How do I stop the siphoning from tank to sump?

[redbackrya]

Hello, everyone!!! I am a newbie to the forum and have had my tank running for about three months. Every thing has been going great (Mainly do to this forum, GREAT ADVICE!!!)
I have a 60g tank and about a 15 gallon sump directly under. I have a feed line that is hooked up to a powerhead that feeds the water into the sump. I then have a return line that pumps water back into the tank.
My concern is if for some reason if the power went out, how do I stop the feed line. I put a check valve on the return line to stop reverse siphon which works great. I positioned the feed line at the top of the tank so worse case it dumps about 15g on the floor. Is there anyway to prevent this??
Thanks,

 

[jakebtc]

does this work well for you or do you have problems with them not being equal?
the feed to the sump not ever being the same as that of the return pump

 

[1911_guy]

Drill a hole in the top of your return line just below the water line, this will break the siphon. Your check valve is a backup and should stop that 15 gallon spillage.

 

[ejensen]

Please don't tell me you are using a power head to return water to the sump. Why don't you just buy a overflow? Just to test it out. Why don't you turn off your return pump and see if it overflows. Thats whats going to happen if you have a power or pump failure

 

[sly]

I think you are going to have problems using 2 pumps in this setup. The problem is that they will never flow the same. Either the sump will fill up too fast and overflow over time or the return pump will pump too fast and empty out the sump (possibly overfilling your main tank). You need to use only one pump... Most people have an overflow in the tank with a hole drilled in the bottom. As the tank fills it will spill over into the overflow box and will then pass to the sump where the main pump pumps it back to the display tank. If you don't have an overflow then you could use holes drilled in the side of your tank. Here's a pic I posted in another thread to show you what it looks like.

 

[sly]

If you don't have either an overflow or side tap holes then you will have to use a "U" tube siphon and your refugium will have to be placed beside your main tank, not underneath.

 

[turningtim]

Originally Posted by Sly
If you don't have either an overflow or side tap holes then you will have to use a "U" tube siphon and your refugium will have to be placed beside your main tank, not underneath.
Why can't you use a U-tube OF with the fuge under the stand?
Get an Hang on the back OF (HOB), drain in to the sump and use the return pump. All the above is correct, it mat not be now or in a week but the 2 pump system will overflow.....
Hang on back over flow and your good! Drilling a hole in the side or back w/o a OF is not a very efient way to go. Your are not skimming the surface water and thats where a lot or the waste resides. You want the surfacing skimming to get to the skimmer and be removed from the tank.
HTH
JMO
Tim