Mystery: Water level in my return chamber suddenly low

[Peekay]

So, I get home and my ATO is beeping at me and I notice that the water level in my return chamber is really really low, like it suddenly drained. I checked the entire tank for leaks and nothing, no water anywhere. Where did that water volume go? My return chamber water level with all the pipes and whatnot wasn't high at all. It's as if a few gallons of water just mysteriously disappeared out of nowhere. I'm baffled.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I added several gallons of fresh & salt water to make up the volume.

 

[ndrwater]

is your ATO resevoir empty?

 

[KrisReef]

Do you have a sock in the sump? Or Evaporation?

 

[Peekay]

is your ATO resevoir empty?

My first thought was ATO failure, but no, my reservoir has plenty of fresh water in it. I'm thinking maybe something partially clogged the primary overflow pipe in my herbie setup? I re-tuned things and it seems OK?

 

[Peekay]

Do you have a sock in the sump? Or Evaporation?

No sock, just floss and bioballs in the first chamber...

 

[Dhoggs]

Could your tank water somehow siphoned back to your ATO reservoir?

Also, i would check your salinity to make sure it’s still where you want it to be at.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Check the TDS of your ATO reservoir..... if it's really high, it probably back-flowed into there.

 

[LowLi]

ato maybe turned off right after you left and the water evaporated.
or
as said above it back siphoned. maybe check dampness on stand around reservoir

 

[ccombs]

I am going to vote for a siphon somewhere.

 

[Robbs]

Is you ato connected to a timer? If not it should have filled up the missing water.
Do you have the optik in the return chamber?
Same level in the overflow?
Is the tube above the waterline?

 

[lapin]

My first thought was ATO failure, but no, my reservoir has plenty of fresh water in it. I'm thinking maybe something partially clogged the primary overflow pipe in my herbie setup? I re-tuned things and it seems OK?

If the ATO chamber has water and the return section does not then the ATO pump is not working.

 

[Peekay]

Is you ato connected to a timer? If not it should have filled up the missing water.
Do you have the optik in the return chamber?
Same level in the overflow?
Is the tube above the waterline?

Yeah, I thought back siphon as well, but my ATO line is well above the water line. I was fiddling with the primary overflow pipe in my overflow chamber the other day because I noticed that there was some algae growth on the primary overflow mesh plastic piece. I'm guessing something slowed down the water going into the sump just enough to create the imbalance? It's weird because I would have expected the water level in my overflow to be much higher.

 

[Dhoggs]

Yeah, I thought back siphon as well, but my ATO line is well above the water line. I was fiddling with the primary overflow pipe in my overflow chamber the other day because I noticed that there was some algae growth on the primary overflow mesh plastic piece. I'm guessing something slowed down the water going into the sump just enough to create the imbalance? It's weird because I would have expected the water level in my overflow to be much higher.

Is the water in your main DT higher then? Water just dont go missing and a few gallons is too much for evaporation unless you have a huge tank?

In addition, your ATO should have kick in unless the sensor is not in the return chamber

 

[Robbs]

when i rinse my overflow the dt water can go in much faster and then the waterlevel is lower in the return chamber. Because i dont adjust the valve on the return.
Hope that make sense.

 

[Peekay]

Is the water in your main DT higher then? Water just dont go missing and a few gallons is too much for evaporation unless you have a huge tank?

In addition, your ATO should have kick in unless the sensor is not in the return chamber

It appears that the DT was a bit higher. My system is a 100g DT and a 50g sump. My ATO is designed to set an alarm off if it's filling the tank with too much water (which I suspect is why the alarm went off) or if it has gone too long without engaging.