Wet/Dry Issues

[tp_gizmo]

:HP I have had my salt water aquarium set up for over two years now and never had a problem with my system until recently. The syphon tube that goes from the prefilter (in tank) to the outer filter keeps getting an airbubble in it. We have tried making sure water is in the sump area everyday and has not helped. About twice a week the tank fills up with too much water to the point it is touching the glass. We then have to take the airbubble out and then it is fine for a few days. I don't understand why we are having this problem now after two years, and don't know what to do to fix it. We are planning on going on vacation and I don't want to have to ask an inexperienced person to take care of my tank. Has anyone else had this experience?

Thanks
Tammy

[mike1948]

Hi,
Had the same thing happen to me at times, try to lower the prefilter a little bit at a time in the tank side, should work.


Mike :o

[cwrenge]

Check your path of bubbles in your tank. maybe moving around your air bubbler..... or where you have your tube located...... will solve it.there is some undetected arangement/ release of air...... hope you solve it. please keep us all update on this ok. we are all learning. cwrenge.

[cwrenge]

i just rememberd...... on your syphon tube........ just below the water line and evaporation point ( about a 1/2 inch.) peirce/ drill a hole so as to break the syphon if the pre filter gets blocked and keeps the pump running........ a burnt-out pump is better than a Flooded room and a dry tank any day.......... with a GFI on you pump the Over-Heated Pump will trip the GFI.......... i went thru this and i was so happy to have that safety hole drilled in my syphon tube... good luck. keep us posted.... cwrenge

[tp_gizmo]

Well, we talked to one person yesterday and they suggested that we might have a small hole in our siphon tube. We checked that and there is no hole. We've tried moving the basket in different locations and different heights to no avail. We don't have an air bubbler in the tank. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the Help

Tammy

[cwrenge]

Tammy.......have you tried to " stop and start " the pumping system........ after breaking the water vac in the tube....go about your normal way of re- starting your systm.... then watch for clues....? the only other thing you can do is.... " Drill a hole in the top of the Syphon Tube "... the size of Airline Tubing.... insert this about 1/8 of a inch ( actual length of tubing will be about 2 inches long ) and glue this withsome aqurium sealant...around the out - side , and up the tubing a little bit...after this drys ( in about a half hour or so ) install a Airline Valve.... then you will be able to bleed as well as prime the syphon tube.... Then watch as much as possible, that time will allow you to.. and hopefully you will discover how the air gets in the tube.. good luck... keep us posted..... cwrenge

[tp_gizmo]

Thanks for the idea cwrenge. I think we will give this a try and see if it works. About the only thing I notice when we first remove the bubble is that little ones tend to form at the surface of the prefilter tank, but after a day they are no longer there. Generally we turn off the pump when we go to remove the bubble so that we can get the water to drain back down into the sump section. I'll let you know how things go after we drill the hole. Thanks again! :o

[tp_gizmo]

Well, I thought I would give an update. We never did put in a hole in the syphon tube instead we continued what we had been doing which was sucking the air buble out about every 3-5 days. We ended up showing our friend what to do if the problem happened while we were on vacation.

Strange thing happened. Our power went out the day before we came back home, but we didn't notice it till the next day. There must have been some kind of problem with the sump portion because since we have started it back up (July 3rd), we have not had any problems. My fish are happy, and my mushroom corrals are going nuts, so all is well. ;-)

Tammy

[cwrenge]

Well, I thought I would give an update. We never did put in a hole in the syphon tube instead we continued what we had been doing which was sucking the air buble out about every 3-5 days. We ended up showing our friend what to do if the problem happened while we were on vacation.

Strange thing happened. Our power went out the day before we came back home, but we didn't notice it till the next day. There must have been some kind of problem with the sump portion because since we have started it back up (July 3rd), we have not had any problems. My fish are happy, and my mushroom corrals are going nuts, so all is well. ;-)

Tammy :) :) :) thats great.....so there's still..... a mystery to u ncover....? ? ?...i think the power going off then on will lead you to the Answer..... cw. thanks for the update.

[tjigger]

Hey tammy,
I know you think you fixed you problem, but if it happens again try placing something on top of your syphon tube to give it some shade.
Sometimes the heat from your lights will make the water in the tube evaporate slowly if the water flow through the tube is to slow to suck the small bubbles down.
It's a very common problem for overflow boxes, thats why i get all my tanks drilled.