best way to wake up REALLY quick

[[JWS]wasabi]

At about 6:30 this morning i hear what sounds like a small waterfall comeing from outside my room, (where my tank is)
for a split second i thought it was my roomate taking a shower, but this sound was new... the adrenline started to flow before i even got out of bed, ran to my tank to see it overflowing out of the top!

i hit the power and shut the whole thing down.

I didnt loose much water at all, I must have woken up at the moment it started. but now i have a problem and am vexed as to its cause or remedy.

the corner overflow seems like it cant handle the flow of my sen7 return pump..

(although at first it was fine, the flow seems to be gettin slower as the months go by, and the water level slowly rising)

does anyone have any advice on increacing the ability of the overflow to handle water? the water level in the tank stays just above the vertical slats, maybe there is algae growth limiting the flow?

i reset everything before work and the waterlevel seemed stable, im just hoping my tank isnt on the ground floor right now... any advice would be greatly appreciated. tanx.

(72bowfront with standard aga corner overflow / durso standpipe)

[ June 10, 2004, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: [JWS]wasabi ]

 

[bad coffee]

check to see if your durso is clogged/needs cleaning.

BC

 

[[JWS]wasabi]

i checked it, its clean in there, the prob seems to be with the actuall overflow ,like the water is not flowing fast enough through the black overflow wall... maybe make the holes larger?

 

[marrone]

It does help to make the holes wider, take out some teeth, this will increase the water flow into the sump. Also if the over flow is the hang-on type you can lower it in the tank so when the water does return from the sump it wouldn't over flow you tank.

Also you can try and cut the flow down from the pump by either using a longer return hose or folking the hose so you have 2 returns into the tank. Finally if all else fails you can get a pump that returns the water at a lower rate. This is probably the best thing to do. In my wet/dry I use a pump that is a lower return rate than the over-flow that I have. This also keeps the water high in the sump.

Michael

 

[House of Laughter]

JW,

Not sure if it will effect the pump or not, but I used a standard metal hose clamp to cut back the flow of my return pump - best recommendation is to use a ball valve or to get the appropriate pump for return flow amount.

Also, if you are using any sponges on the overflow, take them off and worry about the mechanical filtration in the sump - those sponges are a waste in my opinion.

Hope it works out for you.

House

 

[[JWS]wasabi]

thanks for the advice, im going to bust out the dremel tonight and see what kinda damage I can do to my tank

 

[Acropora]

That is an all to familiar scenarinly I was not home at the time. In my situation a snail got into the durso and clogged the hole up.That was the second time I flooded my Rug.I now have a piece of plastic eggcrate inside the mouth of both Durso's on my new set up.
Another fix is to settle for a smaller amount of flow and add either a close loop or seio aqua flows or a tunze stream, for the water circulation.