sump/fuge

[Guest han012]

i just setup a 10 gallon sump/fuge for my 55

 

how do i prevent a water spill from my sump if the power goes out? i'm thinking that the siphon will run until there's no more water in the overflow thus creating a 5 gallon puddle on my carpet.

 

anyone have experience w/ preventing this?

 

i already had a puddle created when my hob fuge fell to the ground & i REALLY do not want this to happen again

[jason the filter freak]

You put a small hole in your siphon tube right below the waterline so that when the power cuts the siphon will only drain to that hole and then when the hole sucks air the vaccum of the siphon will be broken and the siphon will terminate.

[Guest han012]

You put a small hole in your siphon tube right below the waterline so that when the power cuts the siphon will only drain to that hole and then when the hole sucks air the vaccum of the siphon will be broken and the siphon will terminate.

 

wow would have never thought of that.

 

thanks jason

[treesprite]

however then, when teh power comes on and the return pump comes on, would not the display tank overflow do to water going in and none going out?

[Guest han012]

however then, when teh power comes on and the return pump comes on, would not the display tank overflow do to water going in and none going out?

 

i have a baffle that should make the return pump return only about 3 gallons of water. i have enough in my display tank to handle that

 

but that's a good question for someone that doesn't' have a baffle in the sump to prevent this.....

[YBeNormal]

You should have a siphon break drilled into your return pipe (sump to tank) but don't drill holes in the tubes for the overflow! You will lose siphon when the power comes back on and have a guaranteed overflow.

 

The outside box on the overflow should have a baffle to keep the water from draining out entirely. The water level in the inside box will equalize with the level of this baffle. If your sump cannot handle that much overflow, you need to either raise the inside box a little higher or get a bigger sump (the option I'd recommend).

[jason the filter freak]

You should have a siphon break drilled into your return pipe (sump to tank) but don't drill holes in the tubes for the overflow! You will lose siphon when the power comes back on and have a guaranteed overflow.

 

The outside box on the overflow should have a baffle to keep the water from draining out entirely. The water level in the inside box will equalize with the level of this baffle. If your sump cannot handle that much overflow, you need to either raise the inside box a little higher or get a bigger sump (the option I'd recommend).

 

Can we get a shot of your set up to better figure out what you're talking about han? I was thinking he had one of those aqualifter setups.

[bigJPDC]

10 gals doesn't really give you a lot of room for error - I think I have 11 free in my 20H sump to absorb a system meltdown. Your sump needs to be able to handle a power outage plus any other failures - like a failed check valve, snail over your siphon break hole etc. Like YB says - change the entry point so less water could drain, get a bigger sump or accept the risk.

 

fwiw I didn't like the idea of a siphon hole in my return plumbing so I installed a check valve instead, which I use every day when I turn off the pump at feeding time - never failed.

 

jp

[Black Mammoth]

You could also put a check valve in on your return. The siphon break would also work. You may want something bigger than a 10 g sump.

[Guest han012]

another check on my list of idiot moves

 

i fixed the problem by adjusting my overflow box up a little causing the main tank to hold more water & leaving more room in my fuge. i was getting scared for a couple days because my sump was nearly brimming while my main tank had a good 5 gallons to spare at the top. Now i set it up so that there's enough room in both tanks in case of a power outtage.