Strange thing happened with Tunze osmolator

[Steelerfan747]

Good morning R2R. I recently purchased a Tunze osmolator and I think it's one of the best pieces of equipment I own and don't know why I took so long to purchase it. I did however have a couple of issues that I found to be curious. I have a 3g container that I use for ato. Unfortunately I cannot fill it to the top or it creates a syphon effect that will continue adding water to the sump till the level of the sump is higher than the level of my ato container.
While I find this to be a bit of a pain I have made my peace with it and just fill my ato to the same level as my sump and felt as long as I would do that everything should be ok right? WRONG

My electricity happened to go out a couple of days ago. The water from the display dropped raising the level of my sump which in turn caused a reverse syphon to occur causing the level of my ato to go up and eventually overflow and spill about 2 gallons of water into my stand and onto the floor.

I have been advised to add a check valve to the system but I want to make sure this would be ok for the system as the pump is quite small and I dont want to put strain on it but again do not want this to happen again.

If I add the check valve should that also prevent the forward syphon?

 

[laskopyre]

I have a tunze as well. I keep the feed hose out of the water. It is at a level, that if the power goes out it won't reverse syphon into my water container. You can put in a check valve to. Either way should work.

 

[Loki]

I also have my ATO line that runs to my sumo out of the water. I can hear each time it comes on and people that come over always think there is a leak.

 

[Steelerfan747]

I have a tunze as well. I keep the feed hose out of the water. It is at a level, that if the power goes out it won't reverse syphon into my water container. You can put in a check valve to. Either way should work.

Won't that cause a bit of noise and water splash?

 

[akma]

You need to keep the hose out of the water in the main tank. I had the same problem when I first set it up.

 

[Steelerfan747]

You need to keep the hose out of the water in the main tank. I had the same problem when I first set it up.

Will have to see how I can mod it (possibly with cable ties) but again anyone have problems with splashing or noises

 

[brian_reefragr]

I have this same unit as well, and the fill hose is supposed to be out of the water. If you clip it at the top of the sump and angle the hose toward the back wall of the sump it will just trickle down the wall, eliminating most of the noise and splashing.

 

[wysiwyg]

just keep the hose out of the sump above the water line and aimed at the back or a wall of the sump and you wont get splash

 

[shred5]

I have a tunze as well. I keep the feed hose out of the water. It is at a level, that if the power goes out it won't reverse syphon into my water container. You can put in a check valve to. Either way should work.

Yep exactly never have the supply tubing in the water and use a check valve... Your supply (reservoir) water always needs to be lower than the end of the supply line or a siphon will start. This is no different with any ATO.

 

[laskopyre]

Won't that cause a bit of noise and water splash?

I should have said to aim at back of sump to cut down the noise. The pump is louder then the water...lol

 

[Steelerfan747]

It looks like my situation is not tht strange after all. I will try to do just that and see if it works. So if I do will I still need to use the check valve?

 

[kmaintl]

Another reason for not having the supply tubing in the sump water, besides the sump water siphoning back into reservoir during power outages, is contamination of your clean water with any bacteria entering back through the supply tubing. To avoid the complete reservoir emptying into the sump, I run all my supply tubing up to the bottom of the tank stand through a hook or eye screw, and then back down to the sump. Face the end of the supply line against the sump wall as someone suggested earlier. It's both quiet and never empties out in either direction.

I couldn't live without a ATO.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

My ato is a very tall container, so it can be hard. I put a tee in the line to break any siphon

 

[Steelerfan747]

Well I took the tube out of the water and connected it to the highest point facing the back wall of the sump and it seems to be working great.

 

[Steelerfan747]

Not only does it seem like I will avoid and siphoning issues but the system seems to be working as designed. Before the change, the pump was engaging every 3 minutes and I kept hearing complaints from my wife. Now I hardly ever hear it come on and no more complaints.