New tank with sump

[M1ke13579]

Im planning on filling my new tank this weekend i have the innovative marine 50 ext setup with the sump i have only had an aio tank before and am trying to avoid the tank overflowing from what i have been able to read online i fill the tank to the overflow and then fill the sump nearly to the top and then turn on the pump? Is that all or is there more to it that im missing

 

[PotatoPig]

You don’t want the sump that close to the top. When the pump turns off it’ll siphon down water from the DT until the return line hits air.

You need enough buffer space in the sump that the siphon can complete without overflowing the sump.

This buffer can be reduced by raising the return line nozzle as high as possible in the DT. Test this while you’re watching and ready to turn the pump back on in case it’s too low.

Also normally a good idea to have the return pump in a chamber with a baffle that gives it limited access to the sump water, so in the event of a drain failure it can’t pump the entire sump into the DT. Yours may already be set up like this.

 

[M1ke13579]

You don’t want the sump that close to the top. When the pump turns off it’ll siphon down water from the DT until the return line hits air.

You need enough buffer space in the sump that the siphon can complete without overflowing the sump.

This buffer can be reduced by raising the return line nozzle as high as possible in the DT. Test this while you’re watching and ready to turn the pump back on in case it’s too low.

Also normally a good idea to have the return pump in a chamber with a baffle that gives it limited access to the sump water, so in the event of a drain failure it can’t pump the entire sump into the DT. Yours may already be set up like this.

I think it is set up that way its the sump that came with the complete setup and had a designated spot for the return pump, thank you Thats definitely good to know so would it be better to just fill the sump a decent amount over the return pump to start and then add water if needed to get the water level in the display where i want it? While testing this should i have both the drain and return valves completely open?

 

[PotatoPig]

I think it is set up that way its the sump that came with the complete setup and had a designated spot for the return pump, thank you Thats definitely good to know so would it be better to just fill the sump a decent amount over the return pump to start and then add water if needed to get the water level in the display where i want it? While testing this should i have both the drain and return valves completely open?

For initial fill:

Fill DT to overflow.
Fill sump so the water is at least above the baffle into the return chamber

Turn on pump. The water in the sump will fall until there’s enough in the tank to drive flow to match the pump. If it starts to fall too much that the pump is going to suck in air then add water to the sump.

If you have a DC pump you can adjust the flow via the controller, so can start on low flow to keep it easy.

In terms of calculating the siphon I mentioned earlier:

Measure your tank width and length, then measure the sump width and length. Then calculate:

(Tank Width x Tank Length) / (Sump Width x Sump length)

Then multiply the result by the depth the return is below the surface. This is how much the water level will rise in the sump.

Eg: (48x18)/(24x12) = 3
if the return is 2” below the surface then this means the sump will fill 2x3 = 6 inches