• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Help need with sump please

Devon kt

New Member
Joined
13 Oct 2018
Messages
12
Location
Devon
Hi its been a very long time since I posted anything but back into aquariums again after a unwanted break. Have been restoring a tank and testing everything in my garage. First time playing with a sump. So I have built a stockman for the overflow but now have issues with excessive bubbles in my sump from the drain. Any ideas on how to reduce this? As will be living in my lounge.

I have attached link to a couple of videos showing the issue as files to large to post directly.

 
Hi thanks not at the minute as away from tank but swsond video shows the arrangement. There is a glass internal weir a tall stand pipe with stockman overflow. I have tried taping up the hole in the end cap but only difference that made was to make the the water drain as far as the lip of the stockman and gurgle.
 
I am far from an expert, and prob what you don't what to hear, but I would think you need at least one primary drain and one emergency drain. The flow on the primary drain can be adjusted with a tap allowing it to run at full siphon, not taking in any additional air into the sump, and ideally just a small trickle from the emergency pipe. Are you able to retrofit another pipe or get an overflow box with one?
 
It was set up with only the one drain from the factory I could get a separate overflow box for the tank for a secondary drain
 
I was thinking of attaching a ball valve to maybe help equalise the flow but know if this would be OK with a single drain
 
Obviously, the air in the drainpipe can get in only one way. :) And that is from the top, sucked in with the falling water from the overflow. All bubbles trapped in the falling water volume can obviously get out only at the bottom end that is submerged.

The only way to keep up and not change the drain speed you should split up the route it follows into 2 sections and let the air escape halfway down in the drainpipe. I'll make you a cross-section diagram to get the picture of what you should do because this kind of physics is difficult to explain in words only for people that don't yet see the obvious. Once you see it, it can't be unseen and becomes clear.

open gutter.jpg


Size both tubes according to your turnover... If you hear water running noise coming from the open connection, plug it with a piece of sponge. Then air still can get in and out but the sponge will dampen or most likely eliminate the noise. This way the airbublles in the fall/stand pipe from the overflow escapes above the sump and not in it. :) And you'll break the fall with a 90° horizontal gutter. The gutter should be a PVC pipe wider than the fall pipe in it. For example, 32mm fall pipe loosely placed in a 40mm or 50mm S-shaped pipe that is the open gutter to and in the sump.

How you need to size it depends on the capacity it needs to sync with your turnover.
 
Last edited:
Obviously, the air in the drainpipe can get in only one way. :) And that is from the top, sucked in with the falling water from the overflow. All bubbles trapped in the falling water volume can obviously get out only at the bottom end that is submerged.

The only way to keep up and not change the drain speed you should split up the route it follows into 2 sections and let the air escape halfway down in the drainpipe. I'll make you a cross-section diagram to get the picture of what you should do because this kind of physics is difficult to explain in words only for people that don't yet see the obvious. Once you see it, it can't be unseen and becomes clear.

View attachment 174792

Size both tubes according to your turnover... If you hear water running noise coming from the open connection, plug it with a piece of sponge. Then air still can get in and out but the sponge will dampen or most likely eliminate the noise. This way the airbublles in the fall/stand pipe from the overflow escapes above the sump and not in it. :) And you'll break the fall with a 90° horizontal gutter. The gutter should be a PVC pipe wider than the fall pipe in it. For example, 32mm fall pipe loosely placed in a 40mm or 50mm S-shaped pipe that is the open gutter to and in the sump.

How you need to size it depends on the capacity it needs to sync with your turnover.
Thank you just experimented with some 68mm gutter pipe and fittings I had in the house and worked a treat with the bubbles. On my way now to go and get some different sized fittings to
experiment with the ideal combination.
 
Absolutely would be the ideal combination but this tank was free and was already set up this way from the factory. So really did not want to get into drilling and changing the configuration on this one. I have tested the system with pump off and also with drain plugged up, and in both situations it never flooded with my return pump switching off when no longer submerged. So feel quietly confident enough that this will be ok. Also do have a rather limited budget set by the boss on this one lol.
 
A simple and cheap solution for flood prevention is to calculate how much water is needed to flood the tank in case of a drain blockage. L x W x H is the free space volume from the desired water level to the top rim. Suppose this is 20 litres, then make sure the pump runs dry when the sumps water level lowers at 15 to 19 litres. You can do this by raising the pump and put it on a platform in the sump. Or create an extra pump compartment in the sump with a baffle that doesn't contain more than the calculated volume.

About all aquarium pumps are designed with a dry-running (thermal) protection, but most pumps never run dry instantly cause by water evaporation. By the time it does, it will make noise, sucking air, for quite a while functioning as an alarm that it's time to check the water level in the sump. Most pumps we use are non-self-priming pumps, these pumps don't have the power to run completely dry in case of a drain blockage...

:thumbup: Sometimes life is very simple... Just think a bit out of the sump (box)
 
Last edited:
A simple and cheap solution for flood prevention is to calculate how much water is needed to flood the tank in case of a drain blockage. L x W x H is the free space volume from the desired water level to the top rim. Suppose this is 20 litres, then make sure the pump runs dry when the sumps water level lowers at 15 to 19 litres. You can do this by raising the pump and put it on a platform in the sump. Or create an extra pump compartment in the sump with a baffle that doesn't contain more than the calculated volume.

About all aquarium pumps are designed with a dry-running (thermal) protection, but most pumps never run dry instantly cause by water evaporation. By the time it does, it will make noise, sucking air, for quite a while functioning as an alarm that it's time to check the water level in the sump. Most pumps we use are non-self-priming pumps, these pumps don't have the power to run completely dry in case of a drain blockage...

:thumbup: Sometimes life is very simple... Just think a bit out of the sump (box)
Yeah I have tested with a blocked drain and no flooding was very happy
 
If you're using an air pump, there are a few things you can do to make it quieter as well. If your air pump is very small and light, you can easily hang it to avoid any vibrations with anything on the surface. Placing the air pump on a solid surface will prevent it from moving around, preventing unnecessary sounds from occurring.
 
Back
Top