I recently received an email from a reef aquarist that was concerned about her reef tank and sump setup. The person was looking for a way to prevent siphon into her sump and thereby preventing flooding of her sump and display tank. I wrote her back saying that I would right an article about preventing overflowing her sump and I gave her some tips on how to do such.
So how do you prevent your main tank from overflowing your sump in case of a power outage or some other saltwater tank catastrophe? The short answer is simple. Make sure that you leave enough space for saltwater in your sump in case your main tank siphons the water down into it. So then what if your sump can not handle all the saltwater from your main tank? Then you have to get clever and figure out ways to break a siphon or to prevent the overflow.
Let’s take my 46 gallon bowfront for example. The main tank is 16″wide by 36″ long and when in a power outage my tank will loose 1″ of water due to a siphon before the water line hits my siphon break. If my tank does not siphon break at 1″ below surface it will then loose 3″ of water. Using the volume calculatorover at reefcentral.com I can predict that my 46 gallon tank will siphon down 2.5gallons of water into my 10gallon sump. If It does not break at the 1″inch siphon line then the tank will siphon down 7.5 Gallons of water.
My sump is only a 10gallon sump packed with equipment and the dimensions are 10″ wide, 20″ long and I keep it 5″ empty (meaning almost 3/4 full of water). This allows me to have 4.3-4.5 gallons of siphoned tank water (from my 46gallon) before my sump overflows.
So if my siphon breaks are not cleaned correctly or if there happens to be a snail on each one during a power outage then I will flood my sump and about 3 gallons of saltwater will pour onto my floor and my wife will make me buy her new carpeting. As improbable as it seems that two snails will cover my siphon breaks at the same time, it does happen. This is why I keep 5″ of empty space in my sump, after all 3 gallons of saltwater is much better then 7.5 gallons when it comes to overflowing your tanks.
Pictured above is my 10 gallon sump, as you can see there is 5″ in the sump to cover for siphoned water. The “Fill to here” sticker is so that my tank sitter knows how much water to replenish when I am away.
Siphon breaks are just as important to Sump reefers as lighting is. It is a protective measure that everyone running a sump should look into and use. I created my siphon breaks on my 46gallon reef tank by drilling holes into my return line U tube under the water line right before the water from my sump is discharged into the tank. When the water level in the main tank drops due to a power faluire the holes in these tubes will start sucking air and break the siphon.
The above and below pictures are of the U tubes that I drilled to create siphon breaks. Notice on the bottom picture that the siphon break is about an 1″ under water when the tank is filled.
Another method to preventing siphons are PVC check Valves. These are great if your return lines are constructed of hard PVC pipes and if your handy enough for vinyl tubing as well. They make these PVC check valves in many different sizes and threading.
The most daunting task for a beginner saltwater aquarium owner is choosing the right live rock to use in their aquarium. There are many different choices between the origin of the live rock, the size, porosity and price. Many beginning reef keepers are confused by the concept of using live reef rock as filtration for the marine aquarium and for may aquarists the concept is still shrouded in mystery.
So what is live rock anyway?
Live rock is merely rock that is collected in a natural reef or aquacultured from “seeded” rock in a plot in the ocean. This rock is generally dead coral skeletons that have broken off there mother colonies in storms or other natural and unnatural events. If this broken colony cannot support itself from the mother colony then it slowly dies and leaves behind a coral skeleton. This coral skeleton over time will become part of the reef and will become a host for beneficial nitrifying bacteria, other corals and anything else that wishes to inhabit it. Aquacultured Live rock is usually porous rock collected from a land area and is dropped in the ocean. Over time this aquacultured rock will become home to many different types of organisms and beneficial bacteria, this rock is usually collected after several months to a year and is sold to reefers world wide. Although it can be debated, aquacultured live rock is generally less porous then its natural counterpart and therefore more heavier.
How does the bacteria help my saltwater aquarium?
Live rock as I mentioned above is porous therefor creating deep holes in the rocks structure. These holes are home to nitrifying bacteria that create natural filtration for the saltwater aquarium. This nitrifying bacteria breaks down ammonia into nitrites and then breaks it down further into nitrate. The “die-off” from bacteria, plants and animals from shipping and exposure from air create a nitrite cycle. Once the live rock is placed into the aquarium the bacteria will start to regrow and will convert the present ammonia and nitrite.
The many types of live rock.
Naturally collect reef rock comes mainly from the southern pacific, places such as marshal islands, Tonga and Fiji currently prevail as live rock providers although the Caribbean is making a stronger presence in the live rock arena. There are many names for live rock grades and shapes. Tonga is known for its shelf, branch and ultra grade live rock, each name describes its characteristics. Ultra grade Tonga is generally live rock that has a very good amount of organisms and coralline algae on it. Branching Tonga live rock is just that, it looks like branches. Shelf live rock is merely slabs of rock that look similar to slate slabs. To better know your live rock it helps to know the corals that are indigenous to the area that the rock is found in, after all these corals made the rock to begin with.
How do I choose the right rock for my saltwater aquarium?
While some people will tell you that one live rock is better then another it simply is not true. All live rock are created equal with the exception of the shipper. Choosing the right live rock for your aquarium is merely a matter of taste and preference. for instance I prefer to have Fiji rock in my aquarium, I prefer the softball sized rock over all others because of its ease to move around and to create little niches for my fish to hide in. I have seen many beautiful Tonga branch aquariums and stunning saltwater displays with Tonga branch. But my preference for Fiji live rock has not stopped me from purchasing marshal island and Tonga branch pieces, after all bio-diversity is a key element for any reef aquarium.
What are Hitchhikers?
Hitchhikers is a term coined by reefkeepers referring to live organisms other then bacteria, that arrive on the rock once it has been received by the reefkeeper. These hitchhikers can be just about anything that lived in the area where the live rock has been collected and can be good or bad. Some common hitchhikers can be worms such as bristleworms, peanut worms and spaghetti worms. You could also get crabs, corals, and fish as hitchhikers while these may be a little bit more uncommon and they may not live through the shipping and cycling process they are definitely eye openers for the reefkeeper.
Here are some pictures of Mystic Aquarium’s Clam Tank, The tank was not very big in fact I would say it probably did not go over 75 gallons but it hosted a whole bunch of tropical marine reef clams from maxima’s and croaceas to Squamosa clams. It also had a very nice gorgonian as well as a ton of mushroom corals.
This rock is generally dead coral skeletons that have broken off there mother colonies in storms or other natural and unnatural events. If this broken colony cannot support itself from the mother colony then it slowly dies and leaves behind a coral skeleton. This coral skeleton over time will become part of the reef and will become a host for beneficial nitrifying bacteria, other corals and anything else that wishes to inhabit it. Aquacultured Live rock is usually porous rock collected from a land area and is dropped in the ocean. Over time this aquacultured rock will become home to many different types of organisms and beneficial bacteria, this rock is usually collected after several months to a year and is sold to reefers world wide. Although it can be debated, aquacultured live rock is generally less porous then its natural counterpart and therefore more heavier.
The many types of live rock.
