MAJOR PROBLEM!!!-read

[acrylic51]

May I ask what are you running for your auto top off unit? I'm going to assume you had it hooked to an RO/DI unit?

 

[paulcoates]

Originally Posted by sign guy
paulcoates is that your yellow figi as your aveator ?

yes

 

[paulcoates]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
May I ask what are you running for your auto top off unit? I'm going to assume you had it hooked to an RO/DI unit?
me?

 

[paulcoates]

regardless, I run a Tunze 5017 with a fresh water 10 gallon top off tank

 

[acrylic51]

No I was asking the original poster of the thread.....

 

[1journeyman]

Is the skimmer outside the sump?
If so, sounds to me like the skimmer malfunctioned and drained your tank.

 

[dejaco]

More than likely the sump was just a little low and skimmer was producing normally, auto top off kicked in, as freshwater entered it cuases skimmate to thin down and run more water than foam, at that point auto top off was just sensing low water and kept pumping until it ran out. This whole time skimmer would be running skimmate over dropping level and exposing heater until - pop- it overheated and popped.
Every time I top my system manually into sump - if I forget to turn down my skimmer it flows like crazy! Fresh vrs salt water density differences cuase this!

 

[wangotango]

sorry for the delays. i finally got my sg up after about 6 hours, my xenia, bubble coral, and frogspawn are the only things that look pretty crappy so far, im surprised how well my clam and shrimp look. anyways i think the reason the heater broke was because it was exposed to air. my sump is acrylic, and im starting to suspect that there is an undetectable crack in there somewhere. i redid all of my plumbing just to be on the safe side. my topoff is diy, with a float swith in the sump which when low, turns on a valve in the basement that brings up water from our fridge water purifier. in is not a ro-di unit, but with the little amount of evaporation, and i have had absolutely no problems with this set up, or for the plumbing and rest of system. im thinking that the skimmer kept draining water perhaps.

 

[wangotango]

DeJaCo that sounds like a good idea of what happened. i did a water change on saturday (this incident happend sunday) and any extra water i have goes in the sump, so if anything the level was a tiny bit higher than usual operation level. but yes i think what DeJaCo was saying is the best bet for what happend, now im just waiting to see what happens with my live stock, and i would like to replace the sump if have now with one i'd like to build myself, but its basicly trapped under the tank and i wont be able to get it out.

 

[acrylic51]

Does the skimmer sit inside or outside the sump?

 

[nigerbang]

I think I know where arcylic is going with this...Mine will freak out and overflow into the CC if any additive is in the tank and drain out to a bottle..If the CC overflowed it would have kept sucking water and just dumped it into the floor..I had mine overflow a 2liter bottle in about 2.5 minutes..maybe that might have been it..

 

[acrylic51]

The reason I asked the location of the skimmer, is if the water level is low on the skimmer it won't skim normally and I've never seen a skimmer just take off wildly with the salinity being lowered.....I do follow the theory of the skimmer overflowing the cup spewing water out causing the top off to dump water to the sump running it dry.....

 

[wangotango]

the skimmer is located outside of the sump. its up on a little "table" because the maunfacturer recommended not having the return line rise more than half the height of the reaction chamber. theres a mag-7 pump for the intake, with 1" tubing that leads back into the sump above the water line.

 

[acrylic51]

Have you found any leakage from the sump?

 

[reefkprz]

A skimmer will not take off wildly when salinity is lowered. it can't, skimmers operate less effectively at lower salinities (thats why they are almost never used in freshwater, and only sometimes on brackish tanks) they just dont work well in fresher water.
I have seen mine jump to life when adding additaves and new mixed water.
IMO your skimmer could have started overflowing as mentioned above by acrylic and several others. and your top off tried to keep up. if anything the lower salinity actually saved you some water off the floor.
but of course if your pump for your skimmer was adjusted too high then its just pushing in water no matter what your salinity if its splattering water into the cup because of too high a flow you may end up with a wet floor. (done it not payign attention once accidently set mine higher than usual, went to dinner, came home and did a forced 15gallon water change and spent the next several hours drying the floor)

 

[wangotango]

i havent found any real leakage, plus most of the wood is still damp from yesterday. i have noticed that i've been losing more water out of the sump than usual loss from evaporation making me think there is a slow leak. i replaced the heater today with a titanium one so no more cracky. we need to move the tank eventually to see what kind of water damage was done underneath, so at that time i will replace the sump with a glass tank. anyone else have any ideas? im not sure that it was the sumps fault in this, because the water level doesnt drop drasticly once its filled when i do a water change and water from the tank is returned into the sump. i have seen my skimmer quickly "surge" when theres newly mixed water, but nothing as far as this goes. i dont know, my xenias, and bubble are still not lookin good, but everything else for the most part seems to be doing "ok" relatively speaking. just goes to show, dont brag about your tank, cuz the next day bad stuff happens.

 

[acrylic51]

I would take a fan and blow it into the cabinet and try to dry it out really good and should be able to detect a leak fairly easy on the sump if it's leaking.......If you can get it dry enough.....you'll have to make sure you don't have any water trapped underneath the sump though.....for that matter you can take an air compressor with an air nozzle and blow up against the sump and push the water from underneath it if need be.......you could also mark the same with a piece of tape and watch for level change......you shouldn't evaporate a big amount in lets say an hour, and watch it hour to hour........

 

[bracebldrs]

wango,
if your skimmers external try drilling a hole at the
top side of your collection cup insert 3/4in tubing
seal with marine goop droop over sump to prevent
future overflows.better to have skimmer backwash than
floor soaked.happened to me .