Help - Sump Overflowed During Night

[kat 4]

Does anyone have some idea for our 75 gallon reef tank? We have a megaflow 3 sump below the aquarium in which we have removed the bioballs, but have a filter that catches the "stuff" above where the bioballs go. The door to open and shut the area to replace the filters is not water tight and if the filter gets too gunky (within a week) the water overflows and covers our hardwood floors. I'm ready to scream....we have a diamond goby that loves to sift sand and that seems to fill up the filter faster. Does any one have an idea of a sump that won't overflow? We have a skimmer in the center of the sump and in the 3rd chamber, mangroves. Our wood floors are getting ruined from this situation. Thanks

 

[maxalmon]

Can you post pics of the setup, something sounds a little weird and I'll need to see pics. Could be as simple as drilling a small drain hole above the holding area, just below the top of the sump that would let the water drain back into the sump instead of over the side and onto the floor.

 

[kat 4]

Yes thank you - here are the pics. The water leaks out the right corner of where the filter is...my husband set it all up so here it is......any insight would be sooo helpful.

 

[kat 4]

BUMP...Should I drill holes in the side to let water out and into the middle section of the sump - from where the filter sits???

 

[fireshrimp]

I had some similiar problems
Switch to a cannister filter
I wish i would have at the start
no noise, overflows
no worry about the siphon breaking or power going out
GL with your overflow

 

[dennis210]

2 things - if you are using the coarse filter pad switch to blue bonded filter pad material then drill holes to allow for spillage into next chamber. Drill pilot hole small then a larger one. Also since you know the goby is putting sand in the water column and plugging pad rinse it every three to four days.
Dennis

 

[maxalmon]

For some reason (can't tell from the angle of the shot) but the water should flow over the side of the black plate if it becomes clogged and then down into the sump and then over to the other side. I would drill several holes where the red dots and lines are. Where the light blue line is, there should be a small gap (I'm guessing) so that water can flow down into the sump and not cause an overflow. Check to make sure there is a gap.

 

[ilovemytank]

definately drill the holes. I have them in my sump. I use 50 micron filter pad in mine and about every 4 to 6 days I'll here a slight trickle if there is no other noises going on. That tells me that my pad needs to be scubbed. When its full the water doesn't go down as smooth and starts backing up till it trickles through the holes into the sump tank. I then have egg crate cut to the size of my sink that i put in the sink. I have a two foot garden hose with a high pressure spayer nossel on it. I then spay down the pad both sides until its clean again and actually reuse the filter pad for a couple of months each. The holes make all the difference in the world.

 

[dennis210]

Also the pic shows sump filled to max line - if you shut system down when running at that line will it overflow or not? One other suggestion would be do redrill the holes in the black tray - one size bigger - to allow water to pass through easier.
Dennis

 

[jmesmcm]

Remove the drip plate and replace it with a fine bag or old stocking to filter the gunk out of the water column but that would need to be cleaned regularly. Altternatively remove the drip plate and don't worry about the filtering the water letting the skimmer remove the junk from hte ater.

 

[kat 4]

Thanks everyone - we are drilling the holes and great point about the "gap" maxalmon. That is one of the problems. I appreciate the info and drawing - wow you guys are all great.

 

[phils29bcinwa]

Also does your skimmer just drain right back into the sump?? If so you might as well not have one. You need to hook a hose do the drain plug and drain it into a milk jug or something.

 

[anthony1238]

The skimmer looks like mine, and if it is, that clear plactic is a container on the top that catches all the bad stuff and you just lift it out and clean it. No need to hook up a hose to drain it. the bad stuff isn't being dumped back into the sump.

 

[phils29bcinwa]

Originally Posted by Anthony1238
http:///forum/post/2785863
The skimmer looks like mine, and if it is, that clear plactic is a container on the top that catches all the bad stuff and you just lift it out and clean it. No need to hook up a hose to drain it. the bad stuff isn't being dumped back into the sump.
Yeah, it is an Aqua C Remora Skimmer, some of them come with just the plain collection cup and some come with the collection cup drilled with a drain fitting in it, this one has the drain fitting in it, so yes it needs to have a hose connected to it so that it can drain into a container. If not it just drips back into the sump.