First flood in almost five years

[Blazer88]

I guess it was bound to eventually happen. I've been using a DIY ATO for over four years now and it finally failed me. The bottom float switch became stuck in the "on" position and the backup switch was also stuck, which emptied about 8 gallons into my sump overflowing my floor. Of course this happened while I was away but I managed to clean up most of it though a few gallons made it down into my neighbors unit down below. Their damage is minimal and their home owners insurance will cover it. Thankfully Note to self, don't wait five years before cleaning the switches

 

[Myteemouse]

Oh what a bummer
Did you live stock do ok with all that top off water??

 

[desertrose]

he he yea my power went off the other day and my sump overflowed with tank water all went into and all over my floor,now i am rethinking some kind of check valve to add to my tank for times went the power goes out,anyone know where to get a 1/2 check valve?
my sump and plumbing is all 1/2 PVC pipe

 

[poakley723]

Sucks about the over flow! I am always afraid of it happening.



Desert

You just need to set up your tank so the water that flows into your sump isn't enough to over flow your sump.

 

[sandswhitson]

desertrose. Check valves are prone to fail. You need to set your return up so that the nozzles are right at the surface. When the power goes out it will only siphon enough water to expose the return and then the siphon stops.

 

[Blazer88]

Oh what a bummer
Did you live stock do ok with all that top off water??

The salinity swing was from 1.025 down to about 1.021/2'ish which wasn't too bad. The worst part was that I was leaving town so I only had an hour to clean everything up, refill my ATO, and make sure everything was working properly. All of the livestock looks okay though, which is most important. The damage to my neighbor's place is roughly a thousand or two and will be covered by insurance. I don't think I have any damage to my place as my floors held up quite well.

As a note to desertrose, DO NOT check valves in your system. Design your sump to handle the amount of water that flows back into the sump once the power goes out, as your power WILL go out at some point in time. My return nozzles are right at the surface so it breaks siphon quite quickly.

 

[Bosco83]

You must have some pretty nice neighbors lol.

Brian

 

[desertrose]

ok,i guess i will have to get the saw out to trim off a couple of inches,mine is home made
since my husband didnt want to spend more to get a pre built sump,so its a converted 10 gallon

 

[slim_jim989]

what do u mean you want to trim off some. and ive used a converted 29 gal for months before i broke my tanks down.

 

[Bosco83]

what do u mean you want to trim off some. and ive used a converted 29 gal for months before i broke my tanks down.

Maybe cut the baffles down to decrease the amount of water in the sump.

 

[sandswhitson]

I think she meant trim some off of the return nozzles in the display tank to stop the back siphon earlier. She said that hers flooded the other day.

 

[IPisces]

ok,i guess i will have to get the saw out to trim off a couple of inches,mine is home made
since my husband didnt want to spend more to get a pre built sump,so its a converted 10 gallon

If you are talking about your return hose you do not need to trim anything off, just drill a couple holes in the return hose just above the water line in your tank. I have two drilled approx 32nd inch holes at a down angle into the tank because water will come out of them when the pump is running. The water running back down into your sump will only be the amount in the hose from your sump to the holes. The holes will allow air to be sucked in and not allow the water in your tank to start siphoning back down your return line. And You want to make sure your sump level will allow enough room for the amount of water in your tank that is over the top of your overflow to drain into it.

Our area is know for its power outages. Our power goes out 5 or 6 times a year and sometimes for days. I invested in a gardian generator so when the power does go out it is only for a minute until the generator kicks on and the tank comes right back to life. That happened about 2 days after I got the tank set up and freaked me out, but my set up all worked great.