redoing tank with a minimum of disruptions

[Anonymous]

Hi

I have been unhappy with my tank setup ever since I made it. Basically the problem is that there is way to much flow through the sump, and it throws water all over the inside of the cabinent. There is salt creep everywhere and mold and stuff is starting to grow everywhere. The system is also very noisy, and drives me batty, I can't even sleep on the couch anymore because it keeps me awake.

Here is what I have

in the picture there are 2 drains, both of them go to the sump
There is a white pipe in the back corner, that is the return from the sump
There is a black set of small pipes in the back corner, that is a hang on filter I use soley for flow, there is no media or anything in it at all.

Basically the water drains out of the tank, goes to the sump, out of the sump and down to the basement to the return pump and then back up to that return pipe in the corner.

What I want to do is this

1. Take one of the drains and replumb it so it becomes an inlet for the return pump. I will have to buy a new bulkhead fitting because everything in the old one is glued. I will install one of those cone shaped strainers on it. That will make the water go out of that fitting, to the pump and back in the return. Walla--closed loop

2. Add a mag pump that I have laying around to the sump to return the water that drains out of the one remaining drain to the sump. The one drain should easily handle the flow because I will basically be cutting the flow by 75% and one drain will handle the flow I have now. I will put the return from the sump in the same place as the hang on back filter I have up there and get rid of that.

that will make everything much calmer in the sump, It should be much much quieter without losing all the flow I want.



I only see two potential problems.

1. heat from the mag
2. the mag not returning enough water to keep the level in the main tank above the black trim at the top of the picture

Tonight I am going to hook the mag up with a spare piece of hose into the front of the tank and run it that way for a while. That should answer both of those questions for me.



Anyone see any problems with that that I don't?

 

[Anonymous]

I do not see the heat from the mag to be a big problem. Getting decient flow from it will be a bigger issue. Comming all the way from the basment is a stretch for a mag. As far as keeping the level in the tank up would could make you overflows sliding. They should not leak any significant amount if they are not glued.

 

[Anonymous]

I guess I wasn't clear about that, the sump is in the cabinent under the tank, the return pump is in the basement because its hot and noisy

 

[Anonymous]

Ok not so much lift, but still a lot of pipe to flow through. It may or may not be a problem. Can you put it on a shelf near the floor joist? That would help reduce losses.

 

[Chemical_Whore]

I know on my sump, it had a side bulk head so I have glass top on it also it has a external pump, so noise and splash are cut way down.

 

[Anonymous]

I have had the Mag running since about 8 pm, its just dropped into the sump for now and a hose running up and over the front of the tank.

I had to restrict the amount of water that could go down the drain to the sump in order to raise the level of water in the tank enough so that I couldn't see the top from the front glass.

Heat doesn't look to be a problem so far

Man oh Man is it quiet, and I think if I replaced the gigantic hose I have on the drain with the proper sized one it would be even quieter.

The closed loop is not running yet because I have to replace the bulkhead fitting in order to hook it up, but it looks like this will work fine