Water level issue

I have a HOB overflow that drains to my sump. In the sump I have a Mag 5 pump for the return water and the valve on the return pipe is wide open. Until recently the rate that water was returned to the tank seemed to be perfect, I never had a any issues with water levels. The other day I noticed my water level in the main tank had risen a bit (not a lot but a bit). I went away over the weekend and of course when I returned some water had overflowed from the main tank . I closed the return valve a bit to limit the water coming back to the tank and it seems to have lowered the water to a proper level again. I can't see any blockage in my u-tube. Any ideas what could be causing this issue (it makes me very nervous)?

 

No blockage but what about an air bubble? That'll also slow the flow of water from the tank.

 

Good catch glampka, check if theres an air buble in the utube, and also, what is the GPH rate of that overflow system?

 

Also make sure one of your maintenance crew has not got stuck in there. My snails go all over the place.

 

Honestly, I have no idea of the GPH rate of the overflow. It was purchased from someone getting out of the hobby and has worked great for a year now. I will have to remove the u-tube and inspect it for an air bubble or some kind of critter.

 

The same thing happened to me last month. I had so much coralline build up in the tube that it actually slowed down the flow rate. After a thorough cleaning and making sure all the air was out of the tube everything returned to normal.

Jim

 

My tube is coated with coraline, maybe that is part of the problem. It's always something!

 

While I'm thinking of it......does anyone know the little trick to get your u-tube siphon started that uses plastic wrap? I used it to get it started but have not needed it since.

 

an airline tube is just perfect. Place it in the middle highest part of the utube, and suck the air out. Then shake the utube a bit to get the small airbubbles still stuck in it.

 

To keep the U-tube free of bubbles you can install an air valve at the top of the tube & attach a small piece of air line to it. When you get a large bubble in the tube, simply open the valve & suck it out.