Sump

[Wilkerson.reed]

This may be a dumb question but I am 14 and built a sump just recently and I got everything hooked up. I filled up my sump with water a little too much so I was going to turn the pump on before I made my overflow start up(it is a HOB because I couldnt drill my tank) so I plugged the pump in to see if it worked well (which it did) the problem is that I turned the pump off for a minute to start the overflow and the pump was pulling water from my tank and my sump almost overflowed... I pulled the pump out of my sump to stop it from draining my tank and overflowing my sump at the moment... What do I do know?

 

[Wilkerson.reed]

*now

 

[thegrun]

Your sump has to be large enough to handle all the drain down water that will flow back into the sump when the power is off. You need to drill a hole near the top of the overflow pipe to allow air into the return pipe which will break the siphon and prevent it from drawing as much water back into the sump. If you post a picture of your return plumbing we can give more specific advice.

 

[Bogue Chitto]

You need to have a small hole in the return line just above the water line in the tank and when the pump is disconnected, or the power goes off the hole will let air in the line and thus break the siphon.

 

[Wilkerson.reed]

If I drilled a hole in the return line wouldn't water squirt from the hole where I drilled?

 

[Wilkerson.reed]

Nevermind I figured out what y'all are saying... Thanks!

 

[inthedeep2]

what size tank and sump also baffle heights?
pictures would help as well

 

[Xxero]

Here's a good plain language tutorial, also:

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

:bigeyes:

 

[davocean]

Not a dumb question at all and if you caught it before it flooded you did better than many others.
When power goes off that tube pushing water now becomes a siphon, you need something to break that siphon, preferably return lines kept high, but a siphon break hole can work too, but you have to keep it clean of gunk and SW creep to remain effective.
Pics will help w/ advice.