CPR Overflow users

[chet-tonja]

I'm in the process of setting one up on my 44 pentagon. Hopefully everything will be done tomorrow. Just wondering if you had any tips on maintaining it and if you have any problems with it??? How did you get the siphon started? I do wish I had it drilled, but... Anyway, please give me your thoughts. Thanks

[Sicklid]

I must of tried to start the siphon 20 times before I finally put a piece of saran wrap on both ends of the U-shaped overflow tubing with a rubber band around each end after filling it with water. I then turned it upside down in the overflow and pulled off the saran wrap and rubber bands, and the flow started. Works every time.;)

[acrophoria]

It should have a small hole that you can attach an airline tube to a powerhead to suck the air out of overflow box creating a siphon.

[mal37]

I've got mine hooked up to a powerhead as mentioned above. Works like a charm. In the event of a power outage, when the powerhead kicks back on with the power, you get instant siphon. One flood was enough for me to hook it up this way.

[djwang]

I've never been able to get it to work with the powerhead -- tried a maxijet 1200, someone said it wasn't powerful enough. Then I tried a Hagen 902, still didn't work. So, to get it to work, I have a piece of airline tubing running from the overflow to my sump. I start a siphon, so that there is water coming through the tubing, then I put a check valve on the end. Usually after a power outage, the flow is slower, but the siphon is still in tact.

mal37 -- what kind of powerhead do you use?

David

[zerrez]

My tip is to get rid of that cpr overflow. Its not if you will flood, its when you will flood. Cause it will happen. You can read many post on here about people warning about cpr overflows.

Get a amiricle or a lifereef overflow and save yourself massive headaches and worry.

[Tagamet]

I'll have to agree to disagree with zarrez. I love my CPR and have had no problems at all. I know the syphon can be problematic, but someone suggested a tiny water pump that coninually draws the air bubbles out of the portion of the cpr that goes over the tank wall. It maintains a constant full flow, and if power goes out, it re establishes the syphon. I haven't seen or used a quieter overflow.
Just my .02
Tag

[JonF]

I think crucial to setup is the following: I have set my sump up such that should the siphon break, there is not enough water in the sump to be pumped into the tank and flood it. I set the water level in the tank to about 2" below the top of the tank. Its a 28" high 150g tank so I estimate that's about 10.7 gallons. 2 days ago, I came home and a piece of macro algae had stopped up the siphon that comes out of the top of the overflow. But the sump was unable to pump more than about 4 gallons of water into the tank which was accomodated and so did not flood. This was the first non-fire drill so I was pretty happy it actually worked.

You can determine how much water can possibly get pumped out of the sump by installing baffles a certain distance from the end of the sump where water is drawn out of, and also varying the height of the last baffle will determine total possible water volume as well. Hope this helps. Pls post if this isnt clear.

btw, I had done the powerhead thing discussed above, which usually works in my dry run power outage scenarios.

I also have power heads in the tank so circulatioin continues should the main pump returning water from the sump shut down.

[Marty M]

You really need a reliable powerhead to maintain the siphon. Use a Maxijet. I found the bubbles that it is always shooting out were unacceptable so I put the powerhead in the sump. They have a website for troubleshooting, should you need it.

[stereomandan]

I have the smallest CPR version and don't have problems. I do have to suck air out every 2 weeks or so. Otherwise the siphon has no problems, even with power outs. I think if you try to push too much water through it, you end up sucking more bubbles into it and they accumulate in the top of the overflow.

I saw that some of you have tried a Maxijet without success, but I would recommend getting the venturi adaptor kit for the Maxi-jets. I'm about to order one because they pull the air much harder, and can maintain the siphon better even with a smaller pump.

Dan

[chet-tonja]

Well I got it going earlier today or should I say Friday. It went very well except for an error on my part and there was a little too much splashing going on so I will work on it this weekend. I made a sump that was attached to a refugium and the connecting pvc was too high. No biggie, just need a taller Rubbermaid tub. Anyway, what I did was hook up the air line to a power head that was in the sump and woolah. I killed the power several times and it fired right back up every time. Hopefully everything will work well for me!!! The only reason I'm using this is because I bought it over a year ago and never used it and thought what the hell...

[mal37]

DJWANG,

I forget the brand name of the ph, I'll look when I get home. I do know that it is 300gph flow. It does a nice job on the siphon and I set it high in the tank to give me more surface agitation. I only have maybe 8 - 10 inches of air line from the overflow to the ph.

The only problem I have is about every 3 months I have to either change the air line, or clean it with vinegar to get algae build up out of it. When I run out of the 25 feet I have, I'm gonna buy black so the light won't get through - no algae in the air line that way. If you get black line now, you'll be better off than I am.:D

[erik1202]

Get yourself a MaxiJet with the venturi kit at Premium Aquatics. The whole thing will cost you about $22 and works really well.

[ScoopTN]

I have used a CPR from the beginning, and have had no problems. I have however not found the powerhead solution to be completely satisfactory. I started using a small aqualift vacuum pump and it works great. Also more flexible where you can put it. I just did a search on Yahoo shopping, I think it was around $13.

John

[acrophoria]

I had mine for three years,never had a flood.Just cut a hole in the strainer of the powerhead and run the air line tube to it,try to use black tubing so that algea doesnt grow in tube.THe shorter the airline tube the better.

[Rock Anemone]

I have the big size CPR overflow and love it... All but the gurgling noise... So what i did was get the tubign from ym vacume and cut it up then stuck the tubes different lanks down the tube int he overflow and sucked on them, then that noise was gone! It has worked very well. I use a small rio on the nipple to keep the siphon going... And the Rio is in my sump due to the bubbles...

Best of Luck!
Rock Anemone

[Tagamet]

Hi Rock Anemone,
I also have the large cpr, but I'm having a hard time pictuiring your solutiohn to the gurgling. Can you post a picture or drawing of it? Sorry, I'm a bit dense, (sometimes) (g).
TIA
Tagamet

[mal37]

Sorry took so long......busy.

Maxi jet.

[chet-tonja]

What I did for the gurgling was raise the piece of plastic tubing that came with it to water level. The piece that goes into the drain in the back. Works great so far!

[laguna]

I got the CPR 90, now for about two month in my new 58g oceanic, so far working good.
For the cascade noise:
1. I placed some extra sponges (the black ones that prefilter the water for the seaclone skimmers that I got on my other 2 tanks) one on each side of the white one that comes with to place in the bulkhead.
2. I connected the tubing underneath using a 1"ball-valve so I can regulate the flow (which also allows me to start the syphon much easier), and the tube that goes into the sump is a flexible PCV with smooth inside that goes into the sump and the output is pointing upward. all this comes out very silent.
3. The air line that connect to the nipple I hooked it up to one of the power heads (maxijet1200) that I got in the tank for moving the surface and circulation so the air bubbles do not go down in the water column.
4. HEY SOMETHING POPED IN MY HEAD.. just reading thru and writing this I know what I will do to have a total bubbleless system,and not need to add a new pump... I will connect the airline of the syphion to the venturi of my turbo berlin skimmer in the pump. this will keep suction, but I think I will use a T connector so the venturi for the skimmer can still pull some more air than just the one from the syphom.