Well this is the start of my build. It has been hell getting this far and I hope it gets easier. It took me 5 trips to home depot and 3 trips to the LFS for water and i still have not been able to turn on the skimmer or return pump because I dont have enough water in the system. Also I got it filled and the bulk head was leaking so I had to fix that. So I should have some pics up soon.
My 45 gallon build
- Thread starter ckwatson
- Start date
well i got all my water in the tank today, but it seems like it is not draining fast enough and it is very loud. Any help would be great. also can you drill a hole in lockline for a siphon break? Really there are so many problems with it I think i may just need some one to help and come over one evening and tell me what I am or have done wrong.
Ok i am thinking of taking the skimmer box off and just using the white elbow you see in the picture. I have seen alot of tanks @ lfs do this. I am hoping this may fix most of my problems. Also there are alot of bubbles coming back in with my return water and they are by no means micro bubbles and help with that
You can drill Loc Line--I've got four Loc Line returns and I've drilled a 1/4" hole in each. Don't get frustrated -- I think I made daily trips to HD and Lowes when I was plumbing mine...and then ripped it all out and started over!
I'd try to keep the LocLine below water level when the pump is running--you may be getting some air leaking in the line where it's above water level. That may account for the bubbles.
Personally I don't know why you'd feed the 'fuge from the return line rather than from the drain. I'd tee the drain line with valve so I could control the flow to the fuge, and direct the existing tee that you've got on the return directly back into the sump, rather than to the fuge.
Then you can use the valve to control the amount of flow to the tank. Then if the drain can't keep up with the pump you can throttle it back by pumping some of that water right back into the return section.
I think one of the problems i am having with it not draining like i want is the skimmer box, i think the slits in it are too small for the amount of water trying to come through so the train sucks a lot of water in and then has to wait for the box to fill up again then suck a bunch in, when it was draining it was like there would be a rush of water then a rush of air would capping my drain vent and putting a smaller hole in the cap help with that problem?
here is a better picture of where the bulk head comes out of the tank the pipe standing up has been cut off at the bar code.
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here is a better picture of where the bulk head comes out of the tank the pipe standing up has been cut off at the bar code.
Not draining fast enough means that the return pump is pushing harder then your overflow can handle. A quick fix can be to put another valve on the return line so you can control the flow.
Why did you step the drain down to a smaller pipe? That wouldn't cause what you're describing--I'm just curious.
Haninja is right--you need to throttle the pump back. Look at my sump and you'll see what we're talking about--the valve on my return line, when open, redirects part of the pump's output right back to the return section of the sump.
Actually, you can test this with your current set up---just open the valve and let part of the flow go to your fuge. That'll reduce the amount going to the DT.
What return pump are you using?
Why the 90 degree bend in the overflow box?
Haninja is right--you need to throttle the pump back. Look at my sump and you'll see what we're talking about--the valve on my return line, when open, redirects part of the pump's output right back to the return section of the sump.
Actually, you can test this with your current set up---just open the valve and let part of the flow go to your fuge. That'll reduce the amount going to the DT.
What return pump are you using?
Why the 90 degree bend in the overflow box?
I dont really know why i stepped the pipe down but if that is one of the problems that is not to bad to fix.
I am using a quietone 4000 (1000+ gph)
I am using the 90 in the box because i saw drains set up that way in a couple LFS Cap Bay being one of them.
I am using a quietone 4000 (1000+ gph)
I am using the 90 in the box because i saw drains set up that way in a couple LFS Cap Bay being one of them.
