dumb as a sump!

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tpaparazzo

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Aug 26, 2003
Messages
87
Location
Hartford CT
Ok I am really new to the hobby and have been coming here for questions and been getting great responses..Now i have a dumb one..I have a jetstream by marineland that i was given..It has 2 holes drilled one for overflow and 1 for return...IT has a marineland tidepool 2 filter and all the pluming etc etc..Now I am just not getting it...

If the pump is pumping water to the aquarium and the water is coming in from the overflows hi and low..What the hell happens when the pump stops in a power outage or something..Water is still gonna flow down the overflows right butnothing is gonna get pumped back to the aquarium...What am I missing..I know no one would have designed it like that..

Forgive me but I guess I really am being dumb as a sump. :lol:
 
First up, Welcome to AA. And, just so you know, there are no dumb questions here. Either you know it, or you don't, and if you don't, you ask, which is why we are all here.....to ask and to help everyone else.

That being said, I have one for you. What do you mean by the overflows "high and low"? Do you have 2 overflows?

In a normal system with over flows, the following is what happens when the power goes out:
1.) The water drains out of the overflow until the water level is below the overflow
2.) AND out of the return until the return is above the surface of the water, which breaks the siphon.

Now, if you have a submerged return, it is PARAMOUNT that you have enough extra capacity in your sump to hold the overflowing water. If your sump will overflow before your return siphon is broken (this happens when it is above the water level) then you need to modify your return. Most people find it simple and effective to drill a hole in their return line, just below the surface of the water.

Tell us more about the overflow, and a pic if you have it. I'm confused about the "high and low." HTH.
 
it is a good thing to do a "test run" and shut the pump off, see where the water level ends up. If it is going to overflow the sump, raise the return lines a little, check again and mark your water line on the sump. Then you never add water to raise above that line and you know if power goes out, you wont overflow.
 
thanks guys..I was looking at it today..Theres a strainer at the bottome of the overflow tub and I was thinking that all the water would flow out the strainer but then realized that it was impossible and I was a moron! :?

Thanks for the help!
 
If questions are stupid, don't look at any of my old questions and posts. You have to start asking questions at some point. You'll receive good help here and then you can help out others when you have the opportunity.
 
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