My Waterbox 20 keeps overflowing

[Habibi Brizzy]

Hey guys,
So I’m trying to figure a solution to this problem I keep running into. I have an Intank Media tray in the first chamber of my AIO sump, the ink bird sensor and ehiem heater in the second, the third is the JBJ Nano ATO and obviously return pump. I’ve had times where I’ve walked in to a completely flooded room because my ATO just kept going off. Luckily no crazy damage to parameters or my floors lol. If the filter floss starts catching particles it starts backing up the sump and causes the ATO to pump fresh water into the system. I at times tend to manually set the sensor to the new water level but this is just aggravating. I can't constantly be in my house to do this. It's either replace the filter floss at least twice a day or reset the sensor to the new level.......... Trust me it gets old real fast. A lot of questions are raised; could the filter floss be no good? (intank filter floss), could the media tray be causing all this? maybe carbon filter bag might be big? I use bag for 25gal. My tank isn't that dirty to be getting that much clogging. What in the h*** could it be ?

 

[tharbin]

I use InTank filter floss in a WB Mini Pen 15 without issue and usually have 15gm of carbon with it but I use a filter cup not a media tray. Are you sure you're setting the JBJ correctly? I use it as well and it has never overfilled. The way I set it is to wait until the water level in the return chamber is just below where I want it to start a refill and then turn on the JBJ. It does the initial fill/self test and then it is all set. The water level needs to be just below the fill line (I usually wait until it is at the bottom of the sensor cover). That way it sets the timeout fail-safe long enough to fill but not long enough to overfill. Maybe your unit is defective.

If it really a blockage at chamber 1 you need to look at your setup carefully. The filter floss is fine and I get 3 days usually out of mine. I did notice that the filter floss needs to be below the overflow grates or it impedes flow. Since I have mine in a filter cup I have no issues but I tried it on top once and it almost stopped flow.

Good luck.

 

[Cell]

I think this is just a problem inherent with small AIO's. Mechanical filtration can clog fast and needs frequent changing in some cases. I often find my WB10 display water level high and chamber 3 low and know I have to change my filter pad promptly.

 

[Chrisv.]

I have the peninsula 15 and a filter cup. I found that when I used the in-tank two color filter floss, flow was severely restricted and the water level in the tank really increased. I also found that the overflow was relatively inadequate to handle the increased flow of the Sicce return pump upgrade.

I really don't like the waterbox design. The overflow is too small (and can't be fixed since the back is glass) and if I'm not mistaken, both the second and third chambers change water height when the tank evaporates.

It's like the whole thing was designed by a person who knows nothing about reefing.

 

[tharbin]

I have the peninsula 15 and a filter cup. I found that when I used the in-tank two color filter floss, flow was severely restricted and the water level in the tank really increased. I also found that the overflow was relatively inadequate to handle the increased flow of the Sicce return pump upgrade.

I really don't like the waterbox design. The overflow is too small (and can't be fixed since the back is glass) and if I'm not mistaken, both the second and third chambers change water height when the tank evaporates.

It's like the whole thing was designed by a person who knows nothing about reefing.

Chrisv,

The design isn't great but your 2nd chamber should not be changing. The first chamber will fill to the height of the baffle in the second chamber so a little below the filter sock holder (so about 2.5 inches below the top of the back glass) that allows the water to tumble into the sock/floss the falling effect into the floss/sock chamber is what keeps the flow working correctly.. The second chamber should fill to the height of the baffle in the 3rd chamber (so about 4.5 inches below the top of the back glass) and remain at that height. The 3rd chamber is full when it is the same height as the second chamber. As water evaporates the third chamber will go down but since the second chamber is at the 3rd chamber baffle height, it will remain at that height. I set my ATO to be full at the height of the baffle in the 3rd chamber. I have yet to have a chamber fall from clogged media or have the ATO overfill.

 

[ingchr1]

I've ran the inTank floss in my Waterbox 40.2 and 15 without issue, changing it as it starts to clog and the water backs up. 1

One thing you could do is cut the floss a little smaller than the chamber, leaving a gap between it and the back of the chamber. The floss will still catch debris and as it starts to clog the water will flow more across it and directly into the chamber. Not backing up and messing with water level. I started doing this when we would go on vacation, then just ran that way all the time.

 

[Chrisv.]

I switched to regular pillow fluff style filter floss and it resolved the issue, mostly. But the tank volume is still higher with the Sicce pump. I've decided that rather than do an ATO I'm probably going to stick with a dosing pump adding RODI at slightly less volume than needed. It's not a perfect solution but I think it's better than constantly worrying about an overflow.

I really wanted to like this, but it's a bit disappointing.

 

[ingchr1]

Also, is sounds like something else could be going on if your tank is overflowing.

When it has overflowed what was the level in the return chamber? Was the ATO sensor under water? Is the return pump still stock or changed out for one with higher flow?

The divider wall is slightly lower than the tank walls, so if water level in the display gets too high it will overflow into the chambers. Theoretically prevent the tank from overflowing.

Another thing I do is my ATO container is only around 0.75 gallons. This way if the ATO does malfunction the tank will not overflow.

 

[Chrisv.]

Also, is sounds like something else could be going on if your tank is overflowing.

When it has overflowed what was the level in the return chamber? Was the ATO sensor under water? Is the return pump still stock or changed out for one with higher flow?

The divider wall is slightly lower than the tank walls, so if water level in the display gets too high it will overflow into the chambers. Theoretically prevent the tank from overflowing.

Another thing I do is my ATO container is only around 0.75 gallons. This way if the ATO does malfunction the tank will not overflow.

Agreed. Any chance this tank is not level?

 

[coralfishreef]

One thing you could do is cut the floss a little smaller than the chamber, leaving a gap between it and the back of the chamber.

This is also what I did when I had a WB20.

I didn’t like the WB 20 AIO design with the single overflow. The double overflow setup on the IM Nuvo Fusion 20 is a much better design IMO. Also, some other AIO tanks with single overflows have both an overflow and bottom filter intake slits to prevent potential flooding due to blockage.

 

[Intense37754]

We have the same 20g with one overflow chamber and overflowed once when the first chamber got backed up, other aio has holes in the back overflow to prevent this. Our 30g WB has to overflow chambers
the only thing to do is change or clean filter media more often, we have 7 2.75” socks and change every other day.
our jbj and biocube has back ups for this

 

[ingchr1]

I actually just switched from inTank floss to Aquamesh Blue 3 Medium.

Socks were a bit of a pain, the floss seemed a bit wastfull, and I didn't change either often enough.

I should get long reuse out of the mesh. The water flows right through the medium, I'm probably not even going to have to clean it very often and I don't see how it will ever get to the point of restricting any flow. It's enough to prevent anything too large from going through it though. But effectively it's really not filtering much of anything. I probably could have went with the fine.

Unexpected benefit of the mesh is that the overflows are quieter.

 

[Chrisv.]

I actually just switched from inTank floss to Aquamesh Blue 3 Medium.

Socks were a bit of a pain, the floss seemed a bit wastfull, and I didn't change either often enough.

I should get long reuse out of the mesh. The water flows right through the medium, I'm probably not even going to have to clean it very often and I don't see how it will ever get to the point of restricting any flow. It's enough to prevent anything too large from going through it though. But effectively it's really not filtering much of anything. I probably could have went with the fine.

Unexpected benefit of the mesh is that the overflows are quieter.

Interesting! I will buy some to try. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Habibi Brizzy]

I use InTank filter floss in a WB Mini Pen 15 without issue and usually have 15gm of carbon with it but I use a filter cup not a media tray. Are you sure you're setting the JBJ correctly? I use it as well and it has never overfilled. The way I set it is to wait until the water level in the return chamber is just below where I want it to start a refill and then turn on the JBJ. It does the initial fill/self test and then it is all set. The water level needs to be just below the fill line (I usually wait until it is at the bottom of the sensor cover). That way it sets the timeout fail-safe long enough to fill but not long enough to overfill. Maybe your unit is defective.

If it really a blockage at chamber 1 you need to look at your setup carefully. The filter floss is fine and I get 3 days usually out of mine. I did notice that the filter floss needs to be below the overflow grates or it impedes flow. Since I have mine in a filter cup I have no issues but I tried it on top once and it almost stopped flow.

Good luck.

Appreciate the advice I will look at the JBJ sensor to see if it’s working properly. The fist chamber has a lot going on. I have a tray with 3 different slots. Fist being the filter floss, second media and this is the Chemi blue carbon bag. I’ll update you on what I find out. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Habibi Brizzy]

Also, is sounds like something else could be going on if your tank is overflowing.

When it has overflowed what was the level in the return chamber? Was the ATO sensor under water? Is the return pump still stock or changed out for one with higher flow?

The divider wall is slightly lower than the tank walls, so if water level in the display gets too high it will overflow into the chambers. Theoretically prevent the tank from overflowing.

Another thing I do is my ATO container is only around 0.75 gallons. This way if the ATO does malfunction the tank will not overflow.

There has been times were the display tank was overflowing but the return chamber wasn’t getting enough water as quickly. It would start making noises and cloud the display. I have a sicce silent 1.0. I haven’t taken a look at the adjustment ever since I put it in the first time. I though it might have been already set to the tanks flow rate, so I didn’t mess with the settings lol.

 

[Habibi Brizzy]

Agreed. Any chance this tank is not level?

Let me double check.

 

[ingchr1]

What do you have going on in the middle chamber? Anything there that could also be limiting flow to the return chamber?

 

[Habibi Brizzy]

What do you have going on in the middle chamber? Anything there that could also be limiting flow to the return chamber?

Nothing besides the heater

 

[hobie61]

Same problem with my PM25. I ended up ditching the sponge filter in the pump chamber that came with the tank (i had forgot about it) which caused me all types of problems (algae growth, low flow). Swap out a single layer of filter floss every couple of days and rinse media bags every couple of weeks or else clogs and overfills. Tank is quite touchy with ATO. Hope helps a touch.

 

[trevorhiller]

I had this same thing happen to my Waterbox 15. I had just done a brushing of the rocks to remove some growth followed by a water change and filter floss change. The next day, my significant other wakes me up and tells me the tank pump (ATO) keeps kicking on and it looks like it’s going to overflow.

Fortunately it didn’t, and it shouldn’t be able to because I keep a small ATO reservoir, but the third chamber was low and the tank was full all the way up to the screen net top. The upgraded Sicce 0.5 return pump was pumping out the third tank faster than water was flowing through the sump chambers

I suppose in theory, it would overflow over the back glass and finally fill the third chamber before overflowing, but it dumped about 4.5 Liters of Kalk saturated water into my tank and dropped the salinity.

I’m pretty vigilent about changing the filter floss every 3-4 days now and I don’t use as much in my filter cup so it’s less dense.

I haven’t sat down and though about how the chambers could be better designed to prevent this, but it definitely seems like they could be designed better. This incident was one that really pushed me over the edge to buy a Cade 600 tank that uses gravity ATO because as reliable as the Tunze Osmolator is, it can still fail in this fashion.

Fortunately for me, I don’t have any corals except a mushroom and candy cane and they did ok and no inhabitants were killed by the mishap.