help prevent a flood

dlsmith21 · 05/12/2007, 06:09 AM

I'm plumbing my 210g this weekend into my 55g sump. It has 2 "bulkheads?" and each has 2 drilled holes in the bottom. We have trouble with blackouts during the summer months and I need advice on how to stop flow from flooding the tank. We have never had a sump, so we are new to the whole concept. I have read every article I can find on sumps but the flood thing has me worried. If someone has a fail safe method could you please help and maybe let me see a picture of what you have done to prevent a disaster?

Bandsaw · 05/12/2007, 04:07 PM

The idea is to set up your sump so that the water level is low enough in the sump under normal operations that when a power failure does occur, the back siphon of water from the display does not overflow the sump.

You also need to drill a couple of holes in the return line from your sump at the normal water level of display tank or just below the water level. This will allow air to enter the return line as soon as the pump stops thus breaking the siphon.

The design of your sump so also be so that the final chamber that your return pump sits in will run dry before flooding your display tank in the event that your overflow (or drain) becomes plugged for any reason.

Check this site out. It has a lot of great ideas for setting sumps and building good working one.

http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

05/12/2007, 06:09 AM	#1
dlsmith21 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: virginia Posts: 265	help prevent a flood I'm plumbing my 210g this weekend into my 55g sump. It has 2 "bulkheads?" and each has 2 drilled holes in the bottom. We have trouble with blackouts during the summer months and I need advice on how to stop flow from flooding the tank. We have never had a sump, so we are new to the whole concept. I have read every article I can find on sumps but the flood thing has me worried. If someone has a fail safe method could you please help and maybe let me see a picture of what you have done to prevent a disaster? __________________ Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm....Winston Churchill Current Tank Info: 75g reef...210g FOWLR room divider ....55g FW

05/12/2007, 04:07 PM	#2
Bandsaw Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North Eastern Ontario (above Sudbury) Posts: 720	The idea is to set up your sump so that the water level is low enough in the sump under normal operations that when a power failure does occur, the back siphon of water from the display does not overflow the sump. You also need to drill a couple of holes in the return line from your sump at the normal water level of display tank or just below the water level. This will allow air to enter the return line as soon as the pump stops thus breaking the siphon. The design of your sump so also be so that the final chamber that your return pump sits in will run dry before flooding your display tank in the event that your overflow (or drain) becomes plugged for any reason. Check this site out. It has a lot of great ideas for setting sumps and building good working one. http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html __________________ VE3SZB Failure is not an option - It is a requirement if you expect to learn anything. Click on my home page button for pictures of my aquarium. Current Tank Info: 75g Display, CPR SM Aquafuge, 8g sump, 20g tall fuge, Maxspect R420R LED, KoralLin 1502 CaRa, EV-180 Skimmer