more sump help Please

[biggdriver]

Cpr102 overflow, 65 gallon 30gallon sump/refugium
Why does my sump start to slowly run dry.. The pump flow should be the same amount going into the overflow I have a 1" flex hose going from the pump to a sea swirl..At the sea swirl it is reduced down to 3/4" to fit on their hose barb. From the cpr I have 2 3/4" hoses going to the sump on has a T on it with some of the flow going into the refugium. The refugium overflows into the sump.Despite the annoying noise coming from the end of the hose into the sump now the sump is going slowly dry..This is really getting frustrating.. anyone got any ideas..If you got some pics of your setups I would like to see them maybe I have to redo something..HELP

 

[amphiprion]

If your sump is running dry, your return pump is returning water faster than your overflow is supplying water. You will need to throttle back the pump with a gate valve or get a larger overflow.

 

[broomer5]

You're right.
The amount of water entering the tank will be dependent on the amount the return pump is pumping.
Once your refugium fills and starts overflowing to the sump,... you would expect everything to reach a balanced state. If you are noticing the sump level is falling over a period of time .. after what appears to be a balanced system, your pump is either oversized, or your overflow is not capable of handling the pump flowrate, or both. The water level in the tank must be rising - and you are not getting enough water falling back into your sump from the double hose overflow. You may not have enough capacity in your overflow, or their is a restriction in somewhere between the overflow hoses and where they dischaged. As mentioned, throttle back the flow from the pump, or increase the size overflow.

 

[jamie1010]

evaporation mabye?simple answer but sometimes they are the easiest to overlook.

 

[biggdriver]

I think Ifound the problem the T" was causing a restriction in the flow. Does anyone here use cpr overflows..I was wondering what type of setup you use in regards to bleeding the air ..THere are three options in the instucts. I bought a rio rvt as recommended but the stupid thing didn't work for even a day.. Sent it back..Is there any other pump that has a venturi or rvt on it that is better than the rio..Heard there is lots of problems with them..I think my overflow is getting a little air and that also is causing some of the flow problems..My pump is a rio3100 about 1000gph and the cpr is rated at 1400gph so there shouldn't be a conflict there.

 

[jastim]

I have a CPR overflow on my 75 gallon. I use a Penguin powerhead to take out the air. I think the powerhead gets about 300 or 350 gph. I kept the venturi adjuster on the powerhead and kept it closed during most of the day and emptied the trapped air once a day. The reason why is that the powerhead tends to fill the tank up with bubbles after awhile. This has been a big problem for me. I really would like to keep the powerhead attached all day in case of a power outage but don't like the bubbles. I'm trying to come up with a way to do get the best of both worlds. I'll let you know what I come up with. Anyway, your overflow will work ok without a powerhead its just a little risky if you get a power outage and you will occasionally have to remove the trapped air or your siphon will stop.

 

[biggdriver]

Why not put the phead in your sump. That should eliminate the bubbles in oyour main tank.

 

[johnnysalt]

I have the same issue (water in the main tank from the powerhead sucking air from the overflow) and then had the same thought about having a p-head in the sump with a long tube up the overflow pipe to the overflow....anyone have any success with that? I wondered how well it worked because of the long distance....p-head still get enough pull to suck out air from that far away?
I guess if that's not feasible for someone (or their p-head is not strong enough to pull air from that far) they could try a very small p-head in the overflow box itself right?!
Let me know if the first idea actually works with 4' of airline....Thanks you guys!

 

[jastim]

I had the same thoughts. I am going to try the powerhead in the sump. My concern there is that the bubbles will just get pumped back into the tank (I don't have a sponge or anything seperating the water from the media outlet and the return pump). I might have to play around with it a little but I'll let you know what happens.