Erratic herbie's?

[banditpowdercoat]

My Coast to coast overflow is really erratic on my 150g. One day its high, coming out the emerg drain. so I open the gate valve. Sometimes it takes a little bit to get the level down, other times, I have to open the valve alot. Then i'ts good for a while, then draining to much. Like a never ending battle on the overflow level. Nothing is getting stuck in the drain.

Anyone else have issues like this? it's making me mad. I do have the return pump(Little giant MQDX 4) feeding my skimmer and a Phos reactor as well. But those should be constant flow too??

[lastlight]

Does the water level in your sump change?

I'm only running my system with freshwater right now but I don't have an ATO yet and I notice the level in my sump compartment feeding the Dart does effect it's output capacity just a little. I top up in the sump itself and find that the emergency overflow will usually start getting a little water. I also feed a manifold.

[banditpowdercoat]

Sump level changes, but it changes due to water level in overflow. High Overflow level, lower sump level. My ATO is set for the level to be low for 1 hr before it turns the pump on. Sump also only changes in water level about 1/2" Its a pretty darn LARGE sump LOL

[fkshiu]

What are you using for flow inside the display and is it attached to a night timer?

I've got Tunzes and a Wavebox hooked up a multicontroller which turns off the wavebox and reduces powerhead flow at night. My Herbie flow and sump level are directly affected by whether the Tunzes/wavebox are on or not. The same thing happens when they are paused with a feeding function. This effect is exacerbated because I only have a single overflow box on one side so the wave created by the wavebox is constantly varying the amount of water overflowing into the sump.

I solved this issue by setting the Herbie at a level where there is a trickle of water down the emergency drain during normal operation. When the Tunzes/wavebox are off there is less flow so the level in the Herbie drops back to just at the lip of the emergency drain. This works because the amount that a Herbie flows (which will affect sump water level) is dependent on the height of the water pushing down on the main drain. Since the water height never changes with my set up, the herbie's flow is minimally affected.

[kien]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

What are you using for flow inside the display and is it attached to a night timer?

I've got Tunzes and a Wavebox hooked up a multicontroller which turns off the wavebox and reduces powerhead flow at night. My Herbie flow and sump level is directly affected by whether the Tunzes/wavebox are on or not. The same thing happens when the are paused with a feeding function. This effect is exacerbated because I only have a single overflow box on one side so the wave created by the wavebox is constantly varying the amount of water overflowing into the sump.

I solved this issue by setting the Herbie at a level where there is a trickle of water down the emergency drain during normal operation. When the Tunzes/wavebox are off there is less flow so the level in the Herbie drops back to just at the lip of the emergency drain. This works because the amount that a Herbie flows (which will affect sump water level) is dependent on the height of the water pushing down on the main drain. Since the water height never changes with my set up, the herbie's flow is minimally affected.

The exact same thing happens with my two Tunze 6105s that I have on a controller. Mine also slow down at night and stop during feeding. I always wondered why that was (the change in volume in the overflow). I guess the powerheads pushing water in the tank force water out of the display tank faster? It isn't an issue for me either though because I do the same thing as you :-)

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by kien

The exact same thing happens with my two Tunze 6105s that I have on a controller. Mine also slow down at night and stop during feeding. I always wondered why that was (the change in volume in the overflow). I guess the powerheads pushing water in the tank force water out of the display tank faster? It isn't an issue for me either though because I do the same thing as you :-)

It seems that the Tunzes create their own wave crest because they push so much water. The crest increases the height of the water in the display which, in turn, alters the amount of water flowing into the overflow.

[banditpowdercoat]

No flow timers, I have a Ocean Motions 4 way fed by a Dolphin Ampmaster 3000. Both sump return and CL run 24/7