strandeviper
New member
My power went off last night.. I woke up this morning with standing water on the bottom of my stand. How do I keep my returns from siphoning the water out?
HELP - Power Outage.. Water Siphoning Out
- Thread starter strandeviper
- Start date
RVANANO
SWAGON
If your returns come over the top of the tank and then makes a U back into the water, drill a small hole in the pipe right below the water line where it goes into the tank. The water will continue to siphon until air enters it (when the water level drops low enough) Drilling the hole right below the water level will cause that siphon to break almost immediately when the power is cut.
strandeviper
New member
My returns "L" into my aquarium from behind. So is there a better way.. I dont want to drain my tank out to build a u return inside the aquarium..
RVANANO
SWAGON
Doesn't have to be a U 
I just assumed. Do you have a pic of your return line? It should still work. Does the water coming out of your returns cascade into the DT or does it exit under water? If the latter, just drill right below the water line. If it cascades then the siphon should already break.
If your system is like mine though, you cannot do this. I have bulkheads going through the back of my tank for the returns so I cannot drill. I just have my sump marked so I never fill above a certain level to prevent flooding.
I just assumed. Do you have a pic of your return line? It should still work. Does the water coming out of your returns cascade into the DT or does it exit under water? If the latter, just drill right below the water line. If it cascades then the siphon should already break.If your system is like mine though, you cannot do this. I have bulkheads going through the back of my tank for the returns so I cannot drill. I just have my sump marked so I never fill above a certain level to prevent flooding.
strandeviper
New member
yeah.. my returns are under water, go through 2 bulkhead on the back of the tank.
RVANANO
SWAGON
Drats... I have the same issue. You could put a check valve in line so the water only goes one way but they can fail. I chose not to do so for that reason. For now as stated, I just mark my sump and no not to fill past that line unless I want water on my floor.
For a more permanent fix, I have decided to put a bulkhead high up in my sump so that in case the water level is too high, it drains out of the sump and is dumped into the crawl space under the house. Just been lazy lately.
Just curious, do you have any plumbing coming out of those bulkheads or is it like mine? Just a pivoting outlet.
For a more permanent fix, I have decided to put a bulkhead high up in my sump so that in case the water level is too high, it drains out of the sump and is dumped into the crawl space under the house. Just been lazy lately.
Just curious, do you have any plumbing coming out of those bulkheads or is it like mine? Just a pivoting outlet.
strandeviper
New member
the tubes themselves can pivot.. Im going to have to move them up so that they are breaking the surface.. they are about an inch below the water line. I was going to set up a generator system to kick on when power was lost.. but that is really expensive setup..
strandeviper
New member
they are not drilled.. If i drill a hole in the side of them.. and that hole is underwater as well, will it still break the siphon? My sump is 37 gallons
jeff@zina.com
New member
First, pictures help. Second, your sump should have enough space for all the water that may siphon out.
Jeff
Jeff
Palting
New member
I think I have an idea of what your return system is like, but a pic would really help.
When you say the tubes themselves pivot, are you talking about the tubes inside the tank? If you are, and you drill a hole on the side of them, the water will still drain but only up to that hole. Once the water level goes below that hole, air will go in, breaking the siphon. Based on what I thnk your system looks like, though, that may still be too low and you'll still drain too much.
Based on what I've read, a one way valve is only a temporary fix, as they are prone to failure.
One not so good option but may work is to raise the return pipes inside the tank. Put a 90 elbow on the bulkhead pointing up, and then another 90 to that pointing out. This will raise the output height, but at a cost of head loss due to the 2 90's. Drill a hole just under the water line on the upper elbow to act as the siphon break. You can still add a locline to the output to point your return flow back down.
Best option in my honest opinion is to get a bigger sump to handle all the overflow, or put less water in the sump like RVANANO did.
strandeviper
New member
Thank you for all the advice.. I took your advice Palting, and drilled a hole through both of my returns and then did a simulated power outage... the holes did break the siphon and did not overflow my sump. Both the outlets are still underwater, so it did work perfectly. Thank you again
Weekly maintenance tip - take a toothpick or other type device and poke it into the drilled holes to make sure the holes do not get covered up in coralline algae.
Learning from your own mistakes is great! Learning from someone else's mistakes is even greater! :lol:
jeff@zina.com
New member
Multiple holes for a siphon break are also acceptable. As long as they're all underwater, the siphon works. With just one, you can guarantee a snail will park it's slimy butt there right before a power failure.
Jeff
Jeff
