Home Depot check valves ok?

[Catharsis70]

Are the inline check valves home depot sells safe for salt? I cant see inside of it very well but I think the spring is metal.

 

[jdieck]

No, I would recomend all plastic (PVC) swing gate check valves.
try www.aquaticecosystems.com

 

[BtheReef]

I tried several different check valves from LHS, they all had metal (they were for FW tank) and were noisy. Several made an annoying clicking sound.

I havent tried the plastic ones mentioned above, but personally I don't like the idea of check valves for backflow protection on a large amount of water. If you can work it into the system, a small hole drilled just below the water line in the tank will break the suction created by the siphon.

Good Luck!

 

[DHyslop]

I second Brandon's recommendation about drilling a siphon break in the return. A check valve is a band-aid solution to not having your tank/sump water levels "balanced." If you're depending on it to keep your sump from flooding in a power failure, some day there's going to be a piece of algae or something that prevents it from sealing properly.

I like to drill a couple siphon breaks just to have that redundancy in case a snail happens to be sitting on a hole when the power fails. My new system has a spray bar right at the water level so very little water actually drains back.

Dan

 

[Catharsis70]

Great info. Thanks all!

 

[Kevin McG]

I agree with drilling a smal hole in the return line for a siphon break. Here is a picture of the ones I drill so you can visibly see the location.

 

[jarhed]

Kevin,

You dont get any flow loss from that hole in your return? No spraying water?

 

[Kevin McG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6574294#post6574294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jarhed
Kevin,

You dont get any flow loss from that hole in your return? No spraying water?

None at all, the hole is pretty small. Once a week or so I will stick a toothpick into the hole to make sure it is clear.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6574294#post6574294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jarhed
Kevin,

You dont get any flow loss from that hole in your return? No spraying water?

You can drill the hole on the underside of the pipe so any water stream stays within the tank.

 

[ganjero]

is this the line coming from the sump/refugium through the pump back to the main tank?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6574068#post6574068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kevin McG
I agree with drilling a smal hole in the return line for a siphon break. Here is a picture of the ones I drill so you can visibly see the location.

 

[Kevin McG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6579928#post6579928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ganjero
is this the line coming from the sump/refugium through the pump back to the main tank?

Yup

 

[ganjero]

I tried that but the siphon still goes on, just with a lot of bubbles.

 

[tinygiants]

I have a return loop on the top of my tank. I had a anti siphon hole in my megaflow return pipe, but I covered it with a gasket. With where it was spraying, it caused to much noise. Inever heard it till I added a durso mod to my overflow.

Since I now have the anti siphon disabled my tank will siphon down until the end of the return line is exposed. In my case, the return line exposes at about the same height as the overflow tower drain anyway. So no continued siphon, and no noise.

If we are talkin about a bottom penetration to the main tank, then there are methods to prevent siphon that incorporate the anti siphon hole and a feed loop higher than the tank water level.

Dale

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6580193#post6580193 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ganjero
I tried that but the siphon still goes on, just with a lot of bubbles.

May need a slightly bigger hole.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

or two small holes or 3...