If my pump Mag9.5 pulls all of the water out of the sump...

[scuba_steve]

then I guess I need to get a bigger overflow? I bought one off ebay, but I think it cannot handle the flow of the pump. Am I correct i this belief?

 

[Mikef1]

Yes you need a bigger overflow if you want to be able to run the pump full throtle if not you could put a inline ball valve or gate valve in.

 

[Anonymous]

I run a ball-valve on my return line.

 

[hillbilly]

Ball valves or gate valves will work, however ball valves are really designed to be on or off. Gate valves are designed to be used at any point between on and off. I use the Spears rebuildable pvc gate valves. They are very high quality. Some of the cheap ones are crap!

 

[scuba_steve]

OK, figured out what was wrong.

My syphone tube was suctioned to the bottom of the overflow box and could not get any water to really flow.

GEEZ! My newbieness on diplay!

First problem solved.

 

[Mikef1]

Sometimes you can sqeeze a second u tube in your overflow box and get much more flow. Just make sure your box can handle the flow without overflowing.

 

[scuba_steve]

Sometimes you can sqeeze a second u tube in your overflow box and get much more flow. Just make sure your box can handle the flow without overflowing.

That is exactly what I did and it worked

 

[tikki50]

I was planning on getting a mag 9.5 and wanted to ask you some questions. What size is your overflow box rated for? What size return line are you using ¾" or 1"? What size tank is it running on? I only have a 43 with a 20 sump/fuge. So I would have to throttle it back to only 600 gph or so. I do have other powerheads for current in the main display. So the 600 is only for the sump/skimmer, etc. I plan on upgrading my system to somewhere around 80 gal. and using my 40 as a fuge and keep the sump as what it is. I don’t want to upgrade pumps again and wanted to make sure this is the right size pump for me. Do you run your submerged or external? I have heard running these pumps submerged causes them to not restart well have you experienced this? Any info is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

I am not sure what my overflow is rated for. I bought it off ebay second hand. The description said it was rated for 600 gallons, but the dimensions of my overflow vs other 600 gallon overflows are a lot smaller. My overflow's width if 6" and CPR's 600 gal width is 8.5" So I don't know if the flow rate is determined by the size of the box or the size of the tube. My guess is it has to do a lot more with size of the tube b/c the larger the tube, the more water that can be moved threw it. Just so we're on the same page, I am just in the phase of setting up my tank, so I am in no way qualified to give an expert advice. I'm more or less giving my thoughts. When I hooked up my plumbing, I didn't realize my syphon tube was sitting on the bottom of the overflow box, thus not getting any water. My main tube is 1". So thinking my overflow could not keep up, I had some extra 3/4" tubing left from my plumbing. I added a second syphon and the overflow still could not keep up with the Mag 9.5. Only after this major brain fart did I realize the problem. Once the main syphon was lifted off the overflow floor, I had plenty of flow to my fuge.

My pump is sumbmerged, and I have tested my system a couple different time by turing off the power. My system restarted everytime, but I am going to add an aqualifter pump to ensure it restarts after a power outage.

sorry for the long post