ATO disaster.

[Silver14SS]

Wa

Water can still easily overfill the retuen chamber even when the tube is above the water line if the return chamber level is lower than the ATO res level without a siphon break.
I nearly threw away my ATO until i found the siphon break was clogged with kalk.
It equalized everytime i would fill the ATO container to the top cause the pump created a siphon even after it turned off...


ATO tube was always above water line

Yes, if your ATO reservoir is above the discharge, the siphon will flow that way. Water flows downhill. An ATO with a peristaltic pump should pinch the hose shut and prevent a siphon, but Murphy's Law can always pop up. The easiest solution for me is to not have the discharge of the ATO submerged and have the intake for the ATO be lower than the discharge. Nothing to clog that way, no extra maintenance.

 

[Cwentz758]

Also if for any reason you move the pump around or move things around I’m the sump CHECK the tubing. I friggin pulled my pump once and rolled the tube and it faced out of the sump and dumped a few gallons on the floor before it’s auto shut off turned on.

 

[Fernthereefer]

Careful, the opposite can also happen. It happened to me with a Tunze ATO (nano). (ie, it went from the ATO to the DT tank). I don't place the reservoir higher then the end of the tubing going to the display/sump. (Learned the hard way)

 

[Saltyreef]

Yes, if your ATO reservoir is above the discharge, the siphon will flow that way. Water flows downhill. An ATO with a peristaltic pump should pinch the hose shut and prevent a siphon, but Murphy's Law can always pop up. The easiest solution for me is to not have the discharge of the ATO submerged and have the pump for the ATO be lower than the discharge.

I was unaware the tunze nano ato came with a peristaltic pump.
It looks like a normal pump to me.
If someone had a peristaltic pump that did not allow bleed back i completely agree.

A normal impeller pump would not prevent back siphon if the water level in ATO is higher than the output tubing and/or return chamber water level.

 

[beaslbob]

yepper happened to my on my first sump setup. My bottom line is when pumping water make sure the end of the pumped water pipe is above the receiving water line.

 

[Silver14SS]

I was unaware the tunze nano ato came with a peristaltic pump.
It looks like a normal pump to me.
If someone had a peristaltic pump that did not allow bleed back i completely agree.

A normal impeller pump would not prevent back siphon if the water level in ATO is higher than the output tubing and/or return chamber water level.

It doesn't, I muddied the water even bringing it up. You are correct .

What ATO, or how big of a difference in water level, did you have when you had that issue? When I had a Tunze 3155, the ATO reservoir water level when full would be a few inches above the water level maintained by the ATO in my sump return chamber. Never had a siphon issue with the discharge end not submerged in the return chamber. Maybe the siphon couldn't overcome the resistance of drawing through the pump when it was off? Maybe it wasn't forming a siphon running in short bursts? Maybe I was lucky ?

 

[Saltyreef]

It doesn't, I muddied the water even bringing it up. You are correct .

What ATO, or how big of a difference in water level, did you have when you had that issue? When I had a Tunze 3155, the ATO reservoir water level when full would be a few inches above the water level maintained by the ATO in my sump return chamber. Never had a siphon issue with the discharge end not submerged in the return chamber. Maybe the siphon couldn't overcome the resistance of drawing through the pump when it was off? Maybe it wasn't forming a siphon running in short bursts? Maybe I was lucky ?

No worries

I run an xp aqua duetto.

When full, my reservior level sits about 6" higher than my return chamber level and about 3" higher than the output of my hose into the chamber.

The only time it ever became an issue is when my anti siphon clogged with kalkwasser.
It likely would have worked flawlessly even with the end of the tube submerged as the anti siphon would have broke it immediately.

My anti siphon fitting sits directly inside my reservoir above the water level so when it drips slightly it goes back into my FW reservoir.

You can do the test yourself with two 5 gallon buckets with different water levels and a hose. The hose doesnt need to be submerged for the siphon to continue.
And as soon as you stop sucking, does the siphon stop too? It doesnt.
Only when equalized it will stop.