I have seen a BUNCH of syphon ideas and tried several of them with less than great success. So...here's is a schematic rendering of the system I ended up with.
A = main tank with dark blue line as the water surface
B = 10 gallon tank INSIDE the main tank
C = undergravel filter with lift tubes feeding the siphon. yellow line is gravel bed. red line is the top of the 10g; there is a screen here to prevent fish transfer
D = is catastrophic failsafe
E = first stage failsafe
This is all 1" pipe. Dumps into 1.5" pipe that feeds the sump. Pushing approx. 800gph right now.
In the case of a power failure, water in the main tank will drop down to the 10g top and stop. Water in the 10g will continue to drop until it breaks below line E. Line E will allow air into the system but will NOT completely stop it; only slow it down. When the water leve reaches the height of the outside top bend, the siphon will stop. As soon as the power is restored all is back to normal with no help from me.
This part works fantastic as an automatic self manager to the sump water level.
If the water continues to drop, it will finally open line D which will break the siphon completely.
A = main tank with dark blue line as the water surface
B = 10 gallon tank INSIDE the main tank
C = undergravel filter with lift tubes feeding the siphon. yellow line is gravel bed. red line is the top of the 10g; there is a screen here to prevent fish transfer
D = is catastrophic failsafe
E = first stage failsafe
This is all 1" pipe. Dumps into 1.5" pipe that feeds the sump. Pushing approx. 800gph right now.
In the case of a power failure, water in the main tank will drop down to the 10g top and stop. Water in the 10g will continue to drop until it breaks below line E. Line E will allow air into the system but will NOT completely stop it; only slow it down. When the water leve reaches the height of the outside top bend, the siphon will stop. As soon as the power is restored all is back to normal with no help from me.
This part works fantastic as an automatic self manager to the sump water level.
If the water continues to drop, it will finally open line D which will break the siphon completely.
