Do You All Screw With Your Aquariums as Much as I Do?

Get a weaker pump. You want a slower flow thru the sump, not faster. The recommended flow rate thru a sump is 5-10x the tanks water volume. Just look at any pre-drilled Reef Ready tank. A 55g, 75g and 90g have an overflow rated for 600 gph. All right in that 5-10x flow rate area. A 120g, 125g, 150g and 180g have 2 overflow rated at 600 each for 1200 gph total. Again, all right in that 5-10x zone. If you have anything in the sump...chaeto, chemical media, sand bed, etc, it's best to have a slower flow rate to let everything work on the water instead of the water ripping thru.
 
I think I'm going to buy a weaker pump, and if that doesn't make me happy, then I'll try a bigger overflow box. The pump is a third of the price of the overflow box, and I can't argue with that logic.
 
Okay. The Via Aqua 1800 rated at 480gph came in yesterday, and I hooked it up in place of the Via Aqua 3600 I was running. I raised the overflow box like Biff said, and so far so good! The water level is remaining constant!!

However, I want to hook my ATO back up (I broke the ATO siphon so that it wouldn't throw off the water level while I tried to find equilibrium). My ATO consists of one float valve (gravity fed) that is located in the sump and hooked up to a 5 gallon jug of RODI that sits on a shelf next to my aquarium. If I start the ATO siphon back up, will it top off evaporated water like it should? Will it mess with the equilibrium of the DT/sump? Do I need another float valve hooked up to the DT in order to keep balance?
 
ccCapt said:
Get a weaker pump. You want a slower flow thru the sump, not faster. The recommended flow rate thru a sump is 5-10x the tanks water volume. Just look at any pre-drilled Reef Ready tank. A 55g, 75g and 90g have an overflow rated for 600 gph. All right in that 5-10x flow rate area. A 120g, 125g, 150g and 180g have 2 overflow rated at 600 each for 1200 gph total. Again, all right in that 5-10x zone. If you have anything in the sump...chaeto, chemical media, sand bed, etc, it's best to have a slower flow rate to let everything work on the water instead of the water ripping thru.
Click to expand...

not trying to hijack the thread here, but just a quick question.

so what you are saying is when i go to set up my 75g tank with 20g long sump that i should get the 750 gph overflow from glass-holes.com instead of the 1500 gph overflow? and then what should i get for the return?

sorry for the hijacking
 
SaltwaterNoob17 said:
...However, I want to hook my ATO back up (I broke the ATO siphon so that it wouldn't throw off the water level while I tried to find equilibrium). My ATO consists of one float valve (gravity fed) that is located in the sump and hooked up to a 5 gallon jug of RODI that sits on a shelf next to my aquarium. If I start the ATO siphon back up, will it top off evaporated water like it should? Will it mess with the equilibrium of the DT/sump? Do I need another float valve hooked up to the DT in order to keep balance?
Click to expand...

Did you all understand what I was asking? (reading my own post confuses me a little, so I bet you all are pretty lost...my bad) :? Perhaps it would be better to ask: How do you all have your ATOs set up?
 
I put a bucket in my kitchen and put the RODI line in it. Then I set the stove timer for 45 minutes. When it beeps, I collect the bucket and empty the water into my sump. :mrgreen:
 
There are logistical problems with me having an ATO... Since I lose 5 to 10 gallons a day, I'd need a really big reservoir. Or I'd just be filling the reservoir as often as I fill the tank now. I can't fit a big reservoir inside -- I don't have any room in the vicinity of my tank. Plus, my RODI unit is as far away from my tank as it can possibly be, and still be under the same roof! My kitchen (where my RODI unit is) is not close to where my tank is. The tank is close to an outside wall, so NDB and I have toyed with the idea of plumbing a line through the wall in the kitchen (from inside the kitchen cabinet), outside and around the house, to the opposite end of the house to the wall where my tank is, and putting a big reservoir outside on the wall near my tank. Then plumb a line from the reservoir through the wall to my tank...

But it just seems so much easier to fill a bucket every night and carry it in, doesn't it?? ;)
 
Bifferwine said:
There are logistical problems with me having an ATO... Since I lose 5 to 10 gallons a day, I'd need a really big reservoir. Or I'd just be filling the reservoir as often as I fill the tank now. I can't fit a big reservoir inside -- I don't have any room in the vicinity of my tank. Plus, my RODI unit is as far away from my tank as it can possibly be, and still be under the same roof! My kitchen (where my RODI unit is) is not close to where my tank is. The tank is close to an outside wall, so NDB and I have toyed with the idea of plumbing a line through the wall in the kitchen (from inside the kitchen cabinet), outside and around the house, to the opposite end of the house to the wall where my tank is, and putting a big reservoir outside on the wall near my tank. Then plumb a line from the reservoir through the wall to my tank...

But it just seems so much easier to fill a bucket every night and carry it in, doesn't it?? ;)
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Definitely a few problems with an ATO for your set-up. :( And I sure wouldn't want to be the one re-plumbing my house to hook up a gigantic reservoir! :passedout I suppose there is logic to the 45 minute bucket method. ;)
 
Bifferwine said:
There are logistical problems with me having an ATO... Since I lose 5 to 10 gallons a day, I'd need a really big reservoir. Or I'd just be filling the reservoir as often as I fill the tank now. I can't fit a big reservoir inside -- I don't have any room in the vicinity of my tank. Plus, my RODI unit is as far away from my tank as it can possibly be, and still be under the same roof! My kitchen (where my RODI unit is) is not close to where my tank is. The tank is close to an outside wall, so NDB and I have toyed with the idea of plumbing a line through the wall in the kitchen (from inside the kitchen cabinet), outside and around the house, to the opposite end of the house to the wall where my tank is, and putting a big reservoir outside on the wall near my tank. Then plumb a line from the reservoir through the wall to my tank...

But it just seems so much easier to fill a bucket every night and carry it in, doesn't it?? ;)
Click to expand...
Sarah, my RO/DI unit is in my kitchen under the sink. My ATO container is in the basement (I know there are no basements in AZ). I bought 50' of tubing and ran it from the RO down to the basement. Maybe you can sneak a line somewhere thru your house to get you closer to your tank.
 
That's an idea. I guy I know ran the lines through the inside of the walls in his house. My walls are brick. :( Going outside the house would be the only way, if I didn't want the line visible inside. Plus, my cats LOVE to chew on it! I have to replace it all the time because they gnaw on it every time they see it!
 

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