sump pump too powerful?

[C-Dub]

When my fish go in certain areas (mainly the top) of my tank they get blown around pretty fast. It's funny though because instead of just staying away from the one or two spots it happens at they constantly go over to it and get blown away, it almost looks like they are playing. But im concerned that it could injure them. There's no way to slow down my sump pump is there? or angle the 2 water outlets so they aren't moving the water around so quickly? I'm fearing the pump is too strong for my freshwater set up as it was previously a reef tank.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You can build a simple bypass on the line to direct some of the water back to the sump if you want, that will slow down the flow, the other option would be to put a couple of LocLine Y pieces on there and spread the flow out over 4 heads instead of 2. If the fish are going back to that same spot all the time they obviously don't mind it, I personally wouldn't worry about it, but if you would feel better with lower flow in that area then you could do one of the above suggestions. The one thing you don't really want to do is to throttle the pump by simply putting a valve in the line, my understanding is that can actually do some damage to the pump.

[Kyle]

Couple of my fish do that as well its like they enjoy swimming in the current like they are playing, if they dont like it I dont think they would go in it

[C-Dub]

You can build a simple bypass on the line to direct some of the water back to the sump if you want, that will slow down the flow, the other option would be to put a couple of LocLine Y pieces on there and spread the flow out over 4 heads instead of 2. If the fish are going back to that same spot all the time they obviously don't mind it, I personally wouldn't worry about it, but if you would feel better with lower flow in that area then you could do one of the above suggestions. The one thing you don't really want to do is to throttle the pump by simply putting a valve in the line, my understanding is that can actually do some damage to the pump.


Yeah a valve wouldn't allow the pump to run the way it's made to run and over time would def damage if not destroy it. I already ran that through my mind, lol. But you had some really good ideas thanks a lot i appreciate it and will try and install that bypass line as that will most definately slow down the water flow...The pump pumps 95 gal an hour, and my tank with the sump is about 64gal so slowing it down a little doesn't really worry me, unless you guys know something i dont....Thanks again with the quick response

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

only 95gal per hour? That's perfectly fine, you shouldn't need to decrease your flow at all. If it was 950gph then I could see it.

[donvichu]

only 95gal per hour? That's perfectly fine, you shouldn't need to decrease your flow at all. If it was 950gph then I could see it.


I second the opinion....its perfectly fine and certainly your fishes dont seem to mind it....so I would suggest to let it be :c3:

[C-Dub]

my mistake, it's is 950GPH

[gm72]

950 gph in what size tank?

[C-Dub]

950 gph in what size tank?

54gal upper /10gal sump 64gal alltogether

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

That changes things a bit, you may want to tone that down a bit, that is a but much for them. I'd go with that bypass idea. You can put a gate valve or a ball valve on the bypass itself to control how much water is going back into the sump.

[C-Dub]

That changes things a bit, you may want to tone that down a bit, that is a but much for them. I'd go with that bypass idea. You can put a gate valve or a ball valve on the bypass itself to control how much water is going back into the sump.


LOL sorry about that, yeah it is indeed a bit too much. Consider the bypass done this weekend

[C-Dub]

for those of you who may use this thread in their own sump pumping adventure, here is the follow up;

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

As you may have guessed, the non-clear tubing{1-1/4"} is the "water feed" into the sump from the Main tank.

I know the picture isn't the greatest so bare with me.

Looking towards the bottom right is my pond master 950 water pump. Coming up from the top of the pump I have a 3/4" Barbed-to-Threaded Female adapter. Out of that is clear {3/4"} tubing which leads to a "barbed pvc T-type fitting".

Going off to the left is my bypass line which leads directly back into the sump. I have also added a "3/4"Ball Valve" with 2 "Barbed-to-threaded male pvc adapter fittings". The valve allows me to adjust the water moving up towards the tank, hence giving me ideal water movement. Also I have used a 1" PVC 2-hole strap to hold the Ball Valve out of the water in the sump.

The tubing going up is the feed back into the main tank which is then seperated up top into two adjustable jets pushing the water in opposite directions. It really worked out well and I am very pleased with the results. I must thank all who helped. Special thanks to Iluvmygoldbarb.

If anyone has any questions about this I do have more pictures and am willing to help just let me know.

regards,
Chris