What Happened!

m2434 · 12/12/2007, 05:14 PM

I have a 20G nano with a 10g sump. I got home today and the return pump was screaching! I looked at the sump and it was virtually empty. I don't get it. There is a 2.5x3ft area rug under the tank that is wet, but it apparently absorbed all ~7 gallons - there is no water anywhere else! I do mean anywhere, and this is the confusing part, the sides of the tank arn't wet, the stand isn't wet, nothing is wet! There was however sand blown all over the rocks??? What the heck happened. Salinity hasn't changed, so water didn't evaporate...

rustybucket145 · 12/12/2007, 05:18 PM

What type of overflow do you have?

Fill the sump back up and you will likely either find you leak... or find no leak at all...... in that case something blocked the overflow.

m2434 · 12/12/2007, 05:18 PM

Also, the overflow tube is 100% full, it did not loose siphon.

m2434 · 12/12/2007, 05:20 PM

Also, neither the overflow box nor the wall behind the tank are wet and neither have any salt residue on them

pdfb55 · 12/12/2007, 05:42 PM

I had a sump crack once and it spilled onto the floor which stayed wet and the sump/stand dried before i noticed all the water was gone and the floor was soaked.

m2434 · 12/12/2007, 09:56 PM

Well, I had rigged up a aqualift pump to pull air out of the U-tube on the overflow and prevent losing siphon. Guess what, it backfired... Somehow, I knocked the output hose out of the tank and the aqualifter sucked the water right out of the tank, but I didn't loose siphon.

Apparently that little rug did absorb all 7 gallons and nothing got anywhere else! I didn't want the wet rug to get moldy and/or ruin the hardwood floors, So I moved the tank and replaced it. While I was at it I went out and bought the stand I had always wished I got in the first place, so there was at least a bright side.

Craig Lambert · 12/12/2007, 10:02 PM

Sorry to hear about the tank probelems...on a side note...very cool picture of M 64...did you take it?

m2434 · 12/12/2007, 11:10 PM

Thanks Craig. Looking at the positive - new stand

And yes, I did take the picture last June, through a 6" Newtonian, with a Meade DSI Pro. Unfortunately, I've since moved from Western Ma, to Boston, and I can only reminisce about those nice, clear skies...

Craig Lambert · 12/12/2007, 11:45 PM

Ha..I can relate. I have a Ceravolo HD216..8.5" mak-newt. I moved from Northern CA, to Oregon. The scope is useful for 5-6 weeks a year...The other 48 it can be used as a "clothesline".

m2434 · 12/13/2007, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Lambert
The other 48 it can be used as a "clothesline".

don't ya hate that

12/12/2007, 05:14 PM	#1
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	What Happened! I have a 20G nano with a 10g sump. I got home today and the return pump was screaching! I looked at the sump and it was virtually empty. I don't get it. There is a 2.5x3ft area rug under the tank that is wet, but it apparently absorbed all ~7 gallons - there is no water anywhere else! I do mean anywhere, and this is the confusing part, the sides of the tank arn't wet, the stand isn't wet, nothing is wet! There was however sand blown all over the rocks??? What the heck happened. Salinity hasn't changed, so water didn't evaporate... __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

12/12/2007, 05:18 PM	#2
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	What type of overflow do you have? Fill the sump back up and you will likely either find you leak... or find no leak at all...... in that case something blocked the overflow. __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

12/12/2007, 05:18 PM	#3
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	Also, the overflow tube is 100% full, it did not loose siphon. __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

12/12/2007, 05:20 PM	#4
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	Also, neither the overflow box nor the wall behind the tank are wet and neither have any salt residue on them __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

12/12/2007, 05:42 PM	#5
pdfb55 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 357	I had a sump crack once and it spilled onto the floor which stayed wet and the sump/stand dried before i noticed all the water was gone and the floor was soaked. __________________ -Kyle Current Tank Info: Oceanic 120 Tech, 48 inch maristar fixture, MRC Skimmer, Geo 618 Reactor, 2x Vortech MP40w, APEX controller

12/12/2007, 09:56 PM	#6
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	Well, I had rigged up a aqualift pump to pull air out of the U-tube on the overflow and prevent losing siphon. Guess what, it backfired... Somehow, I knocked the output hose out of the tank and the aqualifter sucked the water right out of the tank, but I didn't loose siphon. Apparently that little rug did absorb all 7 gallons and nothing got anywhere else! I didn't want the wet rug to get moldy and/or ruin the hardwood floors, So I moved the tank and replaced it. While I was at it I went out and bought the stand I had always wished I got in the first place, so there was at least a bright side. __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

12/12/2007, 10:02 PM	#7
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	Sorry to hear about the tank probelems...on a side note...very cool picture of M 64...did you take it? __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic

12/12/2007, 11:10 PM	#8
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	Thanks Craig. Looking at the positive - new stand And yes, I did take the picture last June, through a 6" Newtonian, with a Meade DSI Pro. Unfortunately, I've since moved from Western Ma, to Boston, and I can only reminisce about those nice, clear skies... __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

12/12/2007, 11:45 PM	#9
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	Ha..I can relate. I have a Ceravolo HD216..8.5" mak-newt. I moved from Northern CA, to Oregon. The scope is useful for 5-6 weeks a year...The other 48 it can be used as a "clothesline". __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic