Share Dumbness - to help other, sump over flow.

panamagixxer · 12/25/2017, 05:10 PM

So, new, kind of, been years.

Anyway, besides green algae growing like I'm trying to grow it, the tank has been fine. On my 5th week, so not pretty, but working on the cycle.

A couple weeks ago, I shut off the pumps and for the first time, my sump overflowed. I checked everything, to the point of thinking the tank was leaking.

But of course, I shouldn't have gone to problem solving 101 - what did I change lately? Well, I split my flow coming out of the return pump at the top of the tank. Of course, that couldn't be the issue?

Well, when I did it, I extended the length considerably and had it much lower in the tank. Plumbing 101 comes into effect or the siphon theory :-)

Anyway, when the pump shut off, of course the tank begins to drain, because I had the return pipes lower in the tank, it created a backflow siphon and continued to drain until air broke through at the bottom of the pipes. Hope this makes sense, the fix, raise the return pipes up and the tank drains to the bottom of the return pipes. (I could have drilled holes in the pipes, too, allowing air to stop the siphon)

Google is the best thing ever. Hope my, dumba.. story helps!

rocsec1 · 12/25/2017, 08:21 PM

I’ve always have a siphon break drilled into the returns. I am always worried about the returns getting pushed deeper while I am doing tank maintenance without my noticing.

panamagixxer · 12/25/2017, 08:45 PM

Makes sense, a great learning experience for me and luckily only a few little floods before I figured it out. Could have been much worse. Thought I would share.

rocsec1 · 12/25/2017, 11:48 PM

Don’t ask me why I have the apex ald module, but it might involve a skimmer.

12/25/2017, 05:10 PM	#1
panamagixxer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Salt Lake City Posts: 28	Share Dumbness - to help other, sump over flow. So, new, kind of, been years. Anyway, besides green algae growing like I'm trying to grow it, the tank has been fine. On my 5th week, so not pretty, but working on the cycle. A couple weeks ago, I shut off the pumps and for the first time, my sump overflowed. I checked everything, to the point of thinking the tank was leaking. But of course, I shouldn't have gone to problem solving 101 - what did I change lately? Well, I split my flow coming out of the return pump at the top of the tank. Of course, that couldn't be the issue? Well, when I did it, I extended the length considerably and had it much lower in the tank. Plumbing 101 comes into effect or the siphon theory :-) Anyway, when the pump shut off, of course the tank begins to drain, because I had the return pipes lower in the tank, it created a backflow siphon and continued to drain until air broke through at the bottom of the pipes. Hope this makes sense, the fix, raise the return pipes up and the tank drains to the bottom of the return pipes. (I could have drilled holes in the pipes, too, allowing air to stop the siphon) Google is the best thing ever. Hope my, dumba.. story helps! __________________ Red Sea 250 Reefer Deluxe

12/25/2017, 08:45 PM	#3
panamagixxer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Salt Lake City Posts: 28	Makes sense, a great learning experience for me and luckily only a few little floods before I figured it out. Could have been much worse. Thought I would share. __________________ Red Sea 250 Reefer Deluxe

12/25/2017, 08:21 PM	#2
rocsec1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Medina oh Posts: 1,782	I’ve always have a siphon break drilled into the returns. I am always worried about the returns getting pushed deeper while I am doing tank maintenance without my noticing.

12/25/2017, 11:48 PM	#4
rocsec1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Medina oh Posts: 1,782	Don’t ask me why I have the apex ald module, but it might involve a skimmer.