What’s your scariest sump / overflow disaster?

[dreamcatcherr9]

What’s your scariest sump / overflow disaster?

Or even biggest issues, problems or hurdles?

I am completely new to sump systems, I want to learn from your experiences. Please share!

 

[StatelineReefer]

Going cheap and using ball valves instead of gate valves, and having a valve not be able to close...

 

[rossco]

Algae partially plugged my overflow, level of the display water was lapping the inside of the top brace of the display. Unplugged the algae, water flowed down to the sump which was at the correct running level due to my auto top off. Sump started overflowing into the stand and onto my living room carpet. I saw it was coming as I was standing there and ran and grabbed a siphon hose and a 5 gallon bucked. Very minor spill compared to what it could have been.
Lesson learned. If that happens again to me or someone else, grab a bucket and drain 5 gallons before you break the dam.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Going cheap and using ball valves instead of gate valves, and having a valve not be able to close...

So gate valves are more reliable than ball valves? Do you use unions?

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Algae partially plugged my overflow, level of the display water was lapping the inside of the top brace of the display. Unplugged the algae, water flowed down to the sump which was at the correct running level due to my auto top off. Sump started overflowing into the stand and onto my living room carpet. I saw it was coming as I was standing there and ran and grabbed a siphon hose and a 5 gallon bucked. Very minor spill compared to what it could have been.
Lesson learned. If that happens again to me or someone else, grab a bucket and drain 5 gallons before you break the dam.

So draining water from display tank itself would have been a better option?

This is exactly the advice I’m looking for. Thank you!

 

[StatelineReefer]

So gate valves are more reliable than ball valves? Do you use unions?

Gate valves, over time, are 100% more reliable than ball valves. Ball valves tend to accumulate crud and stick, they also have less 'control space' over gate valves, which are, literally, 1-100%, just by design, whereas ball valves, when using them to meter water, are harder to precisely adjust.

I always use unions. It gives me the option of reassembling the plumbing in a different way should I choose to change sumps or relocate my manifold for any reason.

 

[rossco]

So draining water from display tank itself would have been a better option?

Exactly. Drain from the display into a bucket or two if it’s a large tank, clear drain flow restriction, let the water level stabilize, then add water back if needed.

Save the water to use as manual top off for a few days as the salinity was diluted a bit from the extra top off water.

 

[Alarmguy66]

Having a check valve fail during a power outage, allowing the tank to drain back into the sump and out into the room.

 

[Pntbll687]

What’s your scariest sump / overflow disaster?

Or even biggest issues, problems or hurdles?

I am completely new to sump systems, I want to learn from your experiences. Please share!

I started a small frag tank and used an eshopps hang on overflow box. It made a good amount of noise, and I found that putting a 1" "T" on top of the drain pipe made it super quiet.

Came hame and walked into water dripping from the dining room door frame which is directly below the frag tank in my office. From what I can gather is the T restricted the flow, the display started to fill because the ATO was running as the water level fell in the sump. The overflow box actually overflowed. Lesson learned, no hang on overflows!!

The second biggest mistake I constantly make is forgetting to turn off my skimmers (they're on a different power strip) when I do a water change. The water that drains from the display makes the sump level rise and the skimmers overflow. All that crud goes back into the sump water.

 

[Mhart032]

Directly connecting the RODI to the ATO and coming home from a long weekend with a flooded living room due to cheap float valves, i had 2.. but they were both the same brand and both failed at the same time... second would be Y adapter to the RODI split and had water pooring out the front door and the bottom of the house was flooded. it was like turning a garden hose on in the house and walking away for 10 hours..

 

[Pntbll687]

Having a check valve fail during a power outage, allowing the tank to drain back into the sump and out into the room.

This is why I don't trust check valves. Is there no way to add a siphon break (small hole) to the return line?

 

[Pickwun]

18x24 picture fell off of the wall, managed to slide past all of the overflows, wires, and hoses, and hit the drain pipes with enough force to crack the 29gal sump.

 

[Alarmguy66]

This is why I don't trust check valves. Is there no way to add a siphon break (small hole) to the return line?

That was exactly the fix. Kept using check valves but added the siphon break to minimize backflow if one failed. Of course then you have to remember to keep the hole clear.....its always something.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Having a check valve fail during a power outage, allowing the tank to drain back into the sump and out into the room.

So was the sump to small to handle the back flow before the siphon break? No check valve? What was the lesson learned / what steps did you take to prevent from happening again?

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I was adjusting some of the plumbing while water was still running through it and I somehow restricted flow through the overflow. Water level started rising in my DT, luckily I had glass lids and saw water touching them and quickly killed the return pump and fixed issue. If I would not have noticed it then my tank would have overflowed which would have tripped my electrical and killed all circulation in the tank.

 

[alain Bouchard]

was filling SW mixing station, which is gravity fed from RODI tank storage, but only the RODI storage have a float valve. Forgot it RODI system opne for the weekend, came back to a flooded fish room (no drain in the room). Good news is, I built the room like a swimming pool with 2.5 inches siding , so most of the water stayed in the room. When I got home, it only started overflowing outside the room...well, floor was due for a mop anyway

 

[kdx7214]

The wife and I were out of town for something or other and left a friend to watch the tank for us. He always did a great job so we weren't worried. Got a call something to the effect of "something's wrong! There's water everywhere and somethings smoking!" It turned out the return pump (in the sump type) had stopped running and overheated. Sump overflowed and it was a general mess. I told him to turn off the emergency shutoff (big red button) and dreaded coming home.

When I got home I cleaned up the mess, got everything running, and while cleaning the sump out found the bloody damsel I'd used to cycle the tank and hadn't seen for 3 years. Little ******* had gone down the overflow and was living quite happily in the sump. He was also about 4" long and mean. He was moved into the tank (after a few bites) and stayed there as the only fish until we had to move many years later.