My red sea reefer overfilled...and I don't know how to prevent it from happening again...help!

[Shirak]

I think i need to pull my secondary drain tonight and see whats going on...must be plugged. Will report back!

Is the E drain end in the sump under water? or above? If the end is under water in the sump air will get locked in the drain and not flow properly, especially with the elbows in your line.

 

[Dburr1014]

Is the E drain end in the sump under water? or above? If the end is under water in the sump air will get locked in the drain and not flow properly, especially with the elbows in your line.

It should be underwater about a half an inch to an inch so it doesn't create any salt spray.

 

[Shirak]

It should be underwater about a half an inch to an inch so it doesn't create any salt spray.

I disagree. If a lot of water is going down it then it's an emergency and a little splashing in the sump is better than not having it drain properly. If it's a straight pipe then sure.. as long as no air will get trapped, but with 2- 90 degree elbows that could be a big deal.

Maybe some photos of the actual pipe runs etc from the OP?

 

[everpresentnoob]

I always read, and set mine up accordingly to have the E-Drain above the water level in the sump so if something goes wrong and the E-Drain is in use then you want it loud so you hear it and can intervene. at that point i don't care about a little salt spray, I want to know so I can fix what ever the heck went wrong!

 

[Dburr1014]

I disagree. If a lot of water is going down it then it's an emergency and a little splashing in the sump is better than not having it drain properly. If it's a straight pipe then sure.. as long as no air will get trapped, but with 2- 90 degree elbows that could be a big deal.

Maybe some photos of the actual pipe runs etc from the OP?

But it also is the trickle drain. It would be noisy and lots of salt creep.

To each is own, after 10 years, mine was flawless and quite. Now I have a bean.

 

[everpresentnoob]

But it also is the trickle drain. It would be noisy and lots of salt creep.

To each is own, after 10 years, mine was flawless and quite. Now I have a bean.

True. I have a slight trickle through mine, but in the year it has been running its never been a problem with salt spray. I may just be lucky and have accidentally put it in the best location so its not a problem, but for me it works.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Well, there you have it...

I want to thank all of you for your assistance. The emergency drain was partially blocked with sponges and all other types of creation. This picture is just the end of the pipe, but I can assure you, it was full of this stuff throughout 12 inches of the pipe...the portion that is submerged in the sump.

Of note, I also checked the main drain. Fairly clean. Likely because it has a full siphon 24/7, not just a drip or two of water periodically like the emergency drain. I also tested the emergency drain and it can handle the flow of the return pump now on its own without getting overwhelmed.

Don't be like me, clean your drains more than once every 2 years! I can sleep easy tonight.

Now back to the task at hand:

Happy Reefing!

 

[BryanM]

Well, there you have it...

I want to thank all of you for your assistance. The emergency drain was partially blocked with sponges and all other types of creation. This picture is just the end of the pipe, but I can assure you, it was full of this stuff throughout 12 inches of the pipe...the portion that is submerged in the sump.

Of note, I also checked the main drain. Fairly clean. Likely because it has a full siphon 24/7, not just a drip or two of water periodically like the emergency drain. I also tested the emergency drain and it can handle the flow of the return pump now on its own without getting overwhelmed.

Don't be like me, clean your drains more than once every 2 years! I can sleep easy tonight.

Now back to the task at hand:

Happy Reefing!

Gorgeous tank!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

sorry, ATO = auto top off...was referring to my auto top off system. Many seem to think my auto top off system was the cause of my issue here...I don't think that is the case, else my sump would have been overflowing, not the display.

It does seem odd the emergency drain can't handle much gph...I have to turn my return pump down to 20% before its no longer overwhelmed...

 

[everpresentnoob]

ok, this is on my list of maintenance to do tomorrow. Great, another thing... Lol.

Algae cleanout and water change on my 20 gallon axolotl tank. water change and substrate vacuum on my wife's 20 gallon shrimp and dwarf frog tank (at least the frog sings to me as I work!!), water change and substrate vacuum on my daughters 40 gallon Cichlid tank, water change and dead plant removal from my daughters 20 gallon cichlid tank, 40 gallon water change on my wife's 90 gallon discus tank and tear down of the FX6 on it to find out why its making noise all of a sudden. and my son wants to work on plumbing his 40 gallon turtle tank...

Hmmm.... I think i may know why our water bill is high!

but im glad you figured it out!

 

[timqmana]

Well, there you have it...

I want to thank all of you for your assistance. The emergency drain was partially blocked with sponges and all other types of creation. This picture is just the end of the pipe, but I can assure you, it was full of this stuff throughout 12 inches of the pipe...the portion that is submerged in the sump.

Of note, I also checked the main drain. Fairly clean. Likely because it has a full siphon 24/7, not just a drip or two of water periodically like the emergency drain. I also tested the emergency drain and it can handle the flow of the return pump now on its own without getting overwhelmed.

Don't be like me, clean your drains more than once every 2 years! I can sleep easy tonight.

Now back to the task at hand:

Happy Reefing!

Glad you found the problem. I think emergency drain should not be submerged, that way if the main drain is clogged and water is now flowing through the emergency drain, you would hear the splashing in your sump to alert you there is a clog. Bonus is there is a lower chance of stuff growing inside the emergency drain if it's not submerged. Regular checks on your drain pipes is still a good idea, I'm gonna set some reminders for myself.

 

[ajmckay]

Glad you found the issue!

That's a crazy amount of buildup.

 

[cr2153]

Wouldn't your return pump still be pushing it into the DT? Seems like your next move should be to snake the emergency line with something reef-safe and turn down your return pump, then go from there...

Yep, return pump still pushing to display, but that water should be draining back down to sump and the sump should have overfilled. Must be a draining issue. Yea, I need to figure out what I can use to snake through it and clean it out - roto rooter style, lol. I also sent red sea tech support a message...I want to know how much gph the emergency/back up drain should be able to handle on its own.

Curious what they respond with. Some of this is off memory, so forgive me if I mistake any of your setup... I'm reading that 1" pvc can handle about 960g/hr on a gravity drain. I don't remember if you had 1 or 2 drains in addition to the emergency, but I think you mentioned you had a siphoned overflow. I don't know how that would affect the gph, but I imagine it drains significantly faster. That being said, I wonder if you had a temporary block in your main drain and a current one in your emergency drain, or its simply undersized (which doesn't seem likely). I don't know how reputable this site is, but it seems to be similar to others I read. Check out this table I pulled from "Hy-Tech" (I don't know if I can list the website as a reference on this forum or not)