Siphon Breaks

[jcook54]

Hey y'all, I just had to drill out my siphon breaks because it got clogged with salt creep.* I turn off my return pump every time I do a water change so I'm testing them all the time. In this case, I heard the standard 'sucking sound' and didn't pay it much attention since it's expected. I stepped away to do something else and noticed it was still going. Odd. By the time I caught it the display part of the tank was down to the water nozzle and the tops of a few corals were dry. I leave plenty of room in my sump so there was no water on the floor, thankfully. I pulled the pipe and cleaned the little hole out with a toothpick and a tiny brush. Tested it again and it still wouldn't allow enough air in to break the stinkin' siphon. Out came the drill; I got it done. Tested again and it works just fine now.

If you regularly turn off the main pump, you're testing the siphon break every time you do so there's not a whole lot to worry about BUT if you're fancy and do auto water changes, kill the power and make sure everything's good-to-go. In my case, things worked fine 9 days ago and then it didn't. If the power went out for a while and I happened to be gone, the tops of my corals would have been killed off. If the power came back on before I had a chance to see it, I'd really be scratching my head as to why the tops of a few colonies were dead and nothing else.



Siphon break - the little hole in the water supply tube that draws air in to prevent the tank from draining down to the nozzle when power is cut.

 

[jcook54]

While you're at it, go ahead and check to make sure the D batteries on your portable air stone pump are in good working order. I'm always digging around to find those things when the power goes off. Typically I put them someplace "special" so I can find them easily and then have trouble finding them again.

 

[Doberman13]

While you're at it, go ahead and check to make sure the D batteries on your portable air stone pump are in good working order. I'm always digging around to find those things when the power goes off. Typically I put them someplace "special" so I can find them easily and then have trouble finding them again.

Those new USB powered air pumps are awesome. As long as you have a backup battery(like for your cell phone) or something else that can charge through USB you can run them for quite a while. I have a camping lantern that has a USB port that I used the last time I needed it.