ok so i picked up pico1's old sump a couple of weeks ago. everyday it loses about 2 gallons of h20. i dont want to fill it up all the way up since if the power goes out the water would overflow. im confused to as how much water i am supposed to have and if i could hook it up in a way where if power would go out, the water would just stop syphoning.
sump hookup question
- Thread starter maxdout
- Start date
You can use a check valve - but as with mechanical device, there is a chance it will fail. Check out the following thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=893621
What you want to do is setup an auto top off system. The nice thing about an auto top off system is that your salinity doesn't change much.
Minh
What you want to do is setup an auto top off system. The nice thing about an auto top off system is that your salinity doesn't change much.
Minh
Sheldon337
New member
check out melevs reef he has tutorials on how to drill holes that break the siphon, i think the site is:
www.melevsreef.com
www.melevsreef.com
Sheldon337
New member
I second the auto-top off system, it will keep the water at your max level, once u have figured that out.
loup
Premium Member
I would go with auto top off system. On my old 37g, I had a 1 gallon container and a float switch in the sump. Everytime to water dip below the a certain level, the float switch turns on the pump sitting inside the container to pump fresh water in.
Its a fairly simple dyi. If you want, you can have that setup as I'm no longer using it minus the pump as I've reuse the pump somewhere else.
Its a fairly simple dyi. If you want, you can have that setup as I'm no longer using it minus the pump as I've reuse the pump somewhere else.
ok so i redid my return hose. i took out the checkvalve i just put in since it was slowing down my output and so it would create a backup of water. and also took out all of hte flex hosing for the return and pieced it up with some pvc pipes. pretty getto looking but it does the job. i was thinking as abackup for flooding issues, i could get a big tub and put my sump inside of it but i went to walmart and the ones they got are A either too tall to fit into under my stand or not much bigger than the sump itself. if anyone gots any other ideas i am open to them. i looked for where to drill the return but i did a test run and the water still comes down from the intake so im still in the same boat.
Justin74
New member
If you drilled the hole in the return just right below water level, that will break the syphon once the water drains to that point. Whether or not your sump can hold that much water once it reaches that point will tell you if your sumps big enough, or not 
As far as evaporation, I have a gallon jug with an air tube and a nozzle that works great as a dripper. I just fill it up every evening. In your case you'd need two. Could be a quick fix if you got some spare parts, untill you do get an auto topoff unit going. Do your research if you get one going and set it up with saftey nets. Too many hobbyists have succumed to mechanical failures, and end up putting too much water in dropping there salinity to dangerous/deadly levels. The more mechanics you implement the more redundancy that's needed for safety nets.
-Justin
As far as evaporation, I have a gallon jug with an air tube and a nozzle that works great as a dripper. I just fill it up every evening. In your case you'd need two. Could be a quick fix if you got some spare parts, untill you do get an auto topoff unit going. Do your research if you get one going and set it up with saftey nets. Too many hobbyists have succumed to mechanical failures, and end up putting too much water in dropping there salinity to dangerous/deadly levels. The more mechanics you implement the more redundancy that's needed for safety nets.
-Justin
