overflow problems, help please

[pallan]

i got my sump/fuge set up last week and i have the water pump and overflow balanced out. in order to get them balance i turned the pump on (no flow restriction) and placed the overflow so that it pulls as much water as the pump is pushing (got a nice balance). but now i have surface film acumalating. the overflow stays at the same level as the water surface and once it is filled up the rest of the skum just accumulates at the top of the tank. the only way i can see to fix this is to raise the overflow to acept less water this will cause a diffrence in overflow level and tank level letting the skum get sucked into overflow. but then to compensate i would need to really slow down my pump.
Am i missing somthing here the pump and over flow were bought as a matched set for one another so why am i having issues with skum.

at what level should the overflow be set? its at about half of the intake slots submerged right now. if i raise it it slows down the water and my pump starts to pump the sump dry and overfill my tank

 

[turningtim]

It sound like you are out flowing the drain. Are there any restrictions on the drain pipe? What happens if you leave the OF in place and turn down the pump? Is there a differnece in the level between the OF and tank level?
I know when I turn up my pump the level in the OF inner box raises but never reaches the tank water level, but I also know that with the pump I have I can't out flow the drains.
When you say a matched set what kind of flow are each rated for?
HTH
Tim

 

[pallan]

if i leave the overflow in place and turn down the pump to the point that it gets rid of skum it lowers the water level in tank and in overflow. gets rid of the skum but reduces the overflow from tank into overflow to a trickle. it also raises water level in sump
here is description of overflow and pump from site it was aquired from
The Quietflo-600™ overflow included in this setup is the most innovative pre-filter to hit the market in recent years, incorporating flush-mounted lids and Backdraft tubes to nearly eliminate 90% of traditional pre-filter noise. This overlow is rated to handle up to 600gph, and is perfectly matched for use with the Storm-90™ refugium. Also included in this setup is a brand new Jalli™ 13-watt power compact fluorescent lighting fixture. The Catalina 1800 return pump is perfectly matched for the Storm-90™ refugium, generating 420gph at 4' of head pressure

 

[turningtim]

I had the exact same OF but mine was the 1200 and I had the exact same problem. I really don't know what to do about it. I messed with that thing for days trying to get a drop in the inner box and for it to skim the surface. I think what is happening is that the surface water just stays put and the water kinda slips under the surface tension. If that makes any sense. I finally ended up moving my return up a bit to break the surface up, but still didn't get rid of all of it.
I will warn you the boxes are very fragile and will break. Thats what ended up happening to mine I dropped it when I was cleaning and it broke. Also be careful putting the lids on b/c the edges will break and are pretty sharp when they do.
Sorry I couldn't be more help I just never got mine to work, maybe a design flaw or something. Don't get me wrong I had mine on there for quite a whlie until it broke......
If you get it to work I'd love to know!
Tim

 

[pallan]

thanks for your help tim
if i cant get it to work i may buy a surface skimmer attachment for my canister filter and see if that helps.
It just doesnt make much sense.

 

[pallan]

might have it fixed Tim
moved a powerhead to the far side of the tank instead of the middle. oppisite side of the tank away from the overflow. i then shut the powerhead off that was on the same side of the overflow.
the amount of flow must now be enough to push water level higher on the overflow side and make a diffrence in the amount of skum that can be pulled into the overflow. AS its now all gone and pump is at full and overflow is in the same position as before.
Easy fix but i dont know if its a permanant fix. LOL