Drain monitoring

[Bolingsw]

Hello all, not sure if the is the right area to post this question.
I have a 90 gallon mixed reef tank. It is set up with hang on back filters for now, but I am looking at adding a sump to this tank. I do not want to drill it because it is set up and running. I have been looking at the CPR overflow. I know that they have a lift pump to start the siphon of the water. But what happens if the siphon is broken? Diaphragm pumps fail and if I had a power outage and the siphon pump did not come on my return pump would continue to pump water from the sump into the display until it ran out of water which would be a big problem. My question is this would it be unreasonable to install a flow meter in the drain line that would turn off the return pump in the event that my siphon pump did not start water draining? This flow meter would have a normally open set of contacts that will close when water is flowing. any thoughts would be helpful

 

[Retro Reefer]

There are HOB overflows that don't require a separate pump and you can also install a small optical sensor at top of tank to kill return pump before tank overflows in case of a drain failure..

 

[JoshH]

Just make sure the return section of your sump is small enough that when the siphon breaks your display can handle the volume of water that gets pumped up to it . Then you can add a water level sensor like the one above in your return section and set it so when the level in there gets too low it will shut the return pump off to prevent it from running dry. Reef octopus Varios DC pumps even come with a float sensor with them to prevent running dry

Flow sensors are generally a bad idea on the drain side of things, especially on a Durso drain where you don't have a backup drain.

 

[Bolingsw]

There are HOB overflows that don't require a separate pump and you can also install a small optical sensor at top of tank to kill return pump before tank overflows in case of a drain failure..

Thanks Josh

There are HOB overflows that don't require a separate pump and you can also install a small optical sensor at top of tank to kill return pump before tank overflows in case of a drain failure..

i will check this out thanks

 

[Bolingsw]

There are HOB overflows that don't require a separate pump and you can also install a small optical sensor at top of tank to kill return pump before tank overflows in case of a drain failure..

where would you buy one of these optical sensors?

 

[Retro Reefer]

where would you buy one of these optical sensors?

Exo Auto Top Off (OPEN BOX)

Maintain a consistent salinity in your aquarium without relying on failure-prone float switches. Arguably the most time-saving addition to any tank, never worry about your aquarium running dry again. With all internal components built into the optical sensor housing, there are no additional...

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