This is for a buddy and not me. He has a 40g breeder that he wants to hook a 10g "refugium" to. He doesn't want to drill so he is thinking about an overflow box. Alot of these are gravity fed. His question is, if the power goes out, and the pump doesn't return the water to the display tank, what keep the 40g from spilling all over the floor?
Overflow box question
- Thread starter TMartinez
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TMartinez;5082256; said:
He will need to ensure that the "refugium" can accommodate the extra water that will inevitably flow into it when the pump shuts off. The 40 gallon itself will not spill all over the floor, but there is a chance that the "refugium" may overflow.
the reason its called an over flow is when the water gets below the channels in the over flow, it will not put anymore into the "refugium" and like said above, just make sure there is enough rooom in it to accommodate the extra water
btw it shouldnt be a TON of water, but might be too much for the 10gal
btw it shouldnt be a TON of water, but might be too much for the 10gal
TMartinez;5082256; said:
when you use an overflow you set it at a certain level in the tank where ever you want your water line to be. the water then spills over into the overflow and into the sump.
when the power is out, the water isn't being turned into the tank, so when the water line reaches the overflow level it will stop because it won't spill over into the overflow.
i hope that makes sense.
FYI, losing power isn't the major problem, its losing siphon in the overflow. because then the return pump over fills the tank.
College fishman;5082284; said:
x2.
The main thing will be to ensure that the overflow is not too far below the water line when the pump is off and also to ensure that their is space in the "refugium" for the excess water. I would avoid having the overflow below the water line more than 2" in order to prevent the excess water from flooding the "refugium" when the pump shuts off; at that depth, you're looking at around 5 gallons of water flowing out of the main aquarium into the "refugium" before the overflow quits siphoning.
Also, having the proper number of baffles and keeping the refugium section restricted to a smaller size will go a long way for preventing an overflow incident.
EDIT: It seems that gveng beat me to the explanation.
+1 to above.
Only a couple inches of the water from the 40 gallon will go into the 10 gallon. So, when building a sump, the baffles need to be in the proper range so that it leaves enough space for that extra water. On the other side of that, which is just as important and I feel frequently overlooked, is when the power turns back on and your overflow siphon is broken. You need to make sure your tank can hold all the extra water that is by the pump in your sump. Side note as well, if your power goes out and back on with a traditional U-tube overflow, your pump will run until it is dry which can burn it out. CPR overflows are great in this regard because the pump you can get with them ensures the siphon starts again when the power goes back on.
Only a couple inches of the water from the 40 gallon will go into the 10 gallon. So, when building a sump, the baffles need to be in the proper range so that it leaves enough space for that extra water. On the other side of that, which is just as important and I feel frequently overlooked, is when the power turns back on and your overflow siphon is broken. You need to make sure your tank can hold all the extra water that is by the pump in your sump. Side note as well, if your power goes out and back on with a traditional U-tube overflow, your pump will run until it is dry which can burn it out. CPR overflows are great in this regard because the pump you can get with them ensures the siphon starts again when the power goes back on.