quick question

[grmreapr]

When you set a sump/refuge I know you need a pump on the one side to bring the water back up to the tank but do you need one that goes from the tank to the refuge or is that gravity feed pipe and what happens if the pump goes dead is you refuge going to overflow or is there something you can do so that wont happen I have read so much but no one says this clearly so i was wondering cause right now I could build one of these things in my sleep I just couldnt make it work.

 

[granny]

You use a siphon overflow from the tank to the sump. when you fill your tank water originally, you fill your sump to the top-or near the top=of the sump itself and the tank just till it starts to overflow through the siphon. If the power goes off, the water wont backsiphon over that level. You can mark your sump for the maximum water so you dont over fill when you are doing your top-offs.
Another trick is to put a small hole in the RETURN pipe so that the water will only back siphon until it reaches the hole level, then it breaks the siphon. If you use the small hole, make sure it is in the tank part of the return, just a little lower than the normal tank level. make sure NOT TO PUT IT IN THE OVERFLOW side or you will lose siphon and then you WILL have an overflow when the pump turns back on!