You need one 3" drain line per pump. So you have two pumps have two 3" drain lines. It's okay to have the extra capacity just incase you add a trickle system one day or and another pump. You need each drain to run independently to the sump, not that T crap where one drain goes into two pipes. You might get away with that 2" line and add a 3" line. You already have the 2" line installed so just leave that. Add another 3" line and you should be fine.
My 650g plywood tank also Wetsuit
- Thread starter sashimimaster
- Start date
Those strainers are supposed to be good for over 1100gph each. It's the same stuff they use in jacuzzis. So those are not the bottleneck.
I think I can increase the drain rate by raising the water level. Right now the water level is only halfway up the top intake. When I look into the horizontal pipe connecting the intakes it's at the tank water level and only halfway full. If I raise the water level in the tank the top intake would be full and flow a lot more water. The problem is if the power quits all that water would drain into the sumps and overflow the sumps. With 2" of water at my tank dimensions it's over 43gallons and my sumps don't have that much more head room to accommodate that.
To change to 3" pipe would be major reconstruction. I would basically have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it. I'd rather rebuild the sumps to be bigger than rebuild the tank. And at that point I would even change the entire filtering system to a closed one first.
I think I can increase the drain rate by raising the water level. Right now the water level is only halfway up the top intake. When I look into the horizontal pipe connecting the intakes it's at the tank water level and only halfway full. If I raise the water level in the tank the top intake would be full and flow a lot more water. The problem is if the power quits all that water would drain into the sumps and overflow the sumps. With 2" of water at my tank dimensions it's over 43gallons and my sumps don't have that much more head room to accommodate that.
To change to 3" pipe would be major reconstruction. I would basically have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it. I'd rather rebuild the sumps to be bigger than rebuild the tank. And at that point I would even change the entire filtering system to a closed one first.
what if you put an emergency overflow in your sump, close to the top, plumb in a pipe that leads outside or to a drain. that way if your power shuts off and you do begin to flood the sump, the water flows into this and outside. just a thoought
^^^^ Good idea! If you lose power and the sump starts filling it can over flow into the drain. At least you wont spill water.
I think the strainers are part of your problem. You should run a test with and with out the strainers. It looks like you only have one 2" hole in the tank as a drain. To maximize this, run as straight a pipe as possible from that 2" hole to the sump. No T fittings or bends. Good luck and keep us updated. This is a minor set back and an easy fix, at least your tank doesn't leak! You have an awesome tank there and it should be good to go in a few days
I think the strainers are part of your problem. You should run a test with and with out the strainers. It looks like you only have one 2" hole in the tank as a drain. To maximize this, run as straight a pipe as possible from that 2" hole to the sump. No T fittings or bends. Good luck and keep us updated. This is a minor set back and an easy fix, at least your tank doesn't leak! You have an awesome tank there and it should be good to go in a few days
Awesome tank build this is the stuff that inspires me to try and do something along the lines. Great looking build
tscharf;5004807; said:
That's a good idea but my sump drain from one sump into the other is near the top so I don't have more room above that to put it an emergency drain.
I seriously doubt it's the strainers since it's rated at over 1100 gph and I have two of them. There are actually 3 drains. Two near the bottom and one at the surface. You can see them in one of my earlier pics. Also the other night when I was filling the tank I filled the water level to above the top surface skimmer and the flow was huge! I just wasn't fast enough to open up the pumps and it overflowed a little.
I think I'm going to explore raising up the walls of the sumps so it can have more capacity. With my caculations I only need to add 43 more gallons to contain the drain amount. With the extra height I may be able to put in that emergency drain.
Thanks for the words of encouragment. I was getting a little discouraged when I had to clean up the spill over. I thought I designed it right and never anticipated that scenario. I've gone too far to turn back so I need to get this finished and working.
If you really want to get creative you could have the excess water flow from the sump into an additional tub, and have a pump in the tub that has a water level switch in the sump so when the power comes on the sump would get lower then the switch triggers the pump in the overflow tub to turn on and add water back to your sump, you would just have to find a switch that turns the pump on at one level and off at another.
Or just remake your pipes so that each outlet was plumbed straight to the sump and not having to share with another.
Or just remake your pipes so that each outlet was plumbed straight to the sump and not having to share with another.
TrinteK;5004954; said:
That's actually a good idea too. I really don't even have to worry about pumping it back in. Power failures don't happen that often around here and I just need something to catch the overflow when it does happen. I could just plumb it to a tub and be done with it.
I have a couple sumps all plumbed together with 1" line. It works fine. Hindsight, I wish I went with a little larger line like 1.5" or 2" to increase flow between the sumps. One sump/pump out performs the other and the water level is about an inch lower in that sump. If I had a bigger line between them the water level would be closer to the same level.
