sumps, but they just dont have the gph you want except for small tanks I think your pump could just be emptiing the pump chamber before siphone is reestablished. Was the sump full when the mag drive was off then back on. If the power goes out the sump will fill so when the pump kicks back on the pump will be pumping out the pump chamber and the siphone water before its running dry. My pump will run dry if its just pumping out the pump chamber, but its fine when there is more water from siphoning down during a power outage. The reserve sump space is all about power outages/ pumps breaking. When the pump is off the sump will fill then when it turns back on it has a decent body of water to pump out before running dry so by this time siphone should be back. If it was just the pump chamber like i said it may run dry for a second, but since when the pump stops the sump fills, the pump has all the water in addition to the operational level plus the pump chamber to pump out rather then just the pump chamber. If your sump is full when you turn the pump back on and main tank cut off at the water line and the pump runs dry before more water retuns then your baffles are probably too high so it cant hold enough water to restart the pump. You could try a smaller pump if the powerhead is working, but im not sure how big of a difference it would make since the overflow only drains as much as its given.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

sean-820 said:


> Okay so I took out the mag 1200 that I had and just for laughs I put in my powerhead. ac110. Its just under 1000 gph I believe. This worked perfectly and I do think that the mag was either too big or the compartment it was in was too small. *Does this make sense?*I also drilled a hole in the return piping to break a reverse siphon. So everything should be setup now.


 Powerheads have been used in sumps, but they just dont have the gph you want except for small tanks I think your pump could just be emptiing the pump chamber before siphone is reestablished. Was the sump full when the mag drive was off then back on. *I tried a couple of different ways at first. I would let the sump fill until it was almost overflowing then turn the pump on. It would then just empty out that chamber so fast. I dont know why exactly that was happening but no matter what that chamber would always empty to that exact same level.* If the power goes out the sump will fill so when the pump kicks back on the pump will be pumping out the pump chamber and the siphone water before its running dry. My pump will run dry if its just pumping out the pump chamber, but its fine when there is more water from siphoning down during a power outage. The reserve sump space is all about power outages/ pumps breaking. When the pump is off the sump will fill then when it turns back on it has a decent body of water to pump out before running dry so by this time siphone should be back. If it was just the pump chamber like i said it may run dry for a second, but since when the pump stops the sump fills, the pump has all the water in addition to the operational level plus the pump chamber to pump out rather then just the pump chamber. If your sump is full when you turn the pump back on and main tank cut off at the water line and the pump runs dry before more water retuns then your baffles are probably too high so it cant hold enough water to restart the pump. You could try a smaller pump if the powerhead is working,*The powerhead seems to be working really well.* but im not sure how big of a difference it would make since the overflow only drains as much as its given. *That is what I wasnt understanding. I coulndt lower the baffles any lower and the overflow was obviously draining whatever it was given. That wasnt making sense to me. Somehow the smaller pump keeps that waterlevel above the suction inlet on the pump*
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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

To me what it sounds like is happening, your other pump is sucking that chamber dry, before the water can make the display and drain back... could you take some pics of it again one with it running, one with the pump off?

Looking at the older pics of your sump, its going to be near impossible to get running properly without risk of flood. The baffles (center is too tall) and the other ones would require a running level near the top of the sump... which gives little room for extra water

Try moving your pump to the larger side of the sump, and your drain to the smaller side.?


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Thats exactly what I wa thinking.....I figured those baffles might be too tall efterall and I certainly do not want to be anywhere near the risk of flooding. I thought about moving the pump but then it seemed morelogical to just exchange the pump and see if that worked before I had to drain the sump and actually spin it back around.

When the pump was off the chamber with the pump in it would fill faster than anything......That water level would clim so fast.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

65galhex said:


> Thats exactly what I wa thinking.....I figured those baffles might be too tall efterall and I certainly do not want to be anywhere near the risk of flooding. I thought about moving the pump but then it seemed morelogical to just exchange the pump and see if that worked before I had to drain the sump and actually spin it back around.
> 
> *When the pump was off the chamber with the pump in it would fill faster than anything......That water level would clim so fast.*


The pump chamber will drain and fill before the rest of the sump. Untill the pump chamber water level meets the level of the rest of the sump this is the only chamber that will fill. When the levels meet they will then rise together. When the pump kicks back on the sump will drain untill the baffle then at this level only the pump chamber level will fall. Pump chambers arnt that big so thats why they rise and fall fast


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