Murphy paid a visit :(

ahhhh! I don't really care for Mr. Murphy..... I had a goby get sucked into the drain once. about 15 gallons overflowed. Had to take plumbing apart to get him out. On the bright side I learned to do preventative maintenance and took steps to prevent future disasters. Learning is an everyday adventure.

 

Was the starfish in your skimmer intake? Or an intake for a siphon style overflow- that stopped and your sump and skimmmer ran dry?

Things should be designed/made so that any fish/starfish/etc. shouldn't stop things.

The high Water sensor you mentioned is an all ready to go, plug and play design.
NO wiring, controllers needed.

You put the sensor where it would get wet when things go wrong- immediately shutting down your Return pump- or what ever is plugged into it- in almost all cases, it should be the return pump.

The link to the product is in the first post of my thread:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/filters-pumps-etc/dt-overflow-preventer-134476.html#.U2GUYvldW0U

I hope things get worked out, stay with it, and don't sweat the small stuff too much.
We all know Mr. Murphy, I call him Dr. Murphy!

Todd

 

It got sucked into the intake for my overflow siphon. But I really thought it was the darndest thing, I read that and then BAM flood. That will definitely be a 70$ I spend in my very near future. If anything I am glad the starfish was ok.

It wasn't a guard persay, it was going to be my overflow box, my grandfather just engineered it wrong, but it will still be used once I remove the superglue off of it and put it back together again with silicone. I am getting tired of my return tube blowing holes in my sand. But I will still get a picture of it for you. ^^ I do recommend looking at more experienced reefers overflows though since so far mine has become a marine summer attraction.

 

Nothing wrong with superglue in your tank. YOu also have to use the right silicone, or else bad things happen.

IIRC, it's the RTF stuff, no mold inhibiters, etc.

We really would like to see pics of all of your equipment, etc.

Isn't your U tube for the overflow already in an internal box/container of some sort?

The $70 insurance is well worth it.
Although I like DIY stuff, I liked the fact it was Plug and Play, and works great.

I have my sensor in the back of my DT, about 3/4" above my waterline. So if it about to overflow-it shuts my return pump down and prevents it, and sounds an alarm.
Everything else/powerheads/etc. stay on.

 

I thought superglue was toxic to fish .-. and no my intake wasn't in a box, its a line of pvc that hangs over the side that I pieced together. |: I am slowly getting those pics in too, havent had a halfway decent cam, which is why its slowly getting there.

 

Cheygirl- You can't just have an open tube in the DT for an overflow!
HOw do you keep the level constant in the DT? A siphon is just that, a siphon.
Unless you have you're RP flow EXACTLY balanced, it doesn't work.
AND, keeping that flow EXACTLY balanced is impossible over days or weeks without CONSTANT adjustments. Overflow type systems were never meant to work that way.

Research overflow boxes- you'll see what I mean.
Oh wait, I just re-read your last post. You have the kind that only gets water from one little hole, not skimming any real amount of surface water.
Yes, if you have the opening of the pipe at the height of water you want in the DT, AND 2 lower loops so that the siphon will not be lost- than yes, it can work and work OK. But obviously only having one smaller area can be plugged- in your case- by a CC star! Had one- it ate a bunch of my green star polyps, so to the sump it went, then I gave it away.

FWIW- I have a DIY, PVC 1.5" diameter- HOB overflow- BUT, it's fed water from my DIY intank overflow- it gets 20+"'s of water skimming and has been working flawlessly for years! Have you seen that thread?

We realy need some pictures of the entire equipment- like using an Iphone and photobucket app- downloads them right away, then you copy and paste the image link, and bamm, there's your pics.