Problem and mystery

[lcs]

OK. I did not have a good start to the day. Although it could have been worse. I go to the tank and the first thing I notice is that it doesn't sound right, I open the stand and the next thing I notice is that the carpet is wet and the sump is all but empty! Oh S&#T! And no siphon. One lousy day without staring at the tank and someting happens!! Ugh.

Here's the mystery . . .
* most of the water is behind the tank
* the main part of the floor is only we right in front of the tank and a line along the edge of the carpet away from the tank
* I'm going to check more, but the sump appears to be dry and there is no water in the stand, but the only thing I can think of that happened is that the sump sprung a leak.
* all the plumbing is dry

What really makes me mad at myself is that I remember hearing a strange noise intermittently yesterday afternoon that I now know was the pump running low! Grrrrr! I can't believe I didn't stick my head in the stand to check it out! Dumb! One thing though . . . those Eheim pumps are
T. O. U. G. H.!

Once my son is on the bus I'm going to refill the sump to see if there's a leak.

 

[pascal32]

How does the black edge on the bottom of the sump tank and back of the display look? That might be a hint as to where the water is leaking

 

[lcs]

How does the black edge on the bottom of the sump tank and back of the display look?

Dry and dusty, as usual.

I have a Marineland Magnum 250 hanging on the sump - it's not running - that looks like water had splattered on it that I don't remember having been there before, but that's all.

My plumbing is super basic; spaflex drain (mistake) and return. That's it. In the sump is the skimmer.

Off to Lowes to get a Brute so I get water made just in case I need to draing the DT to replace the sump. Fun stuff!!

 

[GMaquarium]

When I have a leak and can't find where its coming from, first thing I do is clean up and dry all the water on floor, tank, sump, all gear. After everything is clean, look for wet drips and spots.

 

[lcs]

Thanks G. That's my next step - clean off the sump and under the tank and refill to see if I can find a leak in the sump.

I just had a thought . . . would it be possible for the just the external overflow box to overflow? I have an Eshopps single overflow. I've never had lose a siphon even with a huge bubble in the U-tube. What if there is a blockage just in the drain portion and the box kept filling up, but not the tank? That's probably grasping I know . . .

 

[pascal32]

Why do you say a spaflex drain is a mistake?

Does is the magnum leaking of the top seal or the two ports ?

 

[lcs]

Why do you say a spaflex drain is a mistake?

I have it draining into a filter sock and it's a bit of a PITA to get it in and out when I'm changing the sock.

The magnum isn't running at the moment, I'm using it for carbon and I forgot to rinse it the last time I changed it, so it's just sitting there.

My second thought concerning all this is that the siphon was blocked and the tank overflowed, but I just can't find evidence of that anywhere.

 

[lcs]

I've had everything running for about 30min. now and all is well so far. No leaks that I can see in the sump and the siphon started right up on its own, so unless there was an obstruction that cleared itself, it wasn't the siphon.

What in the world could have happened???

 

[jfl14609]

sounds like a slow leak in the seal on the sump

 

[lcs]

sounds like a slow leak in the seal on the sump

It really does, but one thing doesn't add up with that . . . the inside of the sump was bone dry and dusty while the floor behind the tank was soaked. Water can't fly or jump, right? :hmm5:

Everything's still running fine so far . . .

 

[jfl14609]

were you able to check under the sump or just around it

 

[lcs]

I didn't think to lift the sump up while it was empty. Shoot. If there was a leak in the sump itself, wouldn't there be seepage throughout the inside of the stand?

I'm still not seeing a change in the water level of the sump, but I'll keep an eye on it!

 

[jfl14609]

i would think you would see seepage but you never know if maybe there was a small hole in the bottom of the stand

 

[lcs]

I don't think it could be from the very bottom of the sump since the sump wasn't completely dry (and I'm pretty sure it had time to empty). I'm not seeing/feeling any wetness anywhere around the bottom trim either though.

I've marked the water level as it is, so I'll see what happens.

 

[reefman5511]

Could be something with the overflow. Couple weeks ago I shut down my pump to do some maintenance. When I started it back up water was overflowing from the tank within minutes. Turns out my glass-holes overflow hadn't purged itself of air causing the overflow. Cleaned out the vent tube that was blocked with salt & all is well once again.

 

[jfl14609]

got any pics of your sump

 

[shroutk3]

drain pipe of overflow box clogged? Then water could have run out of box. Sump ran dry as pump continued to pump water to tank? Do you have baffles or not?

 

[lcs]

Here's the front of the sump. What a mess.

The drain feeds into the sock which is in a box that has two or three 1" holes a few inches from the bottom where the water enters the skimmer section. From there it goes into the return section which is defined by a 6" high acrylic piece - you can see it just to the left of the pump, not really a baffle per se. As you can see, the water level is the same througout the sump.

 

[jfl14609]

yeah water could have gone out the overflow for sure. one of the reasons we use baffles is that the most water that could overflow would be the amount in the chamber with the return pump

 

[lcs]

yeah water could have gone out the overflow for sure.

I'm leaning that way for now. It's just strange that the siphon started right up when the water level became high enough. I can't decide if the siphon is running a little slower than normal or if I'm starting to look for things that are wrong.

I'm just glad I'm home with the kids now and at least I now know that if the sump drains all over the livingroom floor, it would do that much damage. I hope. I'm a little nervous about conditions under the stand. I'm sure it's still wet under there.