Bought a pump yesterday from A.E. and right now I'm mixing up a batch of salt water to fill my sump.   I am out of salt though, so once it's all dissolved, I'll check the SG in the morning to see if I need more or not.

I'm going to fill my sump with the pump turned off about the level I want it and turn the pump on.   Right now there's only about 5 gallons in my sump and I have 15 mixing now, I'm thinking that should be enough for now.

As I stand, my overflow is primed and my ball valve is shut waiting to be opened.    I'll post pics later, wife is beating at me to start cleaning the house.

Are you using an external overflow? If so, I would encourage you to consider drilling your tank and building an internal overflow before you fill it with water.

The only constant with external overflows is that they fail, in which case your wife will be beat you for flooding the floor with saltwater.

-JB

JB, i hate it when people even mention that.....i probably won't sleep at night now.

Sure do wish i had a reef ready tank....

Yeah, I'm using an external overflow.   Yeah, I thought about drilling my 72, but I don't really trust my drilling yet.  If I lose the tank, It'll be a while before I could get another as big.

I heed all the words of warning with external overflows.  I'll see how bad it really is and take all the precautions I can just in case.  Like my sump is a 30 gallons.

If I was you, I'd keep the water level in my sump as low as possible. If your overflow fails, all of the water from your sump is going to get pumped into your display tank and it won't have anywhere to go but over the sides...

-JB

Geesh who would of thought JB could be such a Debbie Downer... Guy comes on here excited that he is nearly ready to get his feet wet in the hobby (pun intended) and good ole JB has to bitch slap him back to reality... (Please re-read with heavy sarcasm as intended)

I agree that HOB overflows are a pain. JB also forgot to mention that if the big Uh Oh occurs you also risk losing a pump due to it running dry. The only way around this is to drill your tank, which could still have a snail clog the drain line, or safeguard your system. A reverse float switch on the pump so it turns off when the water level is too low is always a good idea. A redundant or second overflow box set higher than the first would also be beneficial. Either way don't worry even if you take every precaution you are going to floor the floor. It just happens. All you can do is minimize the damage...

Anyway I can't wait to see it up and running. Better get that camera dusted off.

Yeah, I'm a real S.O.B. :)

That's a good idea about the reverse float switch. If it was setup right, that could definitely save you from both a big mess and a burnt out pump.

-JB

It's the simplest design ever, so it isn't much to look at.   But my salinity right now is at 1.022.   So I had just enough salt for my batch.

But after all the time I've spent in this hobby since starting my freshwater, each step like this is big for me.   I'm waiting for my halides that should come in any day.

i have a hob overflow and i cut egg crate to fit around the overflow area inside the tank(so no snails,etc get in),i also have a powerhead close to the overflow with the airline connected,from the powerhead to the top of the overflow(this is for when the power goes out,when it comes back on,it helps to prime your overflow). you need to set your return from your sump just below your tanks water level(make sure you have room in your sump because when the power goes out,your return from your sump will reverse flow and start filling your sump!)this is why you should set your return from sump just below your tanks water level so when it starts draining,air will get in and stop the flow. when the power comes back on,bingo,your pump from your sump starts returning the water to your tank,as it fills,it rises over your overflow and the airline from the top of your overflow connected to the powerhead in the tank helps to prime it. i have cut the power numerous times and it has worked every time.now i am not saying this is fail proof and a drilled tank is the route to go,but it has worked for me. WARNING!!!! my jerry rigged hob overflow has only been up and running for a few months,so far so good!

Very cool idea wolfman. I was lucky, my HOB overflow was a one time prime deal. Once set the U tube would never empty. Power could go off and on all it wanted. As for siphoning when the power goes off all I have had to do to fix that is drill a pin hole into my return nozzles below the water line. Power goes off, water level drops below pin hole, siphon broken. I suggest a couple holes though as hair algae and other things can clog it.

Posted By Travis on 10/09/2008 07:04 AM
Very cool idea wolfman. I was lucky, my HOB overflow was a one time prime deal. Once set the U tube would never empty. Power could go off and on all it wanted. As for siphoning when the power goes off all I have had to do to fix that is drill a pin hole into my return nozzles below the water line. Power goes off, water level drops below pin hole, siphon broken. I suggest a couple holes though as hair algae and other things can clog it.

Of course Murphy's law states that at the time of a power failure, a snail will be covering the siphon hole preventing the siphon from breaking and causing a flood.Â

Okay I got it going, but I hid my camera too well from my son and now I can't find it. It's happened before a few times, but I'm looking for it now.

I totally got a newb story here. So I had it all hooked up, filled my sump as low as possible with it still working and turned on my pump. The pump is way more powerful than the over flow, so I kind of freaked out at first because I was racing to turn the ball valve on my return. So I fiddled around a few minutes and now it's even and doing good! I marked the line in the sump with the pump on and then turned off the pump and marked the high line. I still have good 7 inches from over flowing with the pump off.

I had a leak somewhere below my union going into the sump. It was barely dribbling water. Now I'm really thankful for putting a union in the plumbing. There's three connections it could be coming from and I put silicone all around each connection. I'll wait to let it dry some towards the end of the day and try it again.