Keep sump from overflowing tank?

[npeters1989]

I'm in the process of designing a sump. How can I safeguard against this scenario:

overflow box siphon breaks, pump goes till sump empties, display tank overflows spills all over the living room...

Obviously I could keep the water level pretty low in the display tank as a safeguard; however, I'd like to keep the display tank as full as possible, though, while keeping a decent amount of water in the sump. Any suggestions?

(75 gallon tank, building sump with 20 gallon tank, would like to put at least 10 gallons in this sump)

[Toddrtrex]

If you have a "return chamber" in your sump, there will be a limited amount of water in there. That way if the above case happens, there should be no to little overflowing of your main tank.

This is an older (( be easier to see )) pic of my 30 gallon sump for my 75 -- the return chamber is shown here -- once the water in the over all sump is below the slots in the baffles, there would just be the water in that chamber.

[KashAlp]

that is a pretty hard thing to do unless one of your pipes gets clogged or you using too powerful of pump combined with to small of drain line. But i guess with a very poor design it could happen.

1 thing to keep in mind to avoid this is to always use a bigger diameter overflow pipe then your return pipe. also a 2nd or backup overflow pipe never hurt.

If your looking for a really great siphon/overflow system and arent afraid to do a bit of work check out BeanAnimals silent overflow. It uses 2 drainage pipes and a 3 for "emergency" drainage. No way is this thing ever going to overflow the DT.

here some links
The Reef Central thread
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1310585
Beans Animals site
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/s...ow-system.aspx


best of luck

[chimmike]

Drill the tank, don't use an overflow box. That's the easiest, most 100% sure method to avoid flooding the main tank and frying your return pump.

Also, I'd use a 40br instead of a 20g for the sump. You want as much extra volume as possible in case power goes out and water continues to drain from the display, so the sump doesn't get overflowed.

[npeters1989]

Originally Posted by Toddrtrex

If you have a "return chamber" in your sump, there will be a limited amount of water in there. That way if the above case happens, there should be no to little overflowing of your main tank.

This is an older (( be easier to see )) pic of my 30 gallon sump for my 75 -- the return chamber is shown here -- once the water in the over all sump is below the slots in the baffles, there would just be the water in that chamber.

Well duh, I should have thought of that! Thanks!

[greech]

Toddrtrex - I can't see exactly where the return pump is in that pic. Is it sitting on the eggcrate? I am looking into overflows as well. If I read correctly the concern goes from overfilling the display to the potential of running a pump dry?

OP- sorry to hijack you thread.

[Toddrtrex]

Originally Posted by npeters1989

Well duh, I should have thought of that! Thanks!

Sometimes the easy things are the hardest.

Originally Posted by greech

Toddrtrex - I can't see exactly where the return pump is in that pic. Is it sitting on the eggcrate? I am looking into overflows as well. If I read correctly the concern goes from overfilling the display to the potential of running a pump dry?

OP- sorry to hijack you thread.

I actually have an external pump, so all that is in that chamber is the pipe. What is sitting on the egg crate is a bag of carbon.

This shot shows it better,

[Gobyonekanobe]

Just a suggestion but I would move that plug strip, I had some real bad experiences keeping my plug strip in the case with my sump....ended up moving them outsidde of sump area and was far more successfull in the issues i was having..sump looks good very clean how long has your tank been up and running..nother thing... i been running over flow box's for years and there is no absolutle fool proof repair...i would suggest drilling tank and or making sure you either have one ways or shut off float switch of some sorts....i ran syphon break holes in my plumbing and they would algae over and not work so i was cleaning them all the time..

[Toddrtrex]

Thanks -- but that picture was from the day I set up the sump (( about 7 years ago )) and that power strip was just in that spot while I figured things out.

The tank that this sump is for has been running since about '97, with one break of a year when I was in a tiny apartment and has gone through 4 moves.

[greech]

Originally Posted by Toddrtrex

Sometimes the easy things are the hardest.



I actually have an external pump, so all that is in that chamber is the pipe. What is sitting on the egg crate is a bag of carbon.

This shot shows it better,

I see, thanks! I assume there is still an issue of burning out the pump if the water level falls below the pipe? Sorry, not very familiar with plumbing.

[Toddrtrex]

Originally Posted by greech

I see, thanks! I assume there is still an issue of burning out the pump if the water level falls below the pipe? Sorry, not very familiar with plumbing.

Sort of. My pump (( Velocity T2 )) will actually shut down if it gets too hot -- which would be the case if the water level was below the intake pipe, since this is a water cooled pump.

[greech]

Great, thanks very much! This has been a big help to me.

[kv2wr1]

You could put a float switch in you display and adjust it to a certain water level. Then plug the return pump into it. If the water level gets too high, the float switch will trip and shut of the pump.

http://www.autotopoff.com

Have to install it upside down so it shuts off when water level is high instead of turning on when water level is low.

[nemosworld]

This is quite easy. if you are using a 1 inch drain, it will handle 600gph, unless you plan to tee off your return to other devices that need water from a pump, go with a return with less gph then the drain, i recommend a 400gph pump. for backup you can add a second drain with the elbow pointed up and above the water line. for my return i am using a 1200gph high pressure pump, but i have it connected to a reactor, a uv sterilizer and looped back to the sump. no overflow issues. mys sytem is a 110 gal tank with two small overflow boxes, one on each side of the tank, one for drain and one for emergency. doubt i will ever need the emergency.

[Liu14]

I'm personally doing this:

Determine the desired water height in your tank, calculate how much more gallons your tank can hold before overflowing. In your sump create the return section to be less than this volume.

Conversely, based on how low your return line is in the tank, calculate how much water can back siphon into your sump and ensure that there is excess room to hold this volume.

[Liu14]

I took this picture from kc350twin's thread



He has a return section in the middle with a refugium to the right and skimmer section to the left.

Regardless of how you lay it out, you just need to make the return section, large enough for your pump, but hold less than the amount remaining in your display tank. You can adjust this with the height and placement of your baffles.

[npeters1989]

Thanks for the great info everyone!