prefilter question

[mike90]

how high up out of the water should my prefilter box be. right now i have it submerged right below the water line. is this too low? should i move it up. i'lve attached some pictures for clarification

 

[WRASSER]

I think i is all prefrence, I like my water line to be above the molding at the top of the tank. Some people don't. I think it gives me a couple more gallons in my 150.

 

[LA-Lawman]

if you raise it a bit it will allow the surface scum to be sucked into the pre-filterbox down to your sump.... some boxes have real deep teeth. if you submerge the whole box then the water is drawn from below the surface into the box rather than the top layer that you really want.


hth

 

[mike90]

i woke up this morning to the sound of air being sucked up through my return pump because it appears its too powerful for the amount of water that gets to my sump. i already have a ball valve on the return line. that works at times but i feel like im putting too much strain on the pump then and its hard to keep the water level consistant in the sump. anyone else have this problem?

 

[Anonymous]

From the picture it appears to me that you need an additional "U" tube to get more water from the tank to the back part of the overflow.

 

[mike90]

the water level in the back part of the over flow is pretty high as it is. even if i put another U tube, wouldnt i need an aditional tube going from the prefilter box down to the sump?

 

[Ben1]

Also with a water level where it is in the picture a snail could get into the box and give you a nice flood when it gets stuck in the u tube.

return pump because it appears its too powerful for the amount of water that gets to my sump

I could tell that from the picture, if it was working right then water level in the box would be below the teeth by an inch or two and water would flow through the teeth not over them. Figure 600-700 gph return for each u tube max. What return pump are you using?

 

[mike90]

this is the pump i have. i didnt get it off ebay but this is the exact model. this is what the LFS told me i needed. this says it does 840gph. is that too much? what do all of you guys use?

http://cgi.ebay.com/RIO-HF-14-840-GPH-P ... dZViewItem

 

[Ben1]

I use anything but a rio...in sump I go with magdrives. That model hasnt reported problems so you are probably fine, after head loss you are probably right on with 600-700 gph range so one u tube should be fine. What is the width of that u tube?

 

[Ben1]

Who makes that box? The teeth do look short and too far spaced IMO maybe that is the problem.

 

[mike90]

not exactly sure who makes the prefilter. i think my sump is a proclear?? cant remember. do you have a pic of what kind of prefilter you would recommend?

 

[Ben1]

http://lifereef.com/frame.html

I have used both singles and doubles from them with out ever having a problem.

 

[mike90]

cool thanks