vacation, seperating display and sump?

[shinny]

I am going on vacation for a month. I am going to try to seperate my display and sump from each other. I am doing this so my tank won't overflow. I have had problems in the past (Mostly overflowing). I am going to put heater and maxijet in display. The sump will have a heater and pump also. I am going to have someone feed the fish everyother day and topping off evaporation.

The question is: Will mixing water from display and sump when I return be OK?

I think it will be fine. Just wondering what everybody else thought. Thanks.

 

[Juruense]

Sounds like a terrible idea to me.

 

[kraze3]

I think you should tell us why it overflows so we ca help you to correct the problem

 

[Cuttlecute]

Is your return pump's plumbing causing your sump to overflow when the power goes out? If so then just drill a hole into your return pipe/tube just underneath the display tank's water level, so if the power goes out the siphon will be broken once the water level drops below the hole. That is what I was advised to do anyways, hope it works for you

 

[schristi69]

If you let your sumpsit without flow and aeration the solids will start to rot and you will end up with sewage. If you are going to do it, drain the sump and refill with fresh salt water when you get back

 

[Dragonlady]

Be careful who you let take care of your tank while you are away. Give overdetailed instructions....to the level of almost insulting. Letting someone else take care of your tank is when disasters are more likely to happen. I won't go into details here. Topoff should be fine as long as you have the water prepared.

 

[EverettReef]

I disconnected my sump and display for a vacation a month ago. My tank is not drilled and I do not have anyone I'd trust to disgnose a HOB overflow issue. Moved the topoff tank to the top of the canopy and moved heater to DT. I also replaced the flow of the return with a prop modded Maxi-Jet 1200. All the person had to do is feed the tank and re-fill the top-ff tank

When I came home, I cleaned the sump and replaced the water. I really would not recommend re-using the water that had me fairly stagnant during your vacation.

In my case, no skimming for a week, but I did the water change and a couple of more when I got back and all was fine.

 

[ihopss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14588676#post14588676 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Juruense
Sounds like a terrible idea to me.

+1

 

[fordp]

I use a hob overflow and my greatest fear is the return pump running dry, not spillage.

Can you give some more details on the overflowing? Does it occur when the power is out, or randomly?

 

[shinny]

one time it over flowed because GF cleaned the algea off the side of the tank and huge chunk of it clogged one of the U tubes. So, yes I have a HOB overflow. Another time it almost overflowed because air was trapped in the U tube. I just don't trust U tubes (yeah I should drill it sometime).

The main tank and sump will both have heaters and pumps to provide movement and heat. Thanks for all the suggestions. I don't want to drain sump because I have a pretty good fuge going on with a ton of creatures and LR.

 

[fordp]

If you think it will work try it, I would just hate to see your fuge crash or something. Frequent top offs will be required though to keep it healthy

 

[shinny]

yeah I have an auto top off for the sump and I will have GF top off main tank.