Anybody ever not had a flood?

[n8rad]

Im getting so sick of people telling me that a flood is inevitable with me introducing a sump and return lines.

Whats the deal?

I will have 2 siphon breaks and keep my returns high in the water, I will also tear my plumping apart every 2 months to make sure no algae or anything is growing in the lines. So why are people still saying its going to happen?

because the only way i see it happening are:

1. Clogged drain causing your whole sump to empty into your display

2. Power goes out and no siphon or your returns are deep in the tank causing your display to drain into your sump.

3. Cracked tank

So is there anybody out there who has been reefkeeping for years with not one flood? That can boost my confidence.

Thanks

 

[Craig Lambert]

I have not had one, but I hear that you can significantly increase your odds of having a flood by going on vacation for a week or more....

 

[Nathan]

I only had ONE flood with my new tank. It's been two years and only one flood - I consider myself lucky!

Good luck!

 

[AquaReeferMan]

No flooding here.

 

[Racso]

Worked at a store that had 15 large tanks each with their own sump and they never flooded.

Now, one of the sale systems would flood when the power went out, but you have to figure that a sump connected to 11 75-gallons has a chance to do so. (all the sale systems had overflows and all the display had flood overflows, but they were never needed.

With a predrilled tank, if its done smart, the only risk is the tank cracking/breaking.

 

[Craig Lambert]

bimmernate,

Just joking in my first post, but in all seriousness I think that people who take the percautions you did will have a significantly reduced chance of flooding. I also keep my return high, and I have plenty of extra space in the sump for water to syphon from the tank.

Judging from the threads I've read about flooding I think often times there is a "float switch" for automatic topoff involved. Others have been caused by stray inverts that get caught in the drain line and causing a blockage. The result is all the water in the sump gets pumped to the display creating a flood.

 

[dkh0331]

Re: Anybody ever not had a flood?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9259392#post9259392 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bimmernate
Im getting so sick of people telling me that a flood is inevitable with me introducing a sump and return lines.

Who are "they" ?

People here on RC?

Or the uninformed people who have yet to be enlightened by the vast amount of information on RC?

 

[Navyblue]

In my old system, it was designed that it is impossible to have a flood unless the tank or the piping leaks or break. There is just not enough water to overflow the sump or the main tank once the overflow or the return pump fail.

However, I'm not so sure about my new system as I didn't design the system.

 

[BethanyM]

2 years in January and no floods. More than 2 tanks running most of the time.

 

[n8rad]

Re: Re: Anybody ever not had a flood?

Re: Re: Anybody ever not had a flood?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9259604#post9259604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dkh0331
Who are "they" ?

People here on RC?

Or the uninformed people who have yet to be enlightened by the vast amount of information on RC?

No not on RC's main website. Just people on mirc on the #reefcentral channel and the #reefs channel.

 

[buffalo123]

FLood let see:
Forget to turn off RO , Ro line disconnects or leaks, broken hose from somewhere going to something, Anti siphon hole covered with algae, Crab in sump blocked return and sump overflows,
Skimmer gone wild water coming out collection cup, skimmer leaks, tank leaks, exterior pump leaks, pvc fitting cracked overtightened, bulkhead leaked over tightened or not tight enough, Anything that water flows into or settles in leaks.
Distracted doing water change, fish jumps into overflow stuck in outlet aquarium over flows and the list goes on.
Some may seem unlikely but can happen i did have a crab taking up residence in the overflow outlet once, fortunately i notice the water in the aquarium was unusually high , took me a while to figure why then i saw the crab.

 

[alan214]

Never had one YET! (knocking on wood).

Once you establish how high in the sump the water will rise during a power outage, you should never have a flood for that reason.

I have flooded my garage 3 or 4 times because I left my RO/DI on too long. I have started to turn on an audible timer now to keep that from happening.

 

[supervdl]

I had a small flood last night. After I used Epoxy last evening to attach a coral, the skimmer went crazy and somehow (don't ask me about specifics I was asleep) created an overflow of the skimmer. About three buckets of saltwater were on my floor in the family room and siphoned through to the basement.

 

[RichConley]

no tank floods.



Have had plenty of leave-the-RO-on-and-flood-because-my-bucket-is-too-small floods.

 

[RoGeTa]

I came close to having a flood due to a stray snail in the overflow drain pipe. Other then that, everything seems to run pretty smoothly!

 

[electroblake]

There is always the overflow-device-you-built-out-of-legos-breaks-and-dumps-25-gallons-of-saltwater-onto-the-floor-of-your-college-doorm's-suite-and-floods-down-into-the four-floors-under-you-and-also-into-the-basement problem. Usually happens two or three hours after you are sure that nothing can possibly go wrong.

Blake.

 

[FEEDERFISH]

I have not had a flood in 2 years but I had alot at the start

 

[charlesgage]

I ruined some 10$ a square foot hardwood once. Cost me a couple grand. Tank went to the basement that day. And i now have waterproof hardwood floors thanks to a reefers dream: bona kemi.

That day was made worse when the flood went through the main floor and began to leak onto my office. I work in software and there were 3 laptops on my desk.

 

[n8rad]

right on everyone! thanks.... i knew you were out there somewhere

 

[davidhughes85]

I remember the great flood of 05', iighhh it was a great one...during a waterchange on my 8 gallon nano I spilt a little water on my table.....took two...yes I said two...whole napkins to get it all (downy quilted of course..the better picker upper)...I wouldnt worry man you seem to have made it pretty foolproof