tying into basement questions

[cmsurfr22]

so my first stage of the john/phyl tying into the basement thing is complete. i filled up the tank a couple weeks ago thinking i would have the plumbing done sooner than later but it took longer than expected. the water has been sitting for a couple weeks now, with a nail rusting away in the bottom of the tank, don't know how that got in there. i turned on the pump and after a day or two of fixing some leaks its now up and running, minus salt.

questions (keep in mind there is no salt in the water):

1. should i drain the water and start over with fresh water since the water has been sitting and since there was a rusting finishing nail in the bottom?
2. the overflows make a lot more noise than i remember. they are the AGA megaflow reef ready overflows. is this because the water is "falling" so much further? what can i do to make it quieter?
3. i'm getting small bubbles coming from one of the returns, but not both. what do i do about that?
4. when does the fear of 100 gallons from the sump being spewed all over your house go away? or the "OMG what was that noise i better go check things out" panic attacks stop?
Pictures:

 

[JohnS_323]

Wow Chris, that looks awesome! And strangely familiar ;D

Here's my take on things:

1) Personally, I would change the water. I have no idea how much of an effect, if any, it would have but I'd do it for peace of mind only.
2) I'm not sure why the overflows are making so much noise. Ours are very quiet. I'll let one of the other overflow guru's take a stab at that one.
3) Our drain line goes into a filter sock which elimiates the bubbles. The fact that you say you are only seeing them from one return sounds to me like you have a pin hole leak somewhere in that line.
4) I'll let you know when the panic goes away!

Great job so far and keep the updates coming.

 

[Phyl]

The filter socks are looking a little tight. The bubbles need to bubble up over the top of them and have time to dissipate before they're forced back into the sump. It looks like you have bubbles coming out the side of yours. I'm guessing that either that filter sock is near the pump draw OR you have an air leak on the inlet side to the pump. You could try coating some PVC glue around those fittings and see if that helps. I think we had this problem at one point. Not sure why they'd only come out of one (unless the leak was between the split and the return nozzle).

Do you have dursos at the tops of your overflows? We have those now and that helps a lot with the noise. Otherwise let more water stay in the basement and try to lessen what goes upstairs hoping that the slower flow up there quiets the overflows.

I used to panic more that the upstairs was going to not overflow fast enough and that would cause flooding UP HERE! That was a panic. I don't worry quite as much about water in the basement. The floors down there aren't finished!

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

I would say if you are worried about the rusty nail, change the water. Probably not a problem at all, but now is the time and you have nothing to lose by being safe.

Phyl is correct about the sock, There is no room for the bubbles to rise and they are being pushed right through the sock with all that force pushing them to the bottom of the sump where the pump draws from. Raising the water level in that sump will actually help a lot, but you will have to cut the pipes to above the water line. I am actually thinking about placing a bucket in mine to keep the bubbles contained while the water cascades over the sides into the sump or devising some sort of trap to slow the water down before entering the sump. The trap must be vented though and I was thinking to direct the vent up and then down toward the sump in case of backup(not sure if you follow that..LOL)

Gotta run right now, I'll post some more suggestions later.

 

[cmsurfr22]

thanks for the advice! i think i will drain the water and start fresh, i'm really not all that ready to start cycling anyway...

i do have dursos in the overflows but they are still making a lot of noise.

as for the filter socks the ones i have on there are garbage and it was a poor attempt to limit the bubbles. what is that website for filter socks? what micron rating should i get? how do you keep the filter socks up around the return pipe?