Fear of Starting my Sump

[mchute85]

Hi,

I will start with information about my setup. I have a 72g bowfront mixed reef tank. It has been setup for about 10 months and is doing OK. I have a CUC, 1 clown fish, and 3 peppermint shrimp. I also have various corals.

I have purchased everything I need to run a 20 gallon eshopps sump, but have to rely on an external overflow box (tank is not drilled). I have a reefkeeper lite that will be used as my ATO system as well. Even though I have all of the equipment, I have fears of starting the system and causing a flood when I am not home.

Does anyone have any recommendations that might help me feel more confident in starting my sump?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[AZDesertRat]

A good HOB overflow box like an Eshopps or Lifereef is not going to lose prime or cause a flood. The other big thing is keep the return just barely below the surface of the display tanks water so if power goes of you only siphon a minimal amount back to the sump before it is exposed to atmosphere and breaks suction stopping the siphon. Water cannot jump uphill and it cannot be defeated. As long as you keep some spare room in the sump at all times you will never have an issue. Most in sump skimmers operate best in say 8-9" of water so maintain the sump at that operating level and all is good. A 20 gallon sump would probably operate best with say 12-15 gallons in it so you have plenty of room to contain the 1-2 gallons that will backsiphon when power goes off easily.
Its a little intimidating or scary at first but once you set it up, kill the power a few times and maybe make an adjustment or two it goes away quickly.

 

[Lowstorm]

I ran one forever and just ordered another eshopps overflow for my 125 gal. If you're super worried about it, look up how to run an aqualifter in the tube. The only way suction stops is due to air building up in the tube, or something blocking the tube somehow. Mine worked great start til i tore down the tank.

 

[pondman]

I've ran a hob overflows about ten years now I've never had a problem. As long as it's set up right you should be good.

 

[mcarroll]

I'll say that an Eshopps drain box is the only one I've ever a problem with...pretty sure it was a defective U-tube, but it was returned.

But regardless, like everyone else who's chimed in, I've run drain boxes for a long, long time with zero surprises. It only seems complicated....and it is slightly complicated to start up the first time...awkward, at least. But after that it should be extremely bullet-proof.

For me, the Eshopps was an instant failure at the "power off" test, just as @AZDesertRat mentioned. I ran the test like 14 different times to make sure I wasn't causing the problem. Once I was sure, I ordered a different brand of drain box (just in case) and there was never another hiccup 7-8 years later .

I have had build-quality issues with other Eshopps products since then. They have good customer service, fwiw.

 

[ReeferBob]

I've used that Eshopps overflow before. If your sump is set up properly, there is no way for you to get a flood. Your tank should be able to take whatever is pumped up if your overflow stops and your sump should be able to take whatever drains down if the return pump stops. It is not hard to get that correctly. You do not need the below the surface hole drilled in your setup. In fact, with this setup, even if your return pump stops, you will not lose siphon in your utube as the eshopps is designed very well. Fire it up and test all scenarios!

 

[jetmaker]

You can always put a float switch on the pump so if if the sump fills from a siphon break the pump will not come back on and flood the tank.

 

[mchute85]

Thak you for all of the replys! I will give it a try and test for all the scenarios you guys mentioned.

On a side note if you had to buy a new overflow today what would you buy? I got my current overflow used and it does not have a name brand on it. It does hold a siphon well though.

 

[ReeferBob]

Thak you for all of the replys! I will give it a try and test for all the scenarios you guys mentioned.

On a side note if you had to buy a new overflow today what would you buy? I got my current overflow used and it does not have a name brand on it. It does hold a siphon well though.

For over the back overflow hands down Eshopps!

 

[nitro]

I ran my Lifereef for over a year with no issues,the unit came with great directions I followed them and it worked out great. I ran several tests and it was fine.
Nitro