Big Mystery / Scratching my head

[czoolander]

So i was planning on starting a 72 hour blackout last night . I let the lights do there normal schedule and when they turned off for the night i unplugged them . I then put towels over the display to make it dark for any ambient room light so it would be fully dark out in the tank and then i went to bed .

I woke up this morning to water all over the floor and the towels on top of the tank were soaked .......

I see below that the skimmer was overflowing chamber full of water. The 5 gallon RODI container in the sump was also bone dry .

So my thoughts are ok the skimmer was over flowing this might cause the water on the floor ? but what would cause all of the towels on top of the tank to get soaked ?

what the heck happened????? all i did was unplug the lights and cover the tank in towels ............ seriously what am i missing?

My brain is not functioning properly with my newborn baby im operating on 7 hours sleep in 3 days so I dont have full brain funcitionality to figure this one out need some help guys

Thanks in advance

 

[Snoopy 67]

Did your overflow clog allowing water OVER the top?

 

[14 foot reef]

did the towels come in contact with the tank water, then form a "Sponge Type Syphon" Plus possible detergents in towel caused over flow of skimmer and ATO dump. Just a few random possiblilities with the small amount of details shared.

 

[HBtank]

I would guess the display overflowed, wetting the towels and is why the RO/DI emptied when water wasn't returning to the sump, triggering the sensor. But any spill would drain the RO/DI in the same proportion, so that doesn't really give a clue to the cause.

Is there any way the overflow to the sump was blocked? How were the towels separated from the water?

Is your skimmer internal?

 

[ABQ_CHRIS]

I'm with @14 foot reef. Wicking/capillary action once the towels came into contact with whatever body of water they touched.

 

[czoolander]

Did your overflow clog allowing water OVER the top?

Possibly but the overflow is in a chamber in the back and looks to be operating normally

 

[czoolander]

did the towels come in contact with the tank water, then form a "Sponge Type Syphon" Plus possible detergents in towel caused over flow of skimmer and ATO dump. Just a few random possiblilities with the small amount of details shared.

No i have a lid on the tank so the towels never should have come in contact with the tank water they were 3 inches above the surface and on top of the lid. its a solid metal lid so it wont sag and the lid was still in its original form this morning

 

[czoolander]

I would guess the display overflowed, wetting the towels and is why the RO/DI emptied when water wasn't returning to the sump, triggering the sensor. But any spill would drain the RO/DI in the same proportion, so that doesn't really give a clue to the cause.

Is there any way the overflow to the sump was blocked? How were the towels separated from the water?

Is your skimmer internal?

I have a red sea lid on the tank its pretty heavy duty metal lined so the towels never touched the water surface they are about 3 inches above .

I dont know what would cause the display to overflow though? the overflow is operating normally again now and the only variable is the towels

The skimmer is in the sump not sure if that is " internal" ?

 

[HBtank]

I have a red sea lid on the tank its pretty heavy duty metal lined so the towels never touched the water surface they are about 3 inches above .

I dont know what would cause the display to overflow though? the overflow is operating normally again now and the only variable is the towels

The skimmer is in the sump not sure if that is " internal" ?

Yeah that would be an internal skimmer, it shouldn't cause a flood/spill if it overflows, unless some part of it is external to the sump.

 

[czoolander]

Yeah that would be an internal skimmer, it shouldn't cause a flood/spill if it overflows, unless some part of it is external to the sump.

nope everything is inside the 30 gallon sump chamber below. Skimmer included.

I guess if i put towels on top then the tank couldnt breathe and this caused the overflow to clog? i dont know seems really bizarre.

Tank was operating normally for months . I unplug lights and put towels on my lid and cover the display glass and all the sudden major spill? none of those things should have any effect on water levels ?

 

[czoolander]

I'm with @14 foot reef. Wicking/capillary action once the towels came into contact with whatever body of water they touched.

That is the weird part though....... the towels never should have come in contact with water they are on top of the lid . Or are you saying because its a mesh top that even though there is 3 inches between the towels and the surface they absorbed water all through the night? enough to get soaking wet and leak down onto the floor ?

Thats alot of water i think probably 1-4 gallons if i had to guess got on the floor

 

[HBtank]

nope everything is inside the 30 gallon sump chamber below. Skimmer included.

I guess if i put towels on top then the tank couldnt breathe and this caused the overflow to clog? i dont know seems really bizarre.

Tank was operating normally for months . I unplug lights and put towels on my lid and cover the display glass and all the sudden major spill? none of those things should have any effect on water levels ?

Depending on how the overflow is supplied air, maybe that could be it? It does seem bizarre, that usually only effects noise for mine (but mine is an old durso with larger PVC). And towels shouldn't really restrict air unless they got wet.

I do think the towels somehow caused an issue with the overflow. Everything so far indicates a spill from the top of the display.

 

[czoolander]

Depending on how the overflow is supplied air, maybe that could be it? It does seem bizarre, that usually only effects noise for mine (but mine is an old durso with larger PVC). And towels shouldn't really restrict air unless they got wet.

I do think the towels somehow caused an issue with the overflow. Everything so far indicates a spill from the top of the display.

Yeah it had to be the towels as thats the only change. Unplugging lights was the other change but that will have zero effect on water level..........im hoping LOL

My new plan once i get home tonight once i get the water level and salinity all tickity boo is to once again attempt a black out but this time tape some cardboard to the sides and leave the top open to breathe . shouldnt be that much light getting in with this method and hopefully cardboard against the glass doesnt cause a flood

But you never know with my luck...........ugggh

 

[ABQ_CHRIS]

That is the weird part though....... the towels never should have come in contact with water they are on top of the lid . Or are you saying because its a mesh top that even though there is 3 inches between the towels and the surface they absorbed water all through the night? enough to get soaking wet and leak down onto the floor ?

Thats alot of water i think probably 1-4 gallons if i had to guess got on the floor

Maybe? Unless you've got a time machine you might never know. I am sorry. I would be frustrated and MAYBE curious enough to run an experiment.

 

[AKL1950]

Just a thought, but if you cover the tank with towels, there is no way for the evaporating water to escape. The towels will absorb that water and once soaked, it will start the siphon. Sump gets too low and fills up with Ro-di water changing the skimmer enough to cause it’s water/bubble mixture to go mustang.

 

[czoolander]

Just a thought, but if you cover the tank with towels, there is no way for the evaporating water to escape. The towels will absorb that water and once soaked, it will start the siphon. Sump gets too low and fills up with Ro-di water changing the skimmer enough to cause it’s water/bubble mixture to go mustang.

Yeah thats probably exactly what happened. But it seems weird that the towels would soak up that much water to the point of overflow..... I guess im just surprised .

I mean i see my 5 gallon ATO drain in 3-8 days typically so yeah i know the tank evaporates alot of water but i am shocked this happened overnight so fast

How do people do blackouts typically then? cardboard on the glass and leave the top open???

 

[czoolander]

Maybe? Unless you've got a time machine you might never know. I am sorry. I would be frustrated and MAYBE curious enough to run an experiment.

I dont know if i can do an experiment haha

I flooded the basement twice from overfilling my RODI 30 gallon brute can and now this .....

My wife is patient but everyone has a limit hahahhaha

 

[AKL1950]

Yeah thats probably exactly what happened. But it seems weird that the towels would soak up that much water to the point of overflow..... I guess im just surprised .

I mean i see my 5 gallon ATO drain in 3-8 days typically so yeah i know the tank evaporates alot of water but i am shocked this happened overnight so fast

How do people do blackouts typically then? cardboard on the glass and leave the top open???

Remember that we keep our house temperature somewhere between 70-74 degrees, but we keep out tank at 78-80 degrees. Not much of a difference, but enough to create a lot of evaporation. I have a scientific barometer that sits just behind my DT and level with the top of the tank. During lights on time, the house is 73, but the area above the tank is 77 and the tank water is 79. Humidity in the house is 40-50%, but just above the tank it is 60-77 depending on whether lights are off or on. That extra humidity is evaporation from the DT. Take those towels and put them in a gallon of water and they get pretty soaked.

 

[czoolander]

Remember that we keep our house temperature somewhere between 70-74 degrees, but we keep out tank at 78-80 degrees. Not much of a difference, but enough to create a lot of evaporation. I have a scientific barometer that sits just behind my DT and level with the top of the tank. During lights on time, the house is 73, but the area above the tank is 77 and the tank water is 79. Humidity in the house is 40-50%, but just above the tank it is 60-77 depending on whether lights are off or on. That extra humidity is evaporation from the DT. Take those towels and put them in a gallon of water and they get pretty soaked.

Yeah I guess me operating on no sleep just thought this would be the way to do it .

Crazy to think about how much water those towels sucked up in so little amount of time

Ill try the cardboard method tonight and hopefully my salinity isnt out of whack...... I got some testing to do tonight

Maybe another reefer could put towels over their tank 3" off the surface and see if the same thing happens? not that anyone would want to do that haha

 

[AKL1950]

Yeah I guess me operating on no sleep just thought this would be the way to do it .

Crazy to think about how much water those towels sucked up in so little amount of time

Ill try the cardboard method tonight and hopefully my salinity isnt out of whack...... I got some testing to do tonight

Maybe another reefer could put towels over their tank 3" off the surface and see if the same thing happens? not that anyone would want to do that haha

Cardboard is paper. It will soak as well. If you have some Saran Wrap clear plastic wrap, put that over the card board so it’s protecting the cardboard from the water. The evaporation will just get the plastic wet and make droplet’s that drop back in the tank.