The start of the 520 gallon

tman

Super Moderator
Well I valve down the pump and it has seemed to help. I don't remember my 450 gallon being such a pain in the arse. It's about 1/2" from the underside of the glass braces now.:)
 

mitchb

Member
Could you T off the return and have that water going back into your sump? Might reduce any stress from restricting the return hose, and could be used to put a uv or something else in there? Just an idea?
 

tman

Super Moderator
Is your overflows plumbed in the same as the previous pic? Is the water high in the overflows also? Can you take a pic of your current overflow setup? What size is your drain pipes from your overflow?

I think I figured it out the pump is still to strong with the barracuda impeller and I had to valve down the outtakes. All the plumbing is 2" and the returns are 1 1/2". The intake on the pump is 1 1/2" but I changed it to 2" until it hits the pump. I did this to try and keep the laminar flow as I hear an elbow can strip the air out of the water and cause problems with water and air going into the pump.
 

tman

Super Moderator
Had a similar problem when I setup my tank...pump was too strong and water level was way too high and was touching the glass lid as well. Fixed the problem by lowering my overflow level by getting it cut and replacing to a smaller pump.

I'm assuming you have check valves on the return??

Same problem as yours. I was hoping I didn't have to valve down as I was trying to avoid powerheads!! LOL
 

skynoch

Moderator
Had a similar problem when I setup my tank...pump was too strong and water level was way too high and was touching the glass lid as well. Fixed the problem by lowering my overflow level by getting it cut and replacing to a smaller pump.

I'm assuming you have check valves on the return??

I didn't see check valves in the return to the tank so that would be the reason your sump overflows on a power outage but I wouldn't recommend check valves as they allways seem to clog up and fail anyways so I would add some fittings in the inside of the tank to raise the returns to just under your water level for quiet operation or just above to get better airetion.
 

skynoch

Moderator
I think I figured it out the pump is still to strong with the barracuda impeller and I had to valve down the outtakes. All the plumbing is 2" and the returns are 1 1/2". The intake on the pump is 1 1/2" but I changed it to 2" until it hits the pump. I did this to try and keep the laminar flow as I hear an elbow can strip the air out of the water and cause problems with water and air going into the pump.

With 4 2" returns you should be able to handle the flow from the hammerhead impeller no problem. You will need to remove the bulkhead filter first and repipe the piping in the overflow to get the maximun gravity fed flow. I will snap you a picture of how I piped the returns for quiet operation and max flow.
 

hondas3000

New Member
you will also having problem later on when your media clog up the water flow in your sump and the pump will run dry. This is why we can't overkill with pump that have under tank sump.
 

tman

Super Moderator
Running good now. Slowly adding stock.
 

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Cirrus

Arowana blogger
Which geos did you try? I have a group of 5 wild caught adult G. winemilleri with a pair of BD/Leos in my 300. Really nice combo. Often the geos school over the heads of the rays while they cruise around the floor of the tank. It is a neat effect. Lately I have been thinking of adding a few jumbo clowns and maybe a jumbo fire eel into the mix too.
 

tman

Super Moderator
Which geos did you try? I have a group of 5 wild caught adult G. winemilleri with a pair of BD/Leos in my 300. Really nice combo. Often the geos school over the heads of the rays while they cruise around the floor of the tank. It is a neat effect. Lately I have been thinking of adding a few jumbo clowns and maybe a jumbo fire eel into the mix too.

I had a group of 6" plus Geophagus Surinamensis and just got bored of them and traded them to the lfs. I lost all my loaches to the rays not to mention a couple pbass that weren't big enough yet. I also lost a 24" Tigrinus due to stress from the rays swimming on top of him and bumping him around. I tried a big tire track eel before and it didn't work as it was killing the cichlids. The tire track eel really caused me grief as I sold off other fish thinking they were the culprits. I am actually at the point again of too many fish once they are done growing. I really love the pbass but I have 14 of them now between 4 tanks. Need to downsize again as the rays keep growing.
 
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