Sump/ return pump question

I had to redo some of my plumbing this weekend and now can seem to get the water level adjusted correctly. I had to plumb in a new skimmer and replaced the main drain line. So now I either overflow the sump or it drains to the point of blowing bubbles into the tank. I cant seem to get the right amount of water in the sump. The drain is 1 inch and the pump return is 3/4. The pump is a ViaAqua 3600 with about 4 feet of head. I have been making minor adjustments to the flow into the sump for a week and cant find the sweet spot so to speak. Is there a trick I am missing?

 

do you have a ball valve on either the return or drain?

 

Yes what I did was t off the 1 inch drain and reduced both to 3/4 so the sump and skimmer are controlled by ball valves with a check valve on the return.

 

Are the bubbles coming from your skimmer?

 

No the bubbles are coming from the return pump. Skimmer dumps into the sump

 

I had a similar problem, it kept putting bubbles into tank but they were not coming from sump. The return nozzle on top of tank that has the air hole in it had to be bored out a little more. I never would of figured that out if it wasnt for my lfs buddy. That was my issue and thats what fixed it.

 

option 1:

the drain from the tank to the sump should not be restricted. if the water level in the sump is raising/lowering then the main pump is not primed, meaning there is air in the line going into the pump. the air bubbles are when the sump level drops and the main pump sucks air into the line.

option 2:
there is a small hole in the main pumps line somewhere

 

The pump sits in the sump and is feed via the skimmer and secondary drain. The air comes from the water level getting to low in the sump. I can adjust the flow via the ball valves but cant figure out why the level is up and down. the intake for the return pump was not plumbed but is feed from the water in the sump. If I adjust the flow all the way open coming from the drain via the two ball valves I can make the sump overflow. I cant seem to get the flow to the point where the water level in the sump is above the pump intake. Either is overflowing or sucking air.

 

You can't have anything feeding the sump like a skimmer only way is to simply let it gravity drain to sump then the pump will push it back up and the water will seek its on level it has to be able to exit the tank via a gravity drain as fast as the pump can push it back up into the tank.. All the water I assume from a HOB skimmer has to be sent back into the tank not the sump.. It looks to me you are trying to use a siphon or feed the sump from the tank with a pump from the drawing you posted ?

 

The skimmer is feed from the 1 in drain that also feeds the sump I used a tee then reduced the 1 in to 3/4 The skimmer and drain feed off the tee. I have a valve on the skimmer intake and pipe leading to the sump Right now the skiimer feed is wide open and the sump feed is 1/4 open. Everything is gravity drained. Before replumbing I never had this problem. Here is the link for my skimmer
Reef Octopus DNW 200 Recirculating Protein Skimmer* - AquaCave