question about return pump from refugium.

moneylaw

moneylaw

Member
Hi,
I have a 60 gallon reef ready tank with 10 gallon refugium. When I feed the fishes, I turn off the return pump from the refugium (basically cut off the connection between the main tank and refugium) to avoid the foods from flowing into the refugium, but when I turn off the pump, the water starting going back into the refugium and overflow the refugium. I do have a small hole in the return pump to avoid water from being suck back down (and it works fine in the beginning), but over time, I guess the hole is clogged, and my refugium overflows. Now I am afraid to turn off the pump. I am just wondering what you guys do to avoid that problem. Thanks in advance.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
So the water coming back into fuge from the DT...is it coming from the overflow boxes, or from the return heads. If coming from the overflow boxes, it should allow only the amount of water in the boxes, as once the dt drops below the overflow lines, no more can come in. If it's still overflowing the sump, then you are going to have to drop the water level in the sump to be the maximum level that the "pump off" postition will hold. If the water is coming from the return heads (a back siphon), then your heads must be really low in the dt. You may have to create a siphon break somewhere in this series, or raise your return heads up near the top, so that the siphon will break once the dt water level drops below the heads. As far as the hole you are talking about, sorry I'm not sure what that is.
 
moneylaw

moneylaw

Member
Thanks for the quick reply. The water is not coming back into the fuge from the overflow box. It is the back siphon problem. The hole I drill in the return head is to prevent/break the back siphon, but over time, it got clogged up. The return head is not that low in the display tank, if I raise the return head, the water might splash when entering display tank. I am more interested in how people create siphon break. Thanks.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Just clean the hole and add cleaning the hole to your weekly maintenance to reduce any risk of it clogging. You can add a check valve to your return plumbing also but they can fail too so they need to be kept clean and their operation checked periodically.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by moneylaw
http:///forum/post/2564494
Thanks for the quick reply. The water is not coming back into the fuge from the overflow box. It is the back siphon problem. The hole I drill in the return head is to prevent/break the back siphon, but over time, it got clogged up. The return head is not that low in the display tank, if I raise the return head, the water might splash when entering display tank. I am more interested in how people create siphon break. Thanks.
I understand now. The obvious answer is to keep that hole cleaned out on a regular basis, since you say it worked before. But, I agree you can't pull the heads up but so high, as this would cause a splash. So, why does the siphon not break when the dt water drops below the heads, if they are close to the top. The only way the fuge could overflow is if there is too much water in the whole system. Just as I was saying when talking about the overflow boxes, lower the water level in the fuge to the highest possible point when the pump is off. This way, when you turn off the pump for feeding, the dt will start draining, but siphon will break when dt drops below the return heads, and everything is calm with fuge water high, but not overflowing.
 
moneylaw

moneylaw

Member
Thanks, everyone. Do they have a check value for soft pipe? I am not using hard pvc pipe for return pump. Thanks again for your help.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
yeah they do make a check valve but I dont remember what they are called. you may talk to the DIY store and see what they have in stock or can get.
you may also look into hard plumbing the tank the PVC wont break down as easy with UV from teh lighting.
Mike
 
moneylaw

moneylaw

Member
Thank you all for helping me out.
I do have another question. Is brass check valve safe for reef tanks? I only see brass check valves in my local hardware store and wondering whether it is ok or I should look for plastic ones? Thanks.
 
ameno

ameno

Active Member
another suggestion, if you don't want to deal with the check valve, which over time with saltwater they tend to fail. you can drill the hole right up by the water line so you can actually see it ripple across the water, that way you can visually tell it's not plugged.
 
prime311

prime311

Active Member
You can buy a PVC to Flex tube convertor and place 2 of those between the PVC check valve and the flexible tubing. Its called an I x M adapter and can be used with an S x F adapter and a Slip PVC Check Valve to place a PVC check valve on a flexible line. I was going to do that myself before I decided to just do PVC for my whole return line.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by ameno
http:///forum/post/2566328
. you can drill the hole right up by the water line so you can actually see it ripple across the water, that way you can visually tell it's not plugged.
yeah this is the best solution. D
 
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