Starting the siphon on a diy overflow

[LaSmoke20]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and the hobby of reef keeping. I have a 55 gallon all glass aquarium that is not drilled. In all my research I have read that you need a overflow sump/refugium to best keep your critters. So I decided to build my own 20 gallon sump/refugium. And the overflow from this site:http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html
Well everything went well and nothing leaks. But the question is: How do I start the siphon, or how do I get it to overflow.
Thanks,
honey1998p

 

[MtnDewMan]

First of all, Welcome to Reef Frontiers

I found a pretty easy method of starting a siphon is to slide an air hose, like the ones you hook up to air stones, up the tube. Slide it up to the top elbow. Once there, suck out the air and you will notice the water fill up the tube, when water starts to flow, you can remove the air tube.

 

[LaSmoke20]

Thanks very much for the quick reply. It worked, I have water flowing into my sump/refugium.

 

[Gordo]

Make sure you do the power failure test. Turn off all the pumps on your tank to make sure you sump can handle all the water will flow down the overflow when the pumps are off.

 

[Angelscrx]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and the hobby of reef keeping. I have a 55 gallon all glass aquarium that is not drilled. In all my research I have read that you need a overflow sump/refugium to best keep your critters. So I decided to build my own 20 gallon sump/refugium. And the overflow from this site:http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html
Well everything went well and nothing leaks. But the question is: How do I start the siphon, or how do I get it to overflow.
Thanks,
honey1998p

What a great little site. It was fun and informational.