Bummed out and need advice

[CACtheAmazing]

Ok....so yesterday the power went out. I haven't had my tank very long -- approx. two and a half months -- and yesterday we had a watter spillage issue. Well I got a call from my roommate saying something was wrong with the tank that it was making an awful noise and I figured the overflow was "burping" b/c that's what it sounded like he was descirbing. So here's what it was when I got home. The tank was full and the overflow was running, though there was some air trapped in it so not a full capacity, but the sump was definitely pretty much empty and the noise was coming from the pumps. Ok...so does anyone have any tips to prevent an overflow accident from happening from happening. This is very discouraging. Ok here is what I've got so you can hopefully give any advice.
-40 gallon stretch hex (this makes it an issue for an hang-on-the-back type of equipment)
- CPR CS90 Overflow box using the recommending Aqualifter (I think the Aqualifter may have been what caused the overflow by not getting all the air out though I did a little test run last night and there never seemed to be any air in the overflow when stopped for a while, 30 min, so I'm not really sure where it came from)
- 10 Gallon sump
-Mag 7 Return pump
- red sea berlin prot skim.(though not on a line of flow though so couldn't affect anything)

Any advice would be great, as of now the tank is totally dismantled rock in a box with a powerhead and a dry tank in the other room ( I'm sure some of you are familiar with this scence). So any tips? Also, what type of valve can I put mid line on the rturn hose to stop siphoning back into the sump? Thanks!!

[crab0000]

How low in the tank is your return? You can put a checkvalve on your return, but it is mechanical and can fail. A better and cheaper way to do it is to drill a small hole in your return just below the water level (when the tank is running) and this will function as a siphon break. HTH
Steve

[johnqx4]

last reply was right on. you drill small holes in the returns (all of them) about an 1/8th to a 1/4 below the water line, to break the syphon.

Also, always, Always, ALWAYS, test the system by unplugging it after any plumbing modification. if it overflows with out power, it needs to be changed. everyone eventually loses power.

Also, some overflow boxes are good. however. I am NOT a fan of them. I drill every tank! yours (being a hex) maybe a little challenging, but it WILL ultamately be worth it.

my $.02 worth

johnny

[Geoff]

this is the main reason people like drilled tanks. siphons are notorious for failing. i have to keep a pretty good eye on mine also. the best thing to do is keep the siphon clean. this is tough to do with a CPR, but that is why they use black acrylic.

G~

[icebear]

Wow, lost of overflowing going on lately... mine overflowed thrusday morning. Noticed it just before heading off to work. My overflow line had slipped from its bracket in the sump in just such a way that it reduced the volume of water coming from the tank just a bit, (got bubbles in the u tube and seriously decreased the flow) and the return pump was dutifully tooling along at its full power and slowly, the water in the main tank began to rise.... i was lucky and got there when it was still a slow trickle and a wallowing return pump and it took me a few seconds to figure it out. My hubby came down to see what was going on (why i hadn't left for work yet) and decided to try to help (didn't realize that i knew exactly what was wrong and was trying to fix it) and there he was standing between me and the tank trying to 'help me' figure out what i already knew was wrong. So i'm starting to panic cause i couldn't get to the u tube to debubble it restart the siphon with him standing right in front of the tank getting tangled in the airline....


*sigh*

once i got him out of the way, everything went fine.