The further along I get with my tank I start to worry about what could go wrong while I'm at work etc. are there any overflow options for an established tank? I read about the systems you can put in place before you setup and start to stock. The Herbie sounds interesting but I'm now 12 weeks into this tank. Anybody have any ideas or solutions?
I dont think I understand the question. Are you wanting an overflow box or do you have a built in overflow? Are you concerned with power outage flooding? I don't get it by I will try to help.
I'm not sure exactly what it could be. After my overflow clogging for a brief moment I watched as the level in my tankrose to the top of the rim. Had I not been standing ther the tank would have dumped on the floor. Huntingdoc mentioned in another post about a beanie system and another type he installed before he brought the tank in his home.. I believe it involved drilling a couple extra holes in the overflow and two extra pipes draining at different levels. Not sure exactly how it works. Would just like something that would prevent overflow onto the floors if no one is around. This is all still new to me, so don't really know if something exists that can be built with switches pumps???
The easiest thing I can think of in a tank already running would be to set up some float switches on a controller. You could place one in the sump in the chamber where the return pump is. If your drain is blocked the water level in the return pump chamber is going to fall. You could program the controller to shut down the pump if the level fell below a level that correlates with a dangerous tank water level. One note, in a properly sized and set up sump the danger should be burning up your return pump. I could run my return chamber dry and I don't think it would be enough to overflow my tank. Another controller based safety device would be a water detctor on the floor and the floor of the sump. This could send you a text/email to let you know to shut down the pump. I think I posted a note about the other day I had forgotten to fill my ATO reservoir and the level in the return pump chamber had fallen to the point the pH probe was exposed to the air. The text I got about a sudden pH drop to 7.0 saved my return pump....and my sump was designed so that the change of salinity in my tank was negligible. Another example of what a controller can do to make things safer for you.
