stop disastrous siphon

[tracereefer]

just finished my diy 40 long setup. my only concern at this point is if the power goes out, water will siphon out the return line. how should i prevent this? check valve?

 

[Retro Reefer]

Drill a small hole in the return pipe right below water line. Also do a test power outage, your sump should be big enough to hold back flow.

 

[tracereefer]

Drill a small hole in the return pipe right below water line.

 

[jsvand5]

Yes.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Yes, I have mine one the front side because water will squirt out of it when pump restarts until water level rises.. the hole let’s in air which helps break the syphon whenever return pump is shut down.

 

[ccombs]

Yeah, the idea here is that it lets in air and breaks the siphon. When you get close to the water line you are only allowing a few gallons to flow back into tank. Most people keep sump about 2/3 full to accommodate this.

 

[tracereefer]

ok, so that means i have to put the hole literally BARELYYYY below the water line then? that makes sense. thanks for the help

 

[Peace River]

Drill a small hole in the return pipe right below water line.

To clarify, the small hole should be on the inside of the tank below the water level, not the outside! Probably obvious, but you don't want to get that one wrong!!!

As other have said, you will likely have some room in your sump. So if you have 6 spare gallons in your sump then make sure that it won't drain more than 5 gallons before it breaks the siphon. Good luck!

 

[ccombs]

ok, so that means i have to put the hole literally BARELYYYY below the water line then? that makes sense. thanks for the help

Not necessarily barely, just enough where you are confident your water will stay at and where you are confident your sump can handle the excess. You could probably do up to an inch and be fine.

The important thing here is to test it when your home and can stop any mess, instead of when you are on a 10 day vacation in Europe haha.

 

[Retro Reefer]

To clarify, the small hole should be on the inside of the tank below the water level, not the outside! Probably obvious, but you don't want to get that one wrong!!!

Correct.. lol

 

[Retro Reefer]

ok, so that means i have to put the hole literally BARELYYYY below the water line then? that makes sense. thanks for the help

I have mine about 1/2” below water line

 

[cmcoker]

You can also do something like this, and not be so worried a snail is sitting on the hole when the power goes out

 

[User1]

Also remember to clean it out so it doesn't get plugged. I've seen that happen a few times here and there.

 

[User1]

You can also do something like this, and not be so worried a snail is sitting on the hole when the power goes out

Thought he took that off line - something along the lines that it didn't do exactly what he wanted in the end. Having a pair of 1" Sea Swirls this was going to be something I was going to try. Just never got around to it.

 

[IvanW]

I have had the reversed check valve system on my tank for almost 3 years with no issues. I have Sea Swirls on my tank.

 

[Cory]

Drill a small hole in the return pipe right below water line. Also do a test power outage, your sump should be big enough to hold back flow.

I agree but drill a hole at a 45 degree angle so it shoots downward not upward.