NaClH2oTANK

Experienced Reefer
Location
NYC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I came home from worth he other day to see my tank had drained to about two inches of water. My tank dimensions are 30x24x24. my sump was filled. so I figure I lost about 65 gallons of water. needless to say my downstairs neighbor was not happy.
besides that I ending losing ALL my acros. I had two colonies the size of a large coffee can. plus I had a purple monti that was big and a bunch of other acros that were growing so nice. Im devastated. All this work. sigh.

the sump is filled by drains from drilled holes on the upper back corners of the tank.
the return from my sump connects to bulkheads underneath my tank. the pump calced up and stopped. the check valves didnt work so well. so i closed the loop and bypassed the sump.
but the problem is how do I achieve the sump with minimalizing the risk? do i use an overflow box(hang on the back. i dont have a built in overflow) to drain into the sump? what if that siphon is lost? the pump in the sump will then keep pumping until the sump is dry. that will overflow the tank(the siphone was lost). Or use a regulat elbow fitting with holes in it to drain into the sump. the holes near the elbow will break the siphon of the water lever gets too low(is this clear?).

I hate the idea of using an overflow box that hangs on the tank.
also, I am looking for a couple of large staghorn colonies. any ideas where???
thanks for reading, and hopefully, responding
 
P

Pedro

Guest
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Dude,

Sorry to hear what happened. That really sucks. How high are your returns?...If they were very low then you need to raise them. Keep in mind that the tank will always drain back up to the lowest output/input. So if either one of these are low, the tank will drain up to that point. Relying on the check valve is acinide if you ask me. They do/will fail sooner or later.

Even with an over the back overflow you run the risk of a flood if the siphon breaks. Just redesign your plumbing. Do you have any pics or diagrams to show us?

Good luck getting everything back to normal.
 

NaClH2oTANK

Experienced Reefer
Location
NYC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
thanks Pedro
no pics or diagrams. but there is a bulkhead in each corner of the bottom piece of glass. from this on each side is a pvc pipe with three hoses,bottom middle and top. all retuning water. pbviously the bottom ones are the worst. i cant redo anything as I would have to dismantle the tank. and Im not about to do that. so, i closed the system. its a circulating loop now with no breaks. still not sure what Im gonna do about the rest.
 

jackson6745

SPS KILLER
Location
NJ
Rating - 99%
201   2   0
Really sorry about your loss :(


You have to make sure your system is fail-safe in the event of a broken siphon or failed pump. What I did was make the pump chamber of my sump small enough so that if my siphon broke (I use a hang-on)there would not be enough water pumped into my tank to overflow.
For pump failure, I read somewhere that guys drill a small hole in the return line just above the water line. What this supposedly does is allow air to enter the line in the event of a pump failure breaking the siphon. I never tried this though so you may want to do a search on RC.

HTH
take care,
Rich
 
P

Pedro

Guest
Rating - 99%
201   2   0
You should be ok now with the closed loop. That's a safe way. What are you doing now for drain and return though?....
 

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top