I need HELP!!

[ReefMan29]

I having a serious problom with my sump. 1st: I think the flow rate threw the sump is to fast. As you can see from the pic, I have a fuge in the center of my sump . The flow rate is so fast that microbubble don't have time to ma
ke it to the surface. Even with the baffles. Right not there is a 750g fountain pump pumping water back up to the tank. Should I get a smaller pump?
2nd: My baffles are falling apart. I siliconed them with white window caulk. I'm going to drain the tank this weekend and redo them. what type should I use(Lowe's)? I'm not fond of the white.
3rd: right now I'm using tubing to and from the tank. should I change it to piping? Is there a difference?

Also as you can see in this pic I've got a utility clamp light hooked up above the fuge. The bulb is a spiral PC 125w daylight bulb. I picked it up at Lowes. Is this going to be sufficient? If not what should I get?

I'd like any suggestions to taken into consideration that I'm real into DIY and cheap. Thanks everybody for the input, you help is invalueable when your LFS sucks

 

[ReefMan29]

oh yeah the pic

 

[moggyhill]

Hi,
You really don't need baffles in your sump. Scrape all that crap off the sides and clean well. Put some live rock in to create a mini baffle. 750 gallons is ok. The only issue with a pond pump is that they are not designed to handle salt water. I have found that any light over the sump will grow my macro algae.

 

[fyrefysh]

I don't know, I don't have a sump . . . BUT, I would suggest at least a couple of baffles and some live rock and sand. That light is actually a good idea. I too would change out that pump with one that is intended for that purpose.

 

[Anonymous]

If you don't have enough live rock to add to your sump, or can't afford to buy any more live rock, you can cut up a bunch of short pieces of PVC pipe and throw them in the sump. I added a bunch of PVC pipe and a few PVC elbows and it helped keep the micro bubbles from being pumped back into the tank.

Andrew

 

[cindre2000]

Hey, Lowes sells silicon, in fact, walmart and lowes sell "aquarium silicon". Use that to attach the baffles.

What sort of skimmer do you have? Could you also post some information about your tank? And the size of your fuge/sump?

As for micro bubbles, all I can think of is cutting back flow or maybe adding more baffles. You maybe could even make a micro bubble catcher for the returns like I did on my tank. Basically you have the water empty into a "bucket", then over flow into another, and another- basically a series of baffels. If you are getting a lot of bubbles from your skimmer, you can have it empty on a sponge or place the return closer to the water.

 

[Rob Top]

Super easy way to set up "baffles" use some sort of container for the water to pour into. I have a 100 gal sump and have the water coming from my tank pour into a large utiliy bucket. This forces the bubbles up and they disapate before getting sucked out by the pump. Any type of container you can just stick in there will do the trick. The live rock and pvc deal will work, but may trap a lot of crap so if you go that route keep an eye on it when you do tank maintaince.

 

[ReefMan29]

thanks guys for the info. I'm gonna drain my sump on Sunday. I've got plenty of reef rubble that I picked up in the keys. I guess I'll use that. My specs on the tank are 90 AGA drilled tank. The sump/fuge is a 30 AGA. Does anyone know what the recommended return pump GPH should be? the pump I'm using is a 750 GPH pump. I have an extra Rio 1400, would this be better to use? The "purple up" that I've been using works like a CHAMP!

 

[ReefMan29]

another question: I don't have my ball valve, coming from the tank, open completely. Is this normal? I've got opened only about have way. any ideas about this ?