Reef Discussion

[Lesley]

hi all,
got up this morning and it appears that the right down pipe on our animal bean silent set up is blocked for some reason.,no water at all exiting ?
The emergency overflow had kicked in and is now taking a large amount of water.
It is noisy as hell and I have no idea whats happened.

Can anybody suggest why this has happened and how to clear the down pipe that is now not working.
We don't have easy access to the rear of the tank ?
Help please ?
Thanks

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Same thing happend to @Oak Park-VIC , A snail had found its way into the pipe.
My money is its the same thing

 

[Lesley]

Same thing happend to @Oak Park-VIC , A snail had found its way into the pipe.
My money is its the same thing

Where do we go from here ??

 

[Sam Parker]

can you poke something down there to unblock it? Maybe like a flexible mechanics arm thingo?

 

[Lesley]

can you poke something down there to unblock it? Maybe like a flexible mechanics arm thingo?

Sounds good but have 2 elbows that the thingy won't get through. Tried that. !!!

 

[Trentwalsh]

Full syphon? Open it up all the way and.close it a few times to flush whatever out?, or push something.through it to unblock it?

 

[Trentwalsh]

Oh ok, dont use elbows, just 2 45degrees makes life and water flow easyier

 

[Sam Parker]

Drain unblocker, no elbows - just flexible arm:

 

[Rob]

That looks like a ray gun from a 1960 scifi movie

 

[Morphology]

You might need to pull it apart if it's a snail lodged in there and opening up the ball valve doesn't work. Lucky for backup pipes!

 

[Sam Parker]

That looks like a ray gun from a 1960 scifi movie

It is! hahahaha j/k, but one of those would probably work too :)

Blocked drains are not an exclusive issue to marine aquariums, there are lots of devices out there to help you free them up. Obviously draino would not be advised, but could you put a fitting over the drain that would allow you to fit a plunger? That would work nicely (if it fits)

 

[Lesley]

Got hold of a snake. Will have a go tonight. All fish & snails accounted for so assuming it's algae etc. but there were a few snails in I overflow that hitch hiked with tank. Might be one of those. ! Hope this works. Thank god for emergency piping Just saved 1000litre spill in my family room !!!

 

[Sam Parker]

let us know what you find! Assuming the pipe goes into a filter sock section or something?

The snake should do the trick :)

 

[Lesley]

let us know what you find! Assuming the pipe goes into a filter sock section or something?

The snake should do the trick :)

. Hope so. Can't believe how noisy the tank is in emergency mode. If it was that noisy all the time I don't think I would be into reefing. Lol. If skimmer is off u hear nothing normally. So quiet. !

 

[Sam Parker]

Bean animals are good things! Mind you, I have managed to get my single drain pico tank as quiet as a mouse, got a bit lucky with that I think though!!

 

[Lesley]

Bean animals are good things! Mind you, I have managed to get my single drain pico tank as quiet as a mouse, got a bit lucky with that I think though!!

What happens if u have single drain and it blocks. Is their any emergency back up. ?

 

[Sam Parker]

if it blocks, the sump is entirely pumped into the display. Which, in this instance - would equate to approximately a 1l overflow, maybe less depending on current level.

Tank is only a 6l pico :)

 

[Rob]

@Lesley If the sump has a bubble trap what you will find is only the volume of the return section of the sump is pumped into the display tank, not the entire contents. If your lucky or maybe have done some calcs up front this volume of the return may be able to be held in the tank itself without overflowing or at least you will only loose a few litres on the floor. That's why its also important to test a sump section holds water and there is no internal leaks between sections within the sump.

So designing the sump return section you should consider this situation and the volume against some criteria :

1. Water Depth so the return pump does not create a vortex and suck in air...
2. Any water evaporated from the tank will directly effect the return section level, thus you end up in situation 1 above. ATO generally fixes that although again if too small your ATO duty cycle is large turning on/off very frequently which is also bad for the pump.
3. The return section is ALL the water that can be pumped into the DT if the pipes get blocked so can this volume be held in the tank ?. A lot of the time the water level of the DT is 25mm below the lip anyway which may hold this volume. Its not true if you have ATO as you will also empty your ATO reservoir into the return section as well and thus into the tank.. That's why I only have a small ATO reservoir 20l max so even if shit happens I loose the return sump volume + the ATO. If you have a quality ATO unit it also has a timeout/shutdown period and will shutdown before it empties the entire ATO reservoir.

 

[Sam Parker]

^^ wise words right there^^

unfortunately in my 6l pico, my sump baffles are not water tight - so it will pump the lot in. It's work though, so really not too fussed....

 

[Lesley]

Thank you too all who replied. Being new to all of this I was in a complete panic this morning.
The snake did nothing and wouldn't go through the elbows, coat hanger wast long enough and hose pipe wasn't bending enough to get around either.
We contacted our local LFS and they said that 90% of blockages happen near the valve tap. so we took the chance and cut the PVC piping and sure enough a bloody snail... we hadn't seen our abalone for a while and was worried about her. (thank goodness only a snail).
Couldn't save it, removed it , glued joiner and thank goodness. working again now 100%.

Is there any reason we cant put some kind of netting over the entry to the down-pipes ? To stop this from happening again. ?

I cant thank everyone enough for the suggestions and help when needed..Thats why this is such a great site.
Thanks a ton.