Plumbing 101

[ansonluna]

:o i just found out what happens when you don't make those little safety holes in the returns. :oops: the good thing is I only lost about 30 gal maybe less. My neighbors below almost had the great flood on them. :lol: the water spread about 3 feet all around the aquarium, luckly I have a shampooer. Just thought I'd share my stupidity with you all and maybe teach another newbe a lesson.

[Ram_Puppy]

Run some fresh water through that shampooer when your done, not all are created equal, and the saltwater may corrode some parts, better safe than sorry. Siphon breaks are good things! :)

[ansonluna]

I couldn't figure out where the :evil: the water was coming from. I new the pump was the only thing connected, I had turned off the overflows. :confused: then I realized what was going on. I was standing there turning the pump on and off wondering if the tank had crack or what because the water seemed to be coming from everywhere...like GOD's wrath :lol2: .

[NaCl_H2O]

Isn't learning fun :-D There isn't a single one of us that hasn't cleaned up saltwater due to basic stupidity! Acouple more gallons and you will be "experienced" ;)

Welcome aboard !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ram_Puppy]

I probably take the cake with the new RO system, I stuck the hose in the tank and started filling it at around 10AM, my buddy brian was there and said, "It probably isn't smart to leave that running while you go to bed." brian went off to do his thing, I went to sleep, woke up at 6PM to find that after only filling up an inch of the tank, the hose had fallen out, and an entire rooms carpet was soaking wet. I mean swampy soaking wet. I used towels, fans, and driers to clean up and we had the carpet professionally shampooed later that week... I would estimate about 60 gallons or so got out. eek.

[don-n-sa]

Wow 30 gallons is alot! I am assuming that mean your sump overflowed due to the siphoning after you turned your pump off. Another way to minimize the amount of water draining back to your sump after you turn your pump off or power loss is to keep your returns up high in your tank.

[ansonluna]

Got a question. The syphone holes have to go below the water level or I will get air bubbles correct? Maybe it wasn't 30 gallons, but it was alot and very scary. Maybe 15 for 10.

[ansonluna]

anti-syphone...sorry.

[NaCl_H2O]

Got a question. The syphone holes have to go below the water level or I will get air bubbles correct? Maybe it wasn't 30 gallons, but it was alot and very scary. Maybe 15 for 10.

Yes, but only .25" to .5" below, or as Don said, just kep your return nozzle close to the surface. BTW, bubbles aren't the worst problem if the holes are at or above the water surface ... saltcreep would be terrible!

[georgeortiz]

Well,
You certainly have baptized yourself into the Reefkeeping Hobby. That's why I have tile floors or if I had a carpet it would have been ruined long ago. Welcome to reefkeeping.

[witecap4u]

I know from a couple different experiences that the water flowing out of my tank will run right out into the garage and only flood a small portion of the carpet....hehe

[ansonluna]

I'd be interested in any plans you could provide, w/out drilling a hole in the sump/fuge. maybe I could run a emergency pipe out my 2nd story window....hmmmmmm :idea:

[ansonluna]

Wish I had a reef ready aquarium. Maybe when I'm rich and famous. :D

[ansonluna]

Yeah but I already spend the $$ to have the holes drilled that I have. I'm ready to work with what I have and start spending $$ on living things.