Jestersix

Durso overflow question

jorahx4 said:
So, made a return over the side with pvc. Did that idea with one of the over flow pipes lower and the other higher (emergency)

Made it real quiet! But ace and Home Depot didn’t have the right size gate valve. So using ball valve. I see now why gate valve is suggested. Ball is hard to do small adjustments.

So here’s my new issue!
With the return over the edge of the tank, when I turn the pump off it starts a siphon and almost over filled the sump. So what I ended up doing was taking the return nozzle out of the water so the siphon doesn’t happen. Do you guys have a suggestion to prevent this? I am afraid of like a power outage and flooding my room.



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Drill a small hole right below your water level... it'll prevent siphoning

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NanoCrazed said:
Drill a small hole right below your water level... it'll prevent siphoning
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eh... maaaaybe. There is an art to breaking siphons, if the hole is too small then it might still suck in air but not enough to disrupt the siphon which is often a worse problem because you have this peace of mind view of your tank that is simply untrue.
 
I did the idea of keeping the return noz closer to the surface. Tested it out five times. And it seems to work good. It goes down only about a half inch before stopping.


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sfsuphysics said:
eh... maaaaybe. There is an art to breaking siphons, if the hole is too small then it might still suck in air but not enough to disrupt the siphon which is often a worse problem because you have this peace of mind view of your tank that is simply untrue.
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Easy to test it out. Just turn off your pump and make sure it breaks the siphon. I’ve done this as well and it’s a proven way to protect from sump overflow.


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Gablami said:
Easy to test it out. Just turn off your pump and make sure it breaks the siphon. I’ve done this as well and it’s a proven way to protect from sump overflow.


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Not saying it doesnt work, just need to make absolute certain that it does, and testing it immediately is good. The emphasis I was trying to make was on the tininess of the hole, it is possible to make a hole too small such that the velocity of water pulls the air down the pipe or doesnt break the siphon very quickly. Especially if your hole is above the water line where salt creep might make it smaller!
 
True. Don’t put it above the water line! Just under. And test it to make sure it breaks the siphon. And lower your sump water level if it still threatens to overflow (or get a bigger sump).

Btw, I also agree with @RandyC. In the long run, better to drill and put a bulkhead in than to hang over the top. Safety is one concern but it also just looks better.


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Yup, regular testing (or at least add it to the maintenance schedule for cleaning) above the water line salt creep is an issue, below the water line algae can be an issue, damned if you do... :D

While drilling a return hole can certainly look sleeker you need to make sure you have plenty of sump over flow space since it will drain to the bottom of the bulkhead hole, now for some this isn't a big problem, for others though it could be more problematic by virtue of there just isn't enough space in the sump with the over the edge design at least you have some leeway to adjust how much total water will come out in a power outage, besides use black pvc if it really bugs you :D
 
Even drilled, I create an elbow over the water line and than place the nozzle below...and drill a 1/4" hole on the back side or side of the pipe. It diverts a bit of the flow away from the main nozzle but it definitely breaks siphon with no worries of getting plugged by salt creep. Only worry would be a snail in the way... but that can be managed if you place the hole somewhat close to the nozzle opening or put in a secondary hole.

I cycle test my tanks repeatedly before feeling confident that the holes and nozzles are correctly placed. Sometimes my first few times are nail biting as the water level rises in the sump...until it all gets dialed in

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