It Worked!

[nickg]

Just thought I'd share a pic of todays project. Unfortunately it's only a 10, but it should work for the skimmer thats going next to it. Now I can add water, chems ect. down below. Didn't even spill a drop hooking this sucker up.

[beach bum]

Looks good Nick! can you throw some info my way? Like what kind of overflow are you using, return pump size, tube diameters for overflow and return. I am just starting my research on this - using a glass tank so drilling is not an option. Any info would be appreciated.

Chris

[Rick O]

Hey Nickg,

Have you tested it with a power outage. The level in my sump rises several inches when I turn the power off. You may want to check that before a real power outage.

[platapus]

Me too...I have a 100g glassw tank and am interested to see what type of over flows people are using!

thanks

[AkaSlyGuy]

Looks good Nick, Rick O has a good point, you need to turn off all power to the pumps and see how much water you have flow back into the sump. This is also a good idea to make sure the overflow will regain syphon. If you have too much come back, either dont fill the sump as much, or put your return outlets closer to the surface of the tank. You really need to do this test.

Joe

[Doug1]

No Kidding on power off test, establish the final tuning while you are there to tweak it rather than coming home to a huge mess

[nickg]

Hey guy's this is my first sump attempt so if I come crying please be kind . If the power were to go out about 1-2 gallons of water would spill. I can live with that. The return nozzel is fairly close to the surface of the display tank. I may drill a hole in the pvc right below the surface, this may stop the siphon effect if the power were to cut out. My worry is if the siphon broke in the spill box tube, what would stop the return pump from dumping all the sump water into the display thus causing a larger mess than I care to think about? The siphon tube in the spill does have a bubble that I can't seem to get rid of, but so far it has shown no signs of breaking. I probally got a case of the first sump paranoias.

[fgto250]

I also use a 10 gal sump (*%#@ LFS) and can only run the water level about 1/2 of the 10 Gal tank. even with a hole just below the water line I still get a back flow of 3-4gal. Rremember the skimmer will also drain back into the sump also. I'm not sure how well your wood is protected but water damaged wood carring alot a weight could result in tears.

[nickg]

Right now I use a hang-on skimmer, so that sholdn't be a problem for draining back to the sump. When the new skimmer arrives, I will prolly take the water capacity of the skimmer out of the sump. Since it's only a ten I aould like to keep it as full as possible. I'm still having visions of the siphon breaking and the return pump pumping my carpet full of not exactly carpet cleaner. There's about 1 1/2 gallon of room in the sump now, when I shut the pumps down, it was almost past the return nozle when the sump was full. With a hole right below the water line (in theory ) I should be ok.

[Rick O]

Hey Nick. Don't forget that all of the water that's in the lines will also drain back into the sump. To me any water spillage is too much. You will lose power eventually and if you're married she won't stand for too many 1-2 gallon spills. To keep air bubbles out of the syphon tube insert an airline into the syphon tube all the way to the top. The other end attaches to a powerhead that has an airline venturi connection. The ph will keep any air bubbles sucked out and will automatically restart your syphon.

[nickg]

Hey thanks for the tip. I ran a hose up the back side of the siphon tube to the top and hooked ot to the air port on a Maxi 900, didn't seem to do anything? However with a little old skool suction and a couple of mouths full of a salty treat I got the air bubble considerably reduced from yesterday. There has been no problem yet. Just to put the wifes mind at ease I tweaked the sump, and killed all power and no spill. I think I may buy a stronger ph, put it in the sump and run a hose up the siphon tube, I sure would like to be sure that overflow would get restarted if the power went out and then came back on. This is the size of the bubble now, dosn't seem to causing any probs. Sorry to be talking on this subject, I'm just trying to avoid a big, wet disaster.

[AkaSlyGuy]

Hey nick,
I would work more on getting that bubble out of the U tube. That looks like way too much air to me. It is possible you do not have enough flow through it to keep the air from building up.

Just something to think about

Joe

[Rick O]

Hmmm. None of the Maxi-Jets I have come with a place for an airline. The way I described should keep any air out of the syphon tube. Maybe someone else can come up with a pic. This is a very common method. Some people even drill a hole in the top of the "U" tibe and attach a nipple for the airline to go on.

Anybody got a pic of what I'm talking about?

[BraveHeart]

Nick,

If you can't suck that bubble out and keep it out, then I'd have to agree with Joe. You may not have enough pump to match the capacity of the u-tube you have.

I run 4 tubes like this on my 75. If my intake screen on the sump bulkhead goes without maintenance for awhile, my circulation rate drops below the capacity of my tubes. Invariably, I end up with your bubble condition in one of the tubes. If left untended, the tube will evenually stop altogether. But, with more than one tube I can rest assured that the system will self-regulate to whatever flow rate the pump can deliver. Only when I clean my screens and tubes do I have to worry about overflows.

By the way, I've been running u-tubes for about two years, now. Don't use the powerhead trick. Have never had them fail to restart after a power failure (and we have plenty of those). Someday, when I have to tear this tank down or decide to move up to a bigger one, I'll scrap the siphon returns. In my mind, there's nothing better than a drilled tank.

One other thing. If you use a siphon-break vent hole, be sure to include it in your monthly maintenance routine. I had a friend dump about half of his 150 into his basement during a recent power failure. His vent hole had calcified itself shut.

Later,
Bryan

[fgto250]

I have the same problem when it is time to clean the pump. To clear out the bubble I use my hand to cover the PVC in the back of the overflow box stop the flow and let the water rise in the box. then I release my hand from over the PVC opening in the back of the box. This will cause a sudden rush of watter though the tube that will pull the bubble out.

I do this battle for a week every month until I break down and clean the pump.


I use a Rio 2100 (@#%! LFS) which I think is marginal at best for my 72g. I plan to upgrade to a Mag 9.5 ( and a Y-check valve)soon which I hope will help keep the bubbles out of the J tube