its our first sump

[robfishfan]

hi guys what happens to the sump when the power goes off, i just got this 5x2x2 with a weir and a sump and we about to turn it on .

but the tank is set up in an unsupervised store room which is only checked once a day , so we are a bit worried about the power going off and flooding the place out!

please give us some ideas , what happens , cheers from rob.

[Nav]

If it's setup properly.. the sump fills up with water and won't overflow.

[robfishfan]

yeah what does that mean , just a little more info please .

never had one , always ran big canisters .

[Cichlabxr]

robfishfan,

You need to calculate the capacity of your sump. When the system is up and running what is the level of water in your sump. Then calculkate how much spare space you have should the power go off.

The height from the top of the weir to the water level should calculate to less than this. Hence when the power is off only that amount of water will drain into your sump and should not cause it to overflow.

This is assuming your outlet from the weir is not just a hole at bottom of tank but has a standpipe inside.

[robfishfan]

ok great, that's what i was after , thank you very much , we have the stand pipe in the weir , so out comes abacus .

its a 2ft sump tank for a 5x2x2 .

so that means the water level up to the standpipe should only drain away , this is a gravity fed sump .

cheers

[CThompson]

If it is set up and running - turn it off and watch what happens. Should it be about to overflow turn the pump back on. You will then at least know what happens with a black out.

[robfishfan]

ok i'll put on my wet suit first , but that a good idea!

[robfishfan]

well that went well ,it was a bugger to start , after running and marking water levels we turned it off and the water only filled up some of the sump , good enough for us , now my next question is what happens to the bio balls when the power is off does the bacteria drown and die , so when you turn it back on again do you get an ammonia spike ?

[dogboy]

i doubt they would drown and die, id be more worried about them drying out and dying.

do you have a non return valve on the pump? a good idea otherwise the inlet pipe can act as a siphon and drain the tank. also a lot of pumps start better with a head of water rather than empty pipes.

[robfishfan]

yeah we watched the water flow down the out flow , and fill up the sump thats why i'm asking about the bio balls they were submerged .

no none return valve . and would like to know if we can run it with out one , sump did not over flow so we are happy with that .

[CThompson]

well that went well ,it was a bugger to start , after running and marking water levels we turned it off and the water only filled up some of the sump , good enough for us , now my next question is what happens to the bio balls when the power is off does the bacteria drown and die , so when you turn it back on again do you get an ammonia spike ?

One advantage to bio balls is that during a blackout, a properly set up bio ball chamber which does not fill with water, will have a comparatively inexhaustible supply of oxygen. It goes without saying the balls must not dry out as this will kill the bacteria.

Look at it another way, bacteria in a canister filter can potentially begin to die off after an hour or two because the exhaust their supply of oxygen.

Bio ball chambers that fill with water during a power stoppage will introduce this potential limiting factor, the same as with a canister filter, because water has limited supply of O2 compared to the air we breath.

Ideally a bio ball chamber should have the bottom close off with rising water, this will keep them from drying out, and being still surrounded by air will allow them access to much more O2 than what is dissolved in the water should they be covered.

The advantage to bio balls is that they can survive for days with the power off, and when it comes back on again, they simply take off again. Any bacteria on a bio media in water has less ability to ride out a blackout, and any bacteria on a bio media that is enclosed in a canister has less again.

So bio balls set up propery need to A) have water running through them, and B) need to say out of the water (but moist) during a blackout to get the best from this form of bio media.