well i had a crp overflow box on my tank for a while and if you had 1 also then you would know how bubbles would get trapped in the overflow and the siphon would slowly be lost. heres a the simpliest most cost effective and most reliable way to solve this problem. just connect a vinal tube from the top of the overflow and create another siphon down to your sump. the tubing needs to travel below your display tank into your sump inorder to create a siphon long and strong enough to suck out air that gets trapped in the overflow. works great for me, i literally never need to check my overflow box. hope this helps some of you, i know what its like to rush home and hope your tank isnt overflowing.

alohaz
mike

oh and if you dont understand sorry in advance for the crappy discriptions.

Stupid question here (I've only had a reef tank for about 6 months, so I'm still very new)...if power is lost for the return pump, would the airline hose continue to siphon water and break the actual siphon in the cpr box...and result in a flood after the return pump gets power again?

I bought my cpr-50 from MarineDepot and they recommended using an aqualifter pump. So I bought an aqualifter pump, think it was around $12 or so. Hooked an airline tube to the connector on the top of my cpr overflow box that went to the "in" on the aqulifter pump, and then put the "out" airline tubing into the "intake" end of the overflow box. That way the pump will recreate the siphon if it's ever lost....and get rid of those bubbles that seem to buildup.

yes, while i have never used the CPR overflow, it seems like the siphon airline would break the siphon if your return pump was shut down.

Mike,
have you tested this, i would be interested in the results

yes, while i have never used the CPR overflow, it seems like the siphon airline would break the siphon if your return pump was shut down.

Mike,
have you tested this, i would be interested in the results

your right rob, the siphon will break if the power goes out. at that point all water in the cpr will go down that tubing into your sump. my cpr wouldl lose siphon with in 2 days. with the method above i never need to check it. my advice here is make sure your power connection is reliable. in case of a black out a back up battery would be usefull. if you dont got 1 then you better hope the power stays off till you get home to catch the problem. i really hate these overflows, i think im going to diy 1. rob, u got ne links to some good diy overflows? melves 1 is cool maybe ill try his.
latez

Stupid question here (I've only had a reef tank for about 6 months, so I'm still very new)...if power is lost for the return pump, would the airline hose continue to siphon water and break the actual siphon in the cpr box...and result in a flood after the return pump gets power again?

I bought my cpr-50 from MarineDepot and they recommended using an aqualifter pump. So I bought an aqualifter pump, think it was around $12 or so. Hooked an airline tube to the connector on the top of my cpr overflow box that went to the "in" on the aqulifter pump, and then put the "out" airline tubing into the "intake" end of the overflow box. That way the pump will recreate the siphon if it's ever lost....and get rid of those bubbles that seem to buildup.

thanks scott i was looking for a pump that worked but never found 1. so the aqulifter works? ill try looking for it.
thanks

Stupid question here (I've only had a reef tank for about 6 months, so I'm still very new)...if power is lost for the return pump, would the airline hose continue to siphon water and break the actual siphon in the cpr box...and result in a flood after the return pump gets power again?

I bought my cpr-50 from MarineDepot and they recommended using an aqualifter pump. So I bought an aqualifter pump, think it was around $12 or so. Hooked an airline tube to the connector on the top of my cpr overflow box that went to the "in" on the aqulifter pump, and then put the "out" airline tubing into the "intake" end of the overflow box. That way the pump will recreate the siphon if it's ever lost....and get rid of those bubbles that seem to buildup.

scott,
i cant find that pump online, where did you find it. i just read a bunch of stuff on the forms at boston reefers. they said it worked good.

i did some research, Marine Depot and Premium sells the aqualift. it seems that the prefilter is a good product to buy with the pump also. relitively cheap. 12 at md and 11 at prem. i think this i a good investment for those with cpr overflows.

mike

i did some research, Marine Depot and Premium sells the aqualift. it seems that the prefilter is a good product to buy with the pump also. relitively cheap. 12 at md and 11 at prem. i think this i a good investment for those with cpr overflows.

mike
yeah, this would prolly bea cheaper and easier than trying a DIY, or getting a new overflow.

scott,
i cant find that pump online, where did you find it. i just read a bunch of stuff on the forms at boston reefers. they said it worked good.

Sorry I was slow in replying. You mentioned you did find it after all...but for anyone else that is interested here's a link.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=KTALP

I did pickup the filter, but I must not have had a good seal as it started to leak water somewhere...so I am not currently using the filter on mine.

Sorry I was slow in replying. You mentioned you did find it after all...but for anyone else that is interested here's a link.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=KTALP

I did pickup the filter, but I must not have had a good seal as it started to leak water somewhere...so I am not currently using the filter on mine.

yah ive read around and heard those fileters leak. solution? people just submerge the filter, reviews say that it works fine. another bad thing is that ive heard the pumps dont last too long and you should always have a spare. there is also a rio600 rvt or something that you can use but i havent heard much about it.
latez

yah ive read around and heard those fileters leak. solution? people just submerge the filter, reviews say that it works fine. another bad thing is that ive heard the pumps dont last too long and you should always have a spare. there is also a rio600 rvt or something that you can use but i havent heard much about it.
latez

I actually do have a spare....was using it for daily top offs originally. Had it on a timer to run for like 15min a day...was more of a drip top off after it was pumping the water up 4 ft. But I've switched to something else for top offs, after I added a sump.

I've heard you can put the airline tubing from the connector on the overflow box to the venturi (sp?) connection of a powerhead. Never tried that though.

Will see how long the auqualifter lasts me. so far I'm perfectly satisfied with it, very quite.

I Use the airline tube/powerhead method. connected to the venturi of a powerhead it keeps my U Tubes for my overflow primed, it has worked flawlessly , even the annoying bubbble that gathers in the tube is sucked away allowing full flow through the tubes. and in case of a power outage, and the tubes go dry I am 100 percent confident that when power is restored the tubes are automatically reprimed by the powerheads and back in operation without my intervention.
although bi/monthly maintnence should be performed to assure all lines are clear and everything is up to par.

I Use the airline tube/powerhead method. connected to the venturi of a powerhead it keeps my U Tubes for my overflow primed, it has worked flawlessly , even the annoying bubbble that gathers in the tube is sucked away allowing full flow through the tubes. and in case of a power outage, and the tubes go dry I am 100 percent confident that when power is restored the tubes are automatically reprimed by the powerheads and back in operation without my intervention.
although bi/monthly maintnence should be performed to assure all lines are clear and everything is up to par.


nice!! what kind of powerhead is that you use, i tried it on my maxijet and it didnt work to well for me. i may give it another try since it worked for you. i gotta get somthing at the point to solve this problem. my goal here is to make the tank as carefree as possible so when i decide to go on vacation, i can go without worry of my house being floaded when i come home. 8O

thanks ya'll for the advice.. more is always appreciated.

latez

theres one powerhead for each U tube of course and for one of them it is a Maxijet 1200 with the venturi adapter installed , note on that model it is important to keep the venturi clear of debri using a pick of some sort, that venturi does tend to get a build up in it causing performance issues. the other powerhead I believe its a Rio model ?? Iam not sure the unit has encrusted over with sea life but it tends to work much better than the maxijet pump.