FarmerTy Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hi all, I've been searching the interwebs all morning for a cure, and wanted to hit you all up to see what you thought. I have a leaking internal overflow in my 125 gallon tank. It doesn't cause any issues in the immediate but if the power goes out or my return pump decides not to work anymore, then the amount of water that it allows into my sump would overflow it. Not by a ton because the durso standpipes are moderately high in the internal overflow, but enough that it'll put about 2-3 gallons on the floor. I'm guessing I can't repair it without draining the tank, and I'd rather not do that since it's been setup for about a 9 months now. I was thinking about just extending the durso standpipe in the overflow to have it sit higher so it will drain up to the higher height. Another option is to somehow have the sump be able to hold more capacity, like have a overflow for the sump to drain into another tank once it reaches a critical height. Just wanted to throw it out there and see if I'm missing any obvious solutions. Thanks for your time. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Based on what you've described, I think taller standpipes are your quickest/safest bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 +1 And if you can easily add to your sump capacity that would increase your safety margin. This may not be practical or desirable since I don't know what kind of flow you have going through your sump or the design of your system but you might tweek a little more of a safety margin by slowing down your flow rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Thanks guys. Back to sawing some PVC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afgun Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 If you have room to add another sump... drill the side of your current sump (assuming acrylic here) put a bulkhead in and pipe to an auxiliary sump... Do you know WHERE the leak is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 The entire wall of the overflow where it meets the glass separated. So, there's not a lot keeping the tank water from flowing into the overflow on the side instead of over the top. The current sump actually has been drilled and has a bulkhead on it already. I added a valve when I first set up the tank for easy water removal. I can pipe that into another section and add a small overflow in there for additional water storage and a possible frag tank. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Rodriguez Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 If you're dealing with a slip bulkhead, make sure you have a good end on the pvc that you cut for the overflow. Any imperfections could allow water to pass through the outside of the PVC pipe and the inside wall of the bulkhead. The leak would be slow but dangerous What material is the overflow? could you take a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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