Losing Syphon

wester97

wester97

Member
My tank is at home, and my mom is taking care of it. She keeps calling me saying that the tank is overflowing. Turns out we keep losing syphon in our overflow box, I have her fix it and things are good for a while - and then it happens again.
She is about to just unplug everything and forget about it, please help!
Thanks!
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member
If air is getting into the siphon tube, that can cause the siphon to stop. The drain inside the box on the back of the tank should be higher than the siphon tube so that the tube is ALWAYS under water.
If your drain line has a lot of algae in it, the pump might be over running the siphon.
Sounds like mom is tired of mopping up water.
 
nic_u812

nic_u812

Member
Well, if it is a CPR overflo box, then that is know to happen, they are prone to have air build up in them, and eventaully lose syphon... There is a little tube on the top that should be plugged. It it is a cpr that is..
Anyhow, if it is, make sure she draws out all of the air (she might have to suck it out, and she will no doubt get a mouthfull of salt water...) do this once it starts up... I have an aquaLifter vaccume pump on mine drawing the air out continously... This is a great thing to have if you have the CPR box... See attached. If this is what you have, do a google search on the Aqualifter airpump, and you can get one overnighted to your mom with the pre filter and some tubing for under $20... hope this helps...
 
wester97

wester97

Member
She is definitely tired of mopping up water!
It is not a CPR, so I cant add that attachment.
Everything is set up correctly, and we have never had problems until recently. So you say I should check my drain line? It is opaque, could there still be an algae problem? I just cant figure out how the air bubbles are accumulating. Please post some more suggestions! Thanks to those who already did!
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member
Is it losing siphon or just slowing down? it maybe just slowing down and the pump is pumping faster...Sounds to me like the overflow line needs to be cleaned out.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Golfish is on a good path and it never hurts to clean out the lines.
A second situation might be the opposite. If the pump is clogged or otherwise slowed down then there might not be enough water flow to prevent air bubbles from accumulating in the siphon tube. It also wouldn't hurt to clear any prefilters of anything that could restrict the pumps flow rate.
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member

Originally posted by Bang Guy
... If the pump is clogged or otherwise slowed down then there might not be enough water flow to prevent air bubbles from accumulating in the siphon tube...
That's where I'd look...:yes:
 
wester97

wester97

Member
Ok, im going home in a few minutes. I'll clean things out and let you know. How should I go about cleaning the drain line? I am replacing the return line and prefilters.
Thanks
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member
If you are running prefilters, drain line might be OK. Do a visual and see if there is growth inside. If so, spray it out with a garden hose.
Also, if your overflow box has the adjustable slots, might want to lower your water level a bit to be safe.
Let us know what you find.
PS: Tell mom we feel for her :)
 
wester97

wester97

Member
She'll be happy once we get this figured out.
There are bubbles in the box that is inside the tank, prior to the syphon. They are originating from where the water spills over into the box, could these bubbles accumulate inside the U-tube causing it to eventually lose syphon?
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Yep, and the bubbles are caused fom the water "falling" over the edge rather than keeping the inner chamber full and just "flowing" in..
Most likely cause is the return pump and or line is building up "crud" and restricting flow...slowing it down and therefore not going through the overflow fast enough to "push" the bubbles through the "U" tube, where they build up and "break" the siphon and cause a flood condition...
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
If the inner and outer box were "full" and the tank overflowed I would look at the drain line for restrictions...but that doesn't sound like the case here...
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
That's sometimes easier than trying to clean it...
Although, you can get a "rifle barrel" type cleaning brush to scrape the inside of your lines...
Check any "elbows" and "T"s in the return line setup as well...
And you will certainly want to pull the impeller from the pump and check/clean any caco3 build up in there that may be weakening your flow...
 
wester97

wester97

Member
I'm getting great flow - that is what I cant figure out, the pump is only a few months old. Just trying to figure out how these bubbles are getting in the overflow box. Going to clean it out and reset everything and see how it goes.
 
wester97

wester97

Member
I can raise and lower the inside unit. I lowered it to make sure that the flow rate was sufficient, what do you suggest?
 
redxlch

redxlch

Member

Originally posted by RedXLCH
Also, if your overflow box has the adjustable slots, might want to lower your water level a bit to be safe.
 
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