NewB's read this. Learn from my mistake.

[mng777777]

If you are setting up a new tank, please hede my advice! I came downstairs this morning and before I got anywhere near my tank, I new something wasn't right. For 1 I could hear a pump running dry. I figured that the power tripped and I just lost suction on a little HOB i have in my skimmer. I figured I would restart it after I made the coffee... Then I stepped in water. I have PVC upright through the bottom as my overflows. I did not install a Durso or anything similar because I didn't want to see it. Instead I put ball valves in the plumbing below and partially closed them to control the flow and silence the noise of the overflow tubes. I remember reading a post about a guy that overflowed his 240 the same way and I just thought to myself he probably left them sitting for so long that debree built and and they clogged. I assumed that if I operated mine (open and close them several times to prevent build up) weekly as I do water changes that I would avoid the same problem. I was wrong. it seems that things can build up in your plumbing overnight. Luckilly I have extra room in my system and I get up early so the mess was not as horrible as it could have been but my sump lost about 5 gallons and my fuge too... Glad it's saturday, my normal water change day. I will be adding a few extra gallons today and then....................... you guessed it some Durso's! :frustrat:

Lesson here: all valves in a gravity system need to be simply on/off swtiches, not flow control. You can only properly control flow by changing the diameter of your plumbing. you can use valves to limit flow directly before or after a pump but be warned that though it is less likely you could still experience a blockage and a good ol' flood.:mrgreen:

Hope this makes somebody's saturday a bit better.
-Justin

 

[daugherty]

that sucks

 

[dustin_P74]

wow hate to hear that

 

[Gooseman]

sure would hate to have to clean up a major flood myself ... had a few minor ones as i got my skimmer adjusted early on

 

[daugherty]

i am waiting for one since i just did a big plumming job hope it never happens

 

[yote]

I tend to get paranoid everytime I fool with the plumbing on my tank.And to be honest,kinda dreading the plumbing on my 125.
5 gallon of saltwater in the carpet would put ole Yote in the dog house permentently.

 

[Gooseman]

i feel your pain Yote

5 gallon of saltwater in the carpet would put ole Yote in the dog house permentently.

 

[dustin_P74]

I tend to get paranoid everytime I fool with the plumbing on my tank.

thats why i had someone else do it for me

 

[yote]

thats why i had someone else do it for me

You aint lived untill you've plumbed a tank,knowing that if it leaks,your gonna have one hell of mess.:mrgreen:

 

[mng777777]

Ok, Yesterday officially sucks! I mopped up the mess and rant to the harware store to get the T's I would need to build my dursos. I put them in and they were just as loud as the pipe by itself. I figured a way to silence them, but I needed a few more things from the hardware store. I turned everything off in the system just to be on the safe side and headed back to the hardware store. As I was leaving, my phone rang, it's the wifey, "How do I turn this thing off", I hear. Oh crap... it turns out that the check valve I installed on the return from my fuge is faulty, as I returned home to the second small flood of the day. My tile got a good mopping and I finally got it all running properly but now I have to worry about that valve.

As far as the Dursos go, I modified the design to make it silent, here's what I did. I built them like you have seen before, with a "T" and a 90* but then I capped the top of the "T" and drilled a small hole in the cap to break the syphon. They are completely silent, flow at full capacity, and will not overflow the sump if the power goes out. At the end of this easy project turned difficult, I am very pleased with the result.

 

[RyanG]

There you go MNG, the caps and air holes are the essential part of making a Durso silent, you had a rough day but the end will make the means.

 

[yote]

Did you remember to drill a 1/8" hole in the return line,right at the water surface?

 

[dustyboy316]

That cou;ld have been much worse, and a lesson was learned. Glad to hear you didn't leave it too long...

 

[mng777777]

Yote I did drill a hole at the water line and my system passed the power failure test. All is good here on my reef.

 

[flojo]

hey at least you learned now and dont have to stress about it for a year straight! if it makes you feel better i know someone *cough*cough* alexander....who couldnt figure out drilling that whole above the water line. he had some crazy idea, that was smart and a good idea, but way complicated on how to avoid a flood....and then his lfs informed him of the drilling of holes. im glad im here to read along and learn from people so i dont do it too!