There shouldn't be enough water in the sump to overflow the tank by much if the siphon breaks. Having multiple U-tubes helps as well.
Hi all,
So I just got my 75 gallon tank to the point where it is circulating water with an overflow box down to a sump and back up. My question, how do I prevent a flood if my siphon in the overflow box breaks and the pump continues working, which it would since there is no power loss.
Also, hey I am very green at this, and even though I think I have heard all about preventing flooding if the power fails, I will take any and all suggestions/advice you guys have to offer. Thanks!
I have a lifereef overflow box. A 30 gallon sump. I have a check-valve to prevent siphoning of water back into the sump via the pump return hose.
Thanks!
There shouldn't be enough water in the sump to overflow the tank by much if the siphon breaks. Having multiple U-tubes helps as well.
Do you have a single drain or is it a herbie or beanimal setup? Typically you want to size it such that the stand-by/emergency drain will be able to drain the full speed of the pump until the siphon re-establishes. In the perfect world you should be able to completely close off your siphon return and run the system exclusively through the emergency drain for 10-15 minutes.
Not sure what you mean by drain, so I guess the answer is no, I don't have one. As for the overflow, I don't think I mentioned it was a hang-on-back overflow box.
Those boxes are okay, but not nearly as bullet proof as bean animal or even herbie overflow setups.
The usual solution is a Tom Aqua Lifter pump attached to the siphon tube. If too much air gets into the tube and the siphon breaks, the pump will start it again.
Sorry I was confused, I am assuming you are talking about the siphon from the tank to the overflow box? What Adam said should work, another option is to tap a hole at the highest point of the siphon tube and attach a small powerhead to that. The flow will pull any air that gets into the siphon tube and very rapidly re-establish the siphon. You also get some added water movement!