tired of sucking air out of my overflow box...

[sjm817]

My U Tubes dont need constant cleaning. A simple 5 min job of putting a little plastic shield to keep the light out is all it takes.

When I do clean it once every few months, it is a very simple procedure since the U Tube is removable.

The CPR on the other hand was a real PITA to clean. Since it does not come apart, I had to remove the whole stupid thing from the tank, soak it in a bleach bucket and spray it out with a garden hose. Now that is real easy.

Had to be sure to keep it clean. Just a tiny speck of algae or whatever is all it takes to clog the little air nipple and cause it to fail.

 

[kel5944]

When using a powerhead, make sure its as close to the surface as possible. You'd be suprised how much faster it sucks the air out. I mounted a powerhead in the back of my overflow to keep the bubbles out of the display.

 

[itZme]

Before I drilled my tank I had a DIY overflow box I made. I had drilled the top of the PVC U-tube and added a regular air check valve in the hole. Then I put regular airline tubing onto the check valve and sucked out all the air in the U-tube to get the siphon going. As soon as I had it going I put the end of the airline into the water so if there was any leakage of the check valve it would only suck in more water and not air. This seemed like the best solution for me. It was simple and worked great.

Good luck with your setup.

-- itZme

 

[dkh0331]

Re: Aqua Lifters ???

Re: Aqua Lifters ???

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6509494#post6509494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by radiata
Aqua Lifter Owners,

How reliable are the Aqua Lifters? How long have you had them running for? If any have died, low long was their life span?

TIA,
Bob D.

I ran a CPR w/ the Aqua lifter for a year on my old 55. Now I have the aqualifter as my kalk/auto top off pump. So for three+ years my aqualifter has run. Not bad for a $10 pump.

HTH

David

 

[Tava176]

tmitlton6


I have been toying around with the idea of running airline tubing down to my sump. The thought of a VERY SLOW overflow when power is out did cross my mind. I did not think on puting the little ball valve in there. Great idea.

I have had a lot less air in my overflow sinse I installed my auto top off system. It keeps the water in the display/ sump balance to a point where my overflow is not sucking so much air in with the water.


I will try your bal valve idea.

Thanks all for the help!

James

 

[Abysswater]

Well for what it is worth I made my own overflow system. The inside box is a baseball cube and the outer box is a CD case holder. I got both for the container store. 15 bucks total. But the u tube is from local FS. Works great and get good flow.

 

[kevensquint]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6438347#post6438347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MayoBoy
Can you hook the venturi on a MaxiJet to the airline? I think that would keep the air out.

Yes, this is what I do with mine. There are always a few bubbles left, but no big deal.

 

[rsteagall]

even if the venturi sucked all water out of a u-tube in case of a pump failure (power or likewise) in your sump, the constant venturi action would prime the u-tube back if it needed to automatically.

 

[00nothing]

set one of these up on my aunts tank over 6 months ago no problems as of yet using an ac802 venturi to maintain a constant siphon

 

[818]

What if teh siphon stops sucking water in? Say a bubble gets in the siphon it will stop suckin water into the overflow and into the sump and then the main display will overflow correct?

The continous overflow like the one bought from ebay is the one I have. I stil havent set it up how do I get it going? I cant seem to understand how the water will be moving with the overflow campartment?

Sam

 

[00nothing]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6513751#post6513751 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by My F1sh R D34D!
What if teh siphon stops sucking water in? Say a bubble gets in the siphon it will stop suckin water into the overflow and into the sump and then the main display will overflow correct?

The continous overflow like the one bought from ebay is the one I have. I stil havent set it up how do I get it going? I cant seem to understand how the water will be moving with the overflow campartment?

Sam

if u have it hooked to an aqualifter or a venturi on a powerhead any air that builds in the siphon chamber will be removed by the pump so u will not lose siphon

to get it going is actually pretty simple fill the small chamber in the back that allows the overflow box to maintain a state of siphon while shutdown and then hook whatever pump up to the siphon nipple then once u start that up it will remove all the air replacing it with water, One thing i did find with my aunts was that instead of having it perfeclty level i tilted it jsut slightly so that all the air made its way to the nipple

 

[outy]

people bash this setup because they didnt set it up properly and got what they had coming it can be simple and clean