Did you know that you should NOT vary the intensity of the return pump throughout the day?

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Those settings mess with ATO's in AIO's. You can't use them at all.

 

[Reef Outfit]

Try putting together a machine you’ve never seen before with just common sense.

Common sense ONLY kicks in IF you have previous knowledge, like understanding how something works.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Try putting together a machine you’ve never seen before with just common sense.

Common sense ONLY kicks in IF you have previous knowledge, like understanding how something works.

Not entirely true. Give me a box of parts to a machine I've never seen. I don't even have to know what it does. I'll put it together correctly.

That said, for a living I run a crew that maintains a 50 meter long and 20 meter wide machine with 10 miles of wire, 20 plc's, hundreds of cylinders, dozens of servos and thousands of sensors.

Machines are easy.

Now, ask me to remember my pops birthday. I keep a memo book in my pocket and if I need to remember something for more than 120 seconds I write it down. My phone is full of thousands of pictures taken as "reminders."

Every one has a specialty, not just Rainman.

 

[doubleshot00]

I didnt know people were doing this lol

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Try putting together a machine you’ve never seen before with just common sense.

Common sense ONLY kicks in IF you have previous knowledge, like understanding how something works.

No need to take the 'common sense" phrase personal.

I think if you stay in the hobby long enough, you can come back and re-read this thread and get a good laugh out of it.

 

[Reef Outfit]

I don’t take it personally, I’m just arguing that professionally, companies don’t make personalized instructions manuals based on your knowledge and abilities. They must consider a zero knowledge starting point. Or do they just make products for experienced customers? Of course not, they should want to bring as many new customers as possible into the market. Even those that never saw a fish in life lol.

Some people just seem to ignore it and just want to let us know how easy it would be for them due to their knowledge and special abilities.

Can’t seem to understand that they could figure it out because they have previous knowledge.

In fact I knew all of this all along, my point was just that for NEW customers this information is crucial. That’s it. Shouldn’t be hard to see. Some of you were able to focus on the subject.

I believe this forum is meant for everyone.

Anyway, by the poll votes we can see that I’m not the only one that wasn’t aware and I’m sure there’s people out there that still don’t know.

You know how hard it is in the beginning of this hobby and how frustrating it can be. Some people might give it up without this information. You see people wanting to give up all the time due to lack of knowledge, coming here is their only hope.

 

[MarsReefer]

How do people have their sumps set up that varying pump intensity is messing these things up? The only thing that changes when my pump speed changes is the return chamber water level.

I suppose if you had your auto top off incorrectly set this could mess that up, but I fail to see how pump speed changes would mess any other systems.

My pumps slow down 3 times a day for feeding time, and speed up once a day to sweep up extra debris and clear things out. It’s never caused an issue because my sump is correctly set up to handle that.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics]

According to manufacturers of smart return pumps you should NOT vary the intensity of your pump throughout the day, even if this feature is available. If you do so you will have varying water levels in the overflow box, sump and skimmer, causing all kinds of problems and never being able to keep things stable.

That is correct- for your return pump on a system with a sump, you generally don't want to vary the speed. it' more of a "set it and forget it" sort of thing.

Controllable DC pumps do however allow you to dial in the right amount of flow to your tank. For instance, maybe to set the pump flow rate to match the drain capacity of your overflow.

With that said, if you want to vary the flow coming out of your constant set speed of your return line, you can add one of our Random Flow Generator® nozzles. They can vary the intensity and direction of the flow existing the nozzle and help to create a more natural flow environment - all without needing to very the speed of the return pump.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

How do people have their sumps set up that varying pump intensity is messing these things up?

2 popular overflow designs are the bean animal and herbie overflow. They both use a gate valve to restrict flow to the sump and allows you to fine tune your system. By increasing/decreasing the return pumps flow, you're disrupting that balance.

Which either results in running water over the emergency or open standpipe OR creating a toilet bowl effect in which your overflow constantly cycles through.

Consistent flow through your overflow is almost a necessity.

 

[Potatohead]

I never really understood the point of DC return pumps for this reason

 

[MarsReefer]

2 popular overflow designs are the bean animal and herbie overflow. They both use a gate valve to restrict flow to the sump and allows you to fine tune your system. By increasing/decreasing the return pumps flow, you're disrupting that balance.

Which either results in running water over the emergency or open standpipe OR creating a toilet bowl effect in which your overflow constantly cycles through.

Consistent flow through your overflow is almost a necessity.

Flow changes naturally over time with build up and subsequent cleaning. I’ve found my flow can reduce up to 20% between cleanings. Do people have to constantly tweak their systems to handle this?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Flow changes naturally over time with build up and subsequent cleaning. I’ve found my flow can reduce up to 20% between cleanings. Do people have to constantly tweak their systems to handle this?

I've never experienced 20% loss in flow based on build up.

I would imagine water volume, area of the return section and overflow volume can possibly experience large fluctuations with slight pump restriction.

What pump are you using that you experience this?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I would vote, but the answer "Yes, this is common sense" is not available.

 

[MarsReefer]

I've never experienced 20% loss in flow based on build up.

I would imagine water volume, area of the return section and overflow volume can possibly experience large fluctuations with slight pump restriction.

What pump are you using that you experience this?

I only clean once a year, not exactly a rigorous schedule.

I use a simple durso/reverse durso overflow so flow rate doesn’t impact anything else in my tank so I’ve never worried about it.

 

[KenBabich]

I have an AIO 50 gallon. My Nero and Maxspect gyre and Sicce return pump are on randomized flow at a set percentage.. During feeding I have my ATO set to automatically turn off when the pumps shut off. That alleviates the rear chamber getting extra RDI during feeding.

 

[Dburr1014]

I voted no because I already knew this and I did not learn it from a fellow reefer or the manual.
To me it makes total sense cuz your ATO will go off sometimes and not others. You're salanity would be in constant Flux.
Now if you had a smart pump and had it on a loop, you can do whatever you want with flow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This idea is an opinion that may have situations where it is valid, and others where it may not be.

For about 10 years I used two Iwaki 30RLXT pumps as a return, alternating between then every 15 minutes to get alternating flow.

Worked perfectly fine, and those same pumps continued in use in my system until I took the tank down 20 years later.

 

[exnisstech]

My first thought was, well that's common sense. Then I remembered when one of my daughters boy friends came over and fixed my network problem that I had been fighting for several days. It took him less than 60 seconds. I told him how long I had been chasing the issue. He laughed and said it's pretty much common sense. I wanted to punch him in the face. He is now an ex boy friend

DC pumps on my redsea tanks. I don't vary speed daily but I do vary it. If I don't vary the pump speed I have to fiddle with the down flow valve. It's easier to change the pump speeds. Just a curse of owning smaller redsea systems for me.
Basement sump return pump fed by two HOB overflows with return flow controlled by a gate valve. Never have to change it ever. It's an external pump so it doesn't get cleaned.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you do so you will have varying water levels in the overflow box, sump and skimmer, causing all kinds of problems and never being able to keep things stable.

FWIW, that last sentence is too general to just accept at face value. In my system, alternating flow did not lead to any significant instability.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Needs another option for figured it out after a day on my own.

I face palmed so hard when it dawned on me.

But it wouldn't cause a huge issue in my system with my return chamber, my ato would have just kicked on way too long and I have kalk in the ato reservoir. So I would have had a huge PH increase swing followed by a long ph drip every day had I left it that way. If it was just normal top off water, I would have actually kept it.