sump problem

[prawnstar01]

I was wondering if there is a safe way to drain water from the tank to the sump without having to drill holes. Mose other ways i have come up with, if the power turns off i would be up s@%t creek. <
><
>I thought I have heard some one talking about some sort of a skimmer box????<
><
>Any info would be great.<
><
>cheers<
>ben<
>

[ashhhh]

I have seen a syphon style setup from tank to sump and if the power goes off a small hole that is in the pipe about 2inches under the surface of the water, when it  is exposed  the syphoning stops, but the only problem would be that when the power comes back on, the pump will run dry and if you arent around when that happens...........some one must have come up with something to prevent this happening but I dont know - sorry Cheers<
><
>Ash.....<
><
>My fish ATM<
><
>2x thorichthys meeki<
>2x aequidans     pulcher<
>4x geophagus <
>surinamensis<
>2x copora nicaraguense<
>4x steatocranus casuarius<
>2x gold plec<
>1x common plec<
>3x clown loach

[wrk21]

ben,<
> the short answer is no, well not succesfully.<
>ive heard of some guys running two pumps, one from the tank to the sump and one from the sump to the tank, but what if one of them dies.?? either way you will have water going everywhere.<
>the other way is the wier set up but that means cutting a rectangle piece of glass out of the side of your tank where the water over flow out into a catchment area and then piped down to the sump, filtered and pumped back to the tank.<
>in the 2nd idea you only need the bottom of the cut to 1cm below the water level and it will flow continuously but can be noisy from the water going over the falls, but can be fixed by puting some sponge in the bottom to catch the water.<
><
>the only thing you have to watch is how much water the sump can hold verse the amount of water that will still run from the tank when the powers off.<
>if A=B than you dont have a prob, if A being the water that will run from the tank, is larger than B capasity of the sump<
>you will have water going every where. in this case you could have a small hole drilled in the sump about 50mm from the top with a hose attached and run out side to the garden or drain.<
><
><
> <
>the way to fix the prob of the sump running dry is to have one of the toilet fittings that shut of when the water gets to a certain height, you have it mounted at the height that you want the water level to be. when the power comes back on it will only fill to that level. <
><
><
>next prob!!!!!!<
><
><
><
>  

[trofius]

you can buy overflows form the aquarium shops, but they are expensive, they hang over the edge of the tank and kinda syphon out into the box but the syphon never stops, or
eaks so power outs are no probs. but as mentioned when water flows into water , it makes noise. <
><
>but no need to have holes drilled (hole are the wayy easier and quicker, and cheaper option)<
><
>Toilet cysterns do not flow anywere near enough to have as part of the regular plumbing of a tank,they also require high pressure to function correctly. float valves( unless you get a really big one) dont work either, and well i would not trust them. Mick, Rockhampton<
>seeneym(at)hotmail.com<
>Tanganyikan pics here<
><
>

[Sigmaphile]

Ben,<
>Have a REALLY good read of this article.<
>I am sure it explains how to do what you want.<
>The way it is made the syphon never
eaks and if the power goes out all will be good once it comes back on again.<
>Great Overflow Article<
>Hope it helps<
> Phil<
><
>Beaudesert<
>debphil@ozemail.com.au<
><
>I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

[Aquariums Alive]

any reason you dont want your tank drilled???? AQUARIUMS ALIVE<
>7/1 Tibbing st Nerang.<
>0755273545<
>sales@aquariumsalive.com.au<
>www.aquariumsalive.com.au<
>Visit www.aquariumsalive.com.au , register your details and be entered into our monthly draw - great prizes to be won

[ashhhh]

Im pretty sure someone was selling an ''aks'' overflow thingy in the trader section a little while back, might still be there....... Cheers<
><
>Ash.....<
><
>

[mickvick]

It can be done,check out this article, it explains it very well.............<
><
>www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/<
><
><
>Michael

[prawnstar01]

Thanks for all the info . I will check out the links that have been posted and see what ideas are out there. <
><
>I was trying to get out of drilling for a few reasons. <
>* If i decided that i wanted to run the tank with out the sump later (for what ever reason) i would not have the problem of having a big hole in the back of my tank.<
>*I cant drill the hole my self & i would be a bit worried about any jo blo taking to my tank with a drill.<
>*And i am having trouble finding any one that (A) will come out to rosewood to drill the tank, an (B) someone that can drill a hole big enogh.<
><
>cheers<
>ben<
>

[wrk21]

mick,<
> RE; your comment about the over flows, you said they syphon out and theres no prob if the power go''s out, where does the water go when its syphoned out and how do you get the water back into the tank???<
><
><
>  

[ashhhh]

not being a smartarse, but did you look at mick vicks link, the animated diagrams and explanations are very clear........ Cheers<
><
>Ash.....<
><
>

I''ve used something like this in the past rather than skimmer boxes etc<
><
><
>works fine,,, and here''s an article about it.<
><
>ARTICLE<
><
>Matt

[trofius]

Hey Wayne yep i did word that a bit badely, in a hurry as usuall, <
><
> when the water level drops to the heiht of th eover flow~ 1-2cm lower it stops, bu the syphon potential remains, once the tank starts filling up again and again eneters the overflow box it again starts to flow. <
><
>that article explains it pretty well...  Mick, Rockhampton<
>seeneym(at)hotmail.com<
>Tanganyikan pics here<
><
>

[prawnstar01]

Go Fast<
>You say you have used this type of overflow?<
>How well did it work? and how did you start the syphon?<
>It just seems to easy, it would be very easy to make and also very cheap. If this works well i can''t see why any body would drill there tanks??<
><
>ben<
>

[ashhhh]

the only drawback from my understanding of the article is that there is not alot of "syphon power" removing the water from the tank.........so that would mean a slow turnover of tank water per hour I would imagine.... Cheers<
><
>Ash.....<
><
>