Overflow issues

[blahblahuserna]

well, for the longest time my overflow water level has been on the same level as the rest of the tank. Is it possible that my pump is not powerful enough? I have one of those tanks that just has a pvc panel at the back with all the filtration in it and I bought the entire thing as a set, in case that info comes in handy

 

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[longipods]

I think if u post photos, the experienced reefers here will be able to assist u


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[harvin6]

well picture would be a great in order to give advice. And if its in the same level thats good because it would be really silent. what is your expectation or desire of the water level in your overflow?

[DottyClown]

From your description, I would guess your tank is an IOS (Internal Overflow Sump) tank.

Have a look at the pvc panel, if I guess right, you will find some "slots/holes" at mid-low level of the tank, somewhere on the panel.  If so, this would explain why your sump water level is same as tank water level.

[andrwsaurus]

Also take into account the amount of water you have in the system ( both tank and sump ) could be a simple case of having too much water, hence the sump level being e same as the tank. Again, photo might help


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[polar]

The level of water in the sump does not matter. It can be less than the tank or more than. Most importantly, you must ensure the intake of pump is equal to the output of the pump.

In other words, the X amount of water that goes into the sump must be equal to the X amount of water that comes out of the sump. If there is no balance, i can only deduce 1 thing, your sump is too packed with filters or clogged. In this case, your sump should overflow, which is not the case. Hence, i dont think you have anything to worry about and is not the pump’s problem.


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[blahblahuserna]

sorry for the late reply, but my tank has one of those back compartments that houses all the filtration in the, and basically, I've been getting some diatoms on the surface on my water recently and I was hoping that I could somehow drop the water level in the back compartment so that it would be able to skin off the diatoms


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[polar]

You cant skim off diatoms. Diatoms are a sort of algae that thrives on phosphates and nitrates which act as fertilizers. With this fact, i can conclude 3 possible things:

1) You are using unfiltered tap water
2) you feed too much
3) Not enough water changes

To remove diatoms, you can reduce phosphates and nitrates by skimming for dissolved organic particles. This will stop the food supply for diatoms, ultimately, starving the diatoms to extinction.

Second way to remove phosphates and nitrates is to use external media like phosguard, which will lead to the same result.

Third way is to do a major water change to drastically reduce phosphates and nitrates, but bear in mind that tap water has phosphates too, so if use unfiltered tap water to do water change will defeat the purpose, albeit it lowers phosphates to a lower level and can still in a way control diatom bloom.



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[polar]

But to answer your question, its just a technical issue. I dont think you can lower the height of the water in your built-in sump. But instead, you can increase the height of the water of your main tank and let the water flow in. To do this, buy a bigger piece of acrylic and replace the one that is in your tank right now that separates your tank and sump.

On the new piece of acrylic, on one corner, cut a hole. This hole has to match the level of water you have in your display tank. On the other corner of the acrylic, cut a hole thats higher than the water in your display tank. Silicone this acrylic into your tank. Now fill the display tank to the originally planned height. At this point, your sump should still be empty, now fill the sump to the desired level. Now your water in your tank should be higher than the water in the sump. Throw a return pump into the sump. Whatever the amount pump gives out, the same amount of water should flow into sump. If after trying all these and still dont work, you can find a plumber instead. Lol


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[blahblahuserna]

oh I see. Yeah I've been meaning to get an RO/Di system for a while, either way I've just installed an algae scrubber in my built in sump so hopefully that can help remove some of the nitrates and phosphates. As for the overflow that sounds like too much trouble haha, I guess if the diatoms can be removed without doing anything with it it doesn't really matter


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