We Did It!! New Sump!

[Becki67]

Hello everyone,

We finally got our sump in place and going. I bought an octopus 150, 20 lbs of live sand and 20 more lbs of live rock, and a really nice expensive pump.

We set up the skimmer and I had the outflow as low as it could go because the foam and water were overrunning the cup. I called the LFS guy and he said to put it there and leave it for a few days. It calmed down and we added another gallon to the sump system so the BF raised it and now I can't get it to quit overflowing the cup. I've tried everything.

Should the outflow be under the water line? Or above it?

This is driving me crazy. The tanks looks 100 million times better already but all the foam going into the sump isn't good, I at least know that much.

Help, again??

 

[ccCapt]

Can you take a pic? How deep is the water the skimmer is sitting in? Does that section of the sump have a water level that remains constant? Octo's should sit in about 8" of water and the water level should not fluctuate in that section of the sump.
Here's a pic of my NW 200 sitting in a constant 7 1/2" of water.

 

[Doc]

First off, congrats on the new sump!!! New skimmers can take about a week to break in. that is normal to have heavy foam for a while. If there is a control valve for air intake, turn it down to its lowest setting and that will reduce the amount of foam til the skimmer is working at its best.

The foam won't hurt anything and if it is an in-sump model, I would just let the foam overflow into the sump as it really isn't pulling out any waste at the moment while it is breaking in. I am assuming the foam is bleach white.

-Doc

 

[Oscarsdad608]

Is there any chance you are using a water additive. One for treating chlorine. They will make your skimmer go nuts.

 

[Becki67]

Well, it's still foaming. It looks just like the one in the picture below but a little smaller. I don't have the output hose up that high...it's as low as it can get...should I put it all the way up?

I just don't understand how to adjust them. The air intake is a hose that you stick this adapter into that has two intakes...one's always open.

I swear, guys, I'm fairly intelligent, but this thing is frustrating the heck out of me....there's so much foam in our sump. It's definitely white, but I'm not sure how this is going to progress...will it start to turn brown gradually or all of a sudden when it kicks in.

What takes it so long to kick in the first place?

One more question while I have attention...our sump is one compartment with the skimmer on the left, the live rock in the center and the outflow pump on the right. Should we separate these compartments?

 

[joeman]

One more question while I have attention...our sump is one compartment with the skimmer on the left, the live rock in the center and the outflow pump on the right. Should we separate these compartments?

Yes - the pump from the skimmer needs to be in a place where the water level remains constant. If your sump is all just one compartment/tank then the water level will change constantly (due to evaporation etc) and you will be forever adjusting the thing!! This maybe something to do with the problems you are having.

now that you have the thing running it will be a little tricky to add sheets of glass / acrylic - so you have the option of simply placing a smaller tank inside your current sump:
1) the overflow from the main tank must be directed into this new small tank (which will then overflow into the larger one it is placed in).
2) the pump from the skimmer must also be inside this new smaller tank (the skimmer itself can be wherever it fits)
3) the return pump (to the main tank) must be outside this new small tank.
4) the water level in the whole sump must be lower than the top of the new smaller tank.
the idea is that the return flows into the new small tank and in turn overflows into the rest of the larger sump. As water evaporates, only the level of the larger sump tank goes down, but the small tank will continue to be at the same height (because the return flows into it and then it overflows,,,) so the skimmer will see a constant level...
make sense? Did I understand you correctly?

 

[Piggy]

Made sense to me. I would just shut the thing down pull out the sump and add baffles. Let it dry for 24-36 hours and hook it up again. I had to fix my sump and that's what I did. I added a HOB filter for the time being.

 

[Becki67]

Can someone send me a pic of what this would look like?

 

[joeman]

Well here's a link to one... the first one returned from a Yahoo search for 'sump plans': http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=saltaquarium&cdn=homegarden&tm=23&gps=109_619_1220_832&f=00&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//w3page.com/fishline/gif/sump.gif%3F

There are many, many variations... the important thing to design in is a section that maintains a constant level. This simply means that you need at least one partition inside the sump (or a smaller tank - just easy to do quickly) and that you keep the overall water level in the sump below the level of this partition = it overflows from the first partition into the remaining section(s). This is exactly how the Display Tank keeps it's constant level, by overflowing into the sump... you just need to make sure that you also have this first section in the sump & that you place your skimmer pump in it.

 

[joeman]

Hope this helps:

 

[d.french]

i like 3 compartments first for skimmer, 2nd for fuge, 3rd for return pump that way 3rd compartment is only one that water level changes. Cool thing is fuge area has tons of pods and bristle worms, feather dusters and skimmer area is full of sponges growing everywhere so got the all natural filter going on.

 

[d.french]

my skimmer is octopus extreme 150 and it is sitting in 8 inches of water i was told to stick with 6 to 10 inch deep range so both my sumps on 75 gallon tank and my 125 gallon tank are both anywhere from 8 to 8.5 inches deep. My outflow tube from skimmer is all the way down on both skimmers. If your adding stuff to get rid of chlorine in water any additives can make skimmer go nuts mine did overflow cup alot until about a week of running, once it builds up a slime coating it will slow down.

 

[d.french]

this is my sump under my 75 gallon just barely fit in stand basically 30 gallon long made with just enough room for skimmer, and last compartment small as i could for return pump so i could have the most room for fuge. this skimmer i scored from local reef for 120.00 bucks euro reef cs5-3.

 

[Becki67]

Okay guys...here's the pictures. I have another question and I need to get this fixed quick....the skimmer is now putting dirty foam into our sump.

I've posted two pics...one of the skimmer going nuts and one of the intake thing....I just went and tied a knot in the intake tube because I don't understand how that thing works. That slowed down the foam a lot. But there has to be something else and I just don't know how to use these things.

You see two adapter thingies and the hose is attached to one and the other is wide open sucking in air. How do I adjust air intake using that thing?

 

[yote]

The pic on the left is air intake silencer.It just keeps the venturi from making those obscene sucking sounds.

Can you raise your skimmer up a little bit.It may be sitting to deep in the water.Which could cause it to over flow like that.

 

[Becki67]

How do I adjust the air intake then?

 

[d.french]

mine went nuts for awhile and i used a air control from a maxijet powerhead, since most powerheads come with a air hose and control knob.

 

[joeman]

wow that really is going nuts!! you tied a knot in the intake???... So now I can't figure out where your air bubbles are coming from - without an air intake there should be no bubbles...

In general, I know you want to get it fixed, but having the bubbles go back into your sump won't do any immediate harm... as others are commmenting, it might be normal for this skimmer until it breaks in - I have not used one of these..

Slight problem I'm having is that all skimmers are different. For instance, mine has an knob to adjust the flow on the skimmer itself, but Darrik is right = if not on the skimmer then you can probably use the flow rate adjustment on the pump itself, although that's going to be a bit of a pain in the long run.

From your first post, it's an Octopus 150 - looking on their website I'll also assume it's the NW version (right?): http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_35&products_id=47
If this is the case, it says that you simply adjust the riser pipe to determine the level - are you maxed out on this adjustment too?

What might be helpful is if you turn the thing off for a couple of mins and take some pictures (different angles) so we can see where everything is and how you have it set...

Once we get these basics sorted you really will benefit from adding sections to your sump to get constant water level in the part where the skimmer is...

 

[Becki67]

No, I have the riser as low as it can go.

I kept the knot loose to allow enough air in allow it to bubble. I wish I had a manual that I could refer to or at least a number to call the manufacturer. This is frustrating.

 

[joeman]

ok - well it's still tough without knowing exactly how you have it set or how you should have it set - no manual is a real pain + no way to contact the manufacturer - I've been reading a bit about them and these seems to be a commo complaint.... however, most people seem really pleased once they are working.

The only other simple solution is connected to the water level in the sump. It doesn't look like you have a whole lot of height to play with under there, but would you try sitting it on top of something (as a test) until the top of the skimmer is touching the bottom of the main tank to see if it fixes / reduces the issue? In fact just lifting it up and down will give you an idea.. If it does then you will either have to put it somewhere else, or lower the overall level in your sump... Firstly, just see if it makes a difference.