HOB overflow boxes and power outtages

[heckfire]

i was givin a hob overflow box and a fuge,, but im very nervous about the power going out and the return pump overflowing the aquarium,, my friend who gave me the system told me the siphon wont break in a outtage,, does anyone have experience with manual start w/siphon overflow boxes?

[todd141]

I've got a LifeReef HOB overflow - and turn off the power every night when I feed. Has always started up perfectly.

If it is a U-Tube design like the LifeReef, you won't have any problems...from my experience.

[das75]

"should" restart if doesn't have a large air bubble built up at the top of the U

[moondoggy4]

heckfire just shut off your tank and see what happens. I always do trial runs.

[dublo8]

the eshopps and the lifereef will both restart without problems. they do get bubbles in them but if you shake the tube they will break up and go down the tube. I personally dont care for the cpr style overflow that has to rely on a pump to either restart or maintain siphon. The real thing you have to worry about is your return pump siphoning back into your sump. Either make sure those return lines are high enough in your display to where you get as little back into the sump as possible or drill a small anti siphon hole in the return line just below water level.

[greech]

Had a eshopps for about 6 months now and never had an issue with losing siphon or not starting back up. Setting these up correctly is pretty critical to avoid failure. Shaking air bubbles out now and then should not really be one's outlook. If you have large bubbles sticking in the U tube, you don;t have enough flow for your overflow box. By an oversized return pump (rated higher than your overflow) and add a good gate or ball valve to the return line to back it off as needed.

Also, I was not comfortable with the U tube just "sitting" over the box so I secured it with a couple pieces of velcro which worked great.

[allsps40]

My old u tube hob overflow work just after turning off the pump. The C syphens will overflow sometimes after turn off pump.

[dublo8]

Originally Posted by allsps40

My old u tube hob overflow work just after turning off the pump. The C syphens will overflow sometimes after turn off pump.

"sometimes" isn't an option for me when water and wood floors are involved lol. But yes the U tube style HOB's work very well if your not willing to drill the tank.