HOB overflow box gives me ulcers

[biggie4jets]

Hello everyone,

I have a 40 gallon tank with HOB overflow box and 10 gallon sump combo. I have had this setup for about 8 months now and the other day I noticed the water level ALMOST went out of my tank. In my sump I have my return pump, ato sensor, no baffles, carbon reactor, heater, and obviously overflow pvc pipes.

Are there any precautional measure I can take so this never happens again?

This one experience gives me such bad vibes everytime I leave home or even sleep. Granted, I was messing around with the overflow box a few hours earlier , so that could have been why, but I am not taking the risk again.

I am honesty just thinking about getting a drilled tank and putting all my livestock in there. But if they’re cheaper options, I’d love to hear them.

Thanks!

 

[Trexorcist]

What kind of overflow do you have? I’ve been researching several different manufacturers. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a Lifereef. (A drilled tank is ideal, but not an option for me right now.)

 

[rob safron]

I have had the same setup on a 125 gallon display and emerald 34 sump. So you need to protect yourself from 2 things. First let’s say you lose siphon in your overflow. In this case water stops returning to the sump but your return pump continuous to pump water up. Here is where you want a baffle in your Sump’s return pump section so once you pump all the water from the return chamber it stops flow. Your display has to be able to handle that amount of water, my case 1-2 gallons. If your sump is all 1 section that’s bad as it will pump all the water from your sump to the DT and overflow out. Second let’s say your pump fails. The display will siphon into your sump but only down to the level of your overflow so your sump has to have enough room to take that amount of water. I test mine every few months and no problem either way. Beyond this if you have a controller with level sensors and such you can program some things. Once the levels are all set I have never had flow change or overflow level change.

 

[Mical]

Here's a basic explanation -

 

[biggie4jets]

What kind of overflow do you have? I’ve been researching several different manufacturers. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a Lifereef. (A drilled tank is ideal, but not an option for me right now.)

I have an eshopps overflow box

 

[rob safron]

I have the same, the 1200 with dual tubes