Syphon breaking..

[PeterCip]

Any ideas to keep the U-tube on a skimmer box from breaking its syphon?
every 4 days its full of air again... its rather frustrating.
I returned home after a 10 day vaca to find my tank was covered in algea, and diatom detritus.. looks like its time for another large water change.

also, do you have any suggestions for getting this brown detritus off of all my live rock?
Thanks,
pete

 

[dedfish]

I've seen people attach the venturi hose of a powerhead to the high spot in the U-tube. This way the powerhead will pull the air out of the U-tube. This will also help re-establish the syphon in case of a power outage.

 

[stevenp]

Take an airline and feed it into the U Tube, so that the end is as close to the highest point as possible (or drill a hole in the U Tube and attach the line permanently). Attach the other end to an air venturi on a power head. It will constantly suck on the tube, removing any air. When there is no air, it will just suck water.

You can try to syphon the detrious off the rock, or blow it off with a turkey baster so the skimmer can catch it.

Steve

 

[stevenp]

Dedfish beat me to it, I was still typing when he posted

 

[eSoteric]

get an aqualifter. thats what it is made for, drill a small hole in the top of the u bend insert a small plug and hose, it constantly sucks in water and send it right back to the overflow box, to be drained to the sump. They work awesome, never lose a syphon again!.

 

[MarkO]

what about using a smaller diameter syphon tube?

 

[delta]

has it ever broken siphon?
my guess is you do not have enough flow or you have a micro bubble problem.

 

[smcnally]

has it ever broken siphon?
my guess is you do not have enough flow or you have a micro bubble problem.

Greg, mine actually gets more air in it when I have too much flow through the sump. The reason being that it sucks little surface bubbles into the overflow. When I slow it down I don't get air issues.

 

[synchiropi]

On my tank I found that using a smaller diameter tube prevented the occasional microbubbles from accumulating and breaking the syphon. The original tube of my SOS Skimmer, although cool looking, once accumulated enough bubbles to break the syphon.

 

[Jamba]

Venturi is the way to go. I have an overflow box, and see the interplay between the bubble forming and the venturi sucking the bubbles out. It definitely works.

 

[dedfish]

OUt of curiosity what happens to the siphon in the event of a power outage?

 

[Jamba]

In a power outage, the return pump stops pumping. That means the overflow keeps going to catch up with the extra water until the water level in the tank drops below the overflow box teeth. Then the siphon stops, but remains full of water. That is because both ends of the siphon are still under water. One in the siphon box, the other in the output box (which when working overflows into the drain.)

When the power comes back on the return pump starts pumping and everything starts up again.

The only tricky thing is the siphon from the return. The return can siphon water out of your tank when the pump stops. Some people use a check valve, a one way valve, but these are not foolproof. A easy method is to make a hole in the return line just below the water level. This will keep the water from siphoning below that level as air will stop the siphon.

Greg

 

[BigSmokeShowJOE]

Take an airline and feed it into the U Tube and get an put a aqualifter on it if siphon brakesit Will restart it but it wont with a aqualifter on it even if power go's out when it comes back on it will restart it .

 

[PeterCip]

Thanks guys for the quick responses.. I will either get an aqua lifter, or put another power head in the tank.

As far as the detritus, the stuff seems to be never ending. I have noticed a substantial decrease in algea and diatoms since i started using the RO/DI water. I plan on doing a big water change this sunday, perhaps that will take care of the rest of the detritus i have lieing on my poor rocks.

Also, I think it may be time to add a cleaning crew to the tank. I wanted to get all RO/DI water in there first, so i dont' shock the little buggers.
Thanks,
Pete