how important is a refugium

there shouldnt be a substantial amount of back flow if you have the proper syphon breaks in the lines.
like i said, my 75 gal dt, and 10 gal fuge, dosent overflow when all power is lost, so....
 
so how would i go about making a proper syphon break?? how should i set it up? i know very little about setting up sumps so the more you elaborate the more it would help me.. thanks again.
 
A siphon break is simply a hole that you drill in the plumbing where water returns to the tank from the sump/fuge. Drill the hole right below where the water line in your tank will be. It will be underwater during normal operation, but if the power goes out, your tank will only drain to that level, and once the water level falls below the hole, it will suck in air and stop the siphon.
 
Ok on the return line if you dont have a drilled tank you have a u tube for the returning water. if that is in the water at your normal water level then just below the surface is where you drill your hole. If your water has a gap between the surface and the tube bringing the water in then no hole is needed, because you have a air gap. The idea is to break the return siphon in case of power failure. Your line going from the overflow box or drilled intake shouldnt be a issue becasue it is only taking surface water and wont continue to siphon if the power goes out.
 
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yea, if i remember i'll take pictures of where i drilled 3x 1/8 inch holes in my return pipe right at the water line. It'll all make sence when you see that...
 
So the hole needs to go in the Utube, but only if the tube is fully submerged while the tank/sump/overflow are working normally... if the tube is out of whe water at all when its working then no hole is needed. right? thats what i took out of it...

well i thought that the only way water gets from the DT to the sump is throught the overflow... and my thought process was that even if the power goes out, the water level in the tank will drop untill its level with the overflow, and then the siphon would break anyway because there wouldnt be any more water in the overflow to drain into the sump...

also, a picture would still clarify things much more... a picture is worth 1000 words to me
 
PufferGuy said:
So the hole needs to go in the Utube, but only if the tube is fully submerged while the tank/sump/overflow are working normally... if the tube is out of whe water at all when its working then no hole is needed. right? thats what i took out of it...

well i thought that the only way water gets from the DT to the sump is throught the overflow... and my thought process was that even if the power goes out, the water level in the tank will drop untill its level with the overflow, and then the siphon would break anyway because there wouldnt be any more water in the overflow to drain into the sump...

also, a picture would still clarify things much more... a picture is worth 1000 words to me
Click to expand...
You are right. You just need enough water volume in your sump to keep it from over flowing.

Water will and can self siphon from your return also so that needs a "break" point. It depends on how your return is set up.
 
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so basically i just have to have my overflow at the right height in the tank so if the power goes out, all the water in the overflow and from the return line have room to dump into the sump without overflowing

also, as far as the setup of the sump, from my drawing on the last page, would it be better if i had it set up like... fuge far left - baffle - skimmer middle - tripple baffle - pump far right ... that way there will be more water circulation in the fuge
 
Yes. Be sure there is a break in the return though. Then all you have to worry about is the water volume that would be siphoned out when your pump is off. All you have to do is test it by turning your pump off and waiting for all your water in your lines flows back into your sump until it "breaks." If you sump can handle the water volume then you're okay.
 
I think you are confused as to which line the siphon hole needs to be drilled in. It is not drilled in the line that goes from your overflow box to your sump. It is drilled in the line that goes from your return pump back to the tank. That is your return line. The hole is drilled right below the water level where your return line enters the tank.
 
well now im back to square one... if theres a hole where the line goes back into the tank that just gives the pumped water another hole to go into the tank..

or is the point to just not have a continuous line from tank to sump back to tank??

again is anyone has a picture it would really help me out!
 
On the return line, you drill a small 1/8" or so hole about 1.5 - 2" BELOW the water line. When your power goes out or your pump quits working, then the water would flow up out of the tank and down to the pump (the reverse of what it usually does). When the water line falls down to the point of where the hole has been drilled then it breaks the siphon and stops the water flow.
 
No problem at all!

It took me a LONG time to understand all the plumbing stuff on an aquarium. For that reason my first tank (my Red Sea Max) was an all in one set-up. No sump necessary. It took me months of reading posts like this to finally understand how a sump was plumbed, but once you get it, it like wow that's so easy, I can't believe I didn't understand it.

Good luck with everything Pufferguy.
 

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