overflow prevention

emonemo420 · Jul 30, 2007

alright so i recently got a sump for my 55 gallon FOWLR tank. the sump is ~20 gallons and it has a mag 7 in it...the first time i ran it it all but flooded my tank witin minutes...so i got a ball valve and slowly adjusted....well as of now the ball valve is all but closed in order for me to get an even flow, yes the pump has gotten fairly noisy..nothing unbareable but definately noticeable.....and even still the tank very very slowly rises...enough for me to not trust it overnight or while im at work....so my ? is is there a way to make a DIY to shut off my pump to avoid overflows or even a cheap product i can buy...most of them i have seen are over a 100 or close....for that money ill just run the sump when im home (which is alot being a new airmen to a new base) but idk what to do...i tried asking around to swap my 7 for a 5 but no bites so idk what to do as far as letting it run without an over flow system set up...is there even a way to like run a hose or something in case it gets to high it will flow back to my sump...i just need something cheap and easy to easier to avoid flooding my display tank...any help would greatly be appreciated thank u

Riverserver · Jul 30, 2007

You shouldn't put a ball valve straight on your pump, it will cause a ton of stress and will eventually kill the pump. Instead trying doing like this:

Just get a T connector and some extra pipe, it should be fine.

dorkfish · Jul 31, 2007

What are you using for an overflow?

Sploke · Jul 31, 2007

If your pump is putting too much water into your main tank, you either need a smaller flow pump or a higher flow overflow.

emonemo420 · Jul 31, 2007

ill try the t thing as i think i have a t like that but i tried to find someone to trade but it wasnt working very well no one had a 5 to trade and i dont have the money to go buy a new pump....so if the split dont work imma have to do something

emonemo420 · Jul 31, 2007

i tried hooking up the t valve and water shoots out both ways but the pump sucks up rediculous amounts of water...the sump emptys in seconds i just dont know what to do imma try and take the pump off of the skimmer and try that since its a 3 and see what happens

rsw686 · Jul 31, 2007

Swap out the MagDrive 7 impeller for a MagDrive 5 impeller. If that doesn't solve your issue then you need a better HOB overflow. What size drain line are you running? A 1" drain can handle 600GPH.

On my tank I have an OceanRunner 3500 pump which is comparable to a MagDrive 9. I have a 1" drain and its a perfect combination as the pump loses GPH due to head.

emonemo420 · Jul 31, 2007

i dont really have money for a 5 or i woulda however i took the mag 3 off my skimmer and now it runs great ..oh i tried the "t" thing and it didnt work at all i left the valve all the way open and water poured into the sump and my tank still...idk im not a very good plumber i guess but either way it works...i gotta let it run for a few hours to see if nething happens

rsw686 · Aug 2, 2007

I didn't say buy a MagDrive 5. I said just buy the MagDrive 5 impeller. Heres the run down on the MagDrive units.

The MagDrive 3 and MagDrive 5 are identical except for the hole drilled in the outlet of the pump. The MagDrive 7 is a MagDrive 5 with a different impeller.

So all you need to do is buy a $10 impeller and you will be in business. You can test it out by swapping your MagDrive 3 impeller into the MagDrive 7 and seeing if you like how it works.

Heres the link. Notice the MagDrive 3 and 5 both use the same impeller part.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~powerheads_pumps_danner_mag_drive_supreme.html

jojo22 · Aug 2, 2007

Can we get pics of these differences??


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