Balancing a wet/dry filter

[reef dude]

I've got a wet/dry filter and its a big pain... The water is drawn into the filter underneath by a siphon-method (NOT a drilled tank) and then is pumped back into the tank by a rio 2500 pump, but the pump is pumping water back up into the tank just a tiny bit faster than the water that is coming into the filter.. Within a week or so, this problem will eventually catch up to me and the pump will be running dry. How can i balance the intake(siphon) and the return line????????

 

[karvis]

no, mine shoots it up faster then it can come down. just add something in the filter(i use seashells) to keep the level up, just incase. They also buffer water!
hope that helps!!!

 

[ibrew4uandi]

Are you sure that what is happening is that your siphon overflow isn't keeping up with your pump?....Or Your overflow is slowing down over time because of evaporation? Most likelely that is the cause. Overflows will keep the tank at a constant level but the sump level will vary.
It is possible that your pump is pumping more than can be overflowed. You can fix this by putting a valve on the return line and closing it partly.

 

[jakepilot]

the rio should have come with a valve to control the flow rate...put that on the pump and then throttle it back a bit..that should do the trick..--jake

 

[reef dude]

Thanks guys. I just put a valve on the return line but i dont want to close it a lot at one time, small turns every day is what im trying to do in order to get the right spot