Pump is too strong

[healerhand]

Hey Gang or Mr. Salty,
It seems like Mr. Salty have a large body of knowedge therefore i would like to pick it. I got a brand new wet-day sump today. it will support my 110 show tank. Since Mr. Salty had recommended that the bigger the better. I got a great deal on a little giant 4 ??x-sc. Its very strong. 1150 gal/hr. at 1 foot and 780 gal/hr at 6 feet. Since the pump is so strong, i am afraid that the water inlet (water from the tank to the s/d sump) is not strong or flow fast enought. The inlet is using 1" tube. The question is:
1. What can i do to balance the water flow?
I thought of the followings:
1. Drill another hole in the Pre-filter box and create another 1" tube down to the sump. That means i need to get another U tube.
2. Add a 1" tube with a U tube directly to the sump (bypass the pre-filter.
3. Create a blow off valve and redirect some water from the little giant back to the sump. The amount of blow off (that is what i call it....or aka return water) can be control by a valve.
4. get a dimmer switch and control the pump speed.
Any of the ideas will work???? Please inform me. Thanks

 

[silversides]

Do not use a dimmer switch with the pump. I'm sure that if you contact the pump manufacturer they would eliminate this option.

 

[mr . salty]

Do I understand that you are using a pump to send the water TO the sump? And one for the return. This is a disaster waiting to happen. The supply line TO the sump should be only syphoned out of the tank through the overflow box. If your pump is overpowering the overflow you should add another overflow,or get one larger one. It will be nearly impossable to ballance two pumps because one is pumping uphill(slowing it down) and the other is pumping down(speeding it up).

 

[jimi]

You should add another box. I have a dolphin 1200 gph on my 110 reefready but the tank already has two towers so two boxes should work for you. My two lines run into a tee at the sump.

 

[healerhand]

Hey Gang,
Today i got another over flow for my 110 gal tank. I had to drill another hole for the second over flow box tube in the wet-dry sump cover. With two overflow boxes, the water is still not enough for the little giant. So i added two more 1" home depot tubes. There are total of 4 1" U tubes for two overflow boxes. The inlet water is slightly enough for the little big giant. Now, the filtering system is balance. the pump is very powerful.
Thanks for the advice...

 

[mr . salty]

BOOD DEAL,Glad to hear that you got it balanced. Now you need to do an overflow test. Cut the pumps off and see that it doesnt over fill the sump and spill on the floor. Then start it back up to see that all the syphon tubes and overflows work.Let us know what happens.

 

[healerhand]

Mr. Salty,
Today i filled about 85-90 lbs of california play sand in my 110 gal show tank. The water let at the w/d sump instantly rises. The water level increase to the half point in the w/d sump. I was adjusting the overflow to lower the water level. I took out the 2 home made home depot tubes. The water still slightly higher than i want. Once some water evaporates, it will be lower. As far the overflow test goes. The result is negative. It works fine......
Thank you Mr. Salty...
David C. Phan, D.C.

 

[mr . salty]

COOL, Good job and enjoy. Keep us informed.