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Tub Pond Near Disaster: Don't Do as I Did


PineSong
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I'm a big chicken and have been afraid to drill into my tub pond to install a bulkhead while it has fish in it. I figured this summer I will maintain low water to avoid rain overflowing the pond, and then drill it in winter when there are no fish in it in case Something Goes Wrong.

This morning we had torrential rain. I set up the siphon (covered in mesh) to drain several inches before I left for work. I drained several inches, but it was still absolutely pouring and I was going to be gone for ten hours. So I left the siphon in, but barely. I figured when the water got lower than the intake of the siphon, it would break suction and the siphon would fall to the ground--there was nothing holding it in place and it's not a hook, just the tubing draped over the side of the pond.

Came home from work nine hours later. Siphon had not fallen to the ground and this was my pond:

IMG_0194.jpg.4d026785c2d7b5209a8c87bd87853674.jpg

Luckily, there were two inches of water in the bottom and it wasn't sunny today so the water was cool to the touch. All countable fish present and accounted for, but who knows if fry or some mutt guppies got stranded in the pots above the waterline and perished?

I could kick myself and am so relieved the outcome wasn't worse. I still don't understand the physics of how the head of the siphon came to be deep down in the tub when I left it up at the top, but either way, I will not leave it unattended again. 

 

 

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On 7/26/2022 at 3:56 PM, PineSong said:

So I left the siphon in, but barely. I figured when the water got lower than the intake of the siphon, it would break suction and the siphon would fall to the ground--there was nothing holding it in place and it's not a hook, just the tubing draped over the side of the pond.

Same thing happened to cory.  Pond froze over and pinched the line, then it started to siphon out of the tank. 😞

It happens.... 

Good to hear some / all of the fish are ok.  Glad you caught it in time.  Something I do, whenever I am using a siphon is I'll wedge it somewhere if I ever step away.  Usually on a branch or a rock or something and then I make sure it's sturdy, then I walk away.

 

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On 7/26/2022 at 8:16 PM, modified lung said:

I don't like drilling holes in anything. I change my mind too often and the hole is never where you want it for the next setup. I keep these auto siphons in at all times and never have to worry.

PXL_20220727_000415909.jpg.f9cd401e558597935e313affa4386a45.jpgPXL_20220727_000439081.jpg.7c0277659973745d2f7e60f581039ca4.jpg

 

Is that something you made? How does it work?

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Omg I had a bad experience when I was adding sand to the 29 gallon. Took out a little water with a pond pump. Maybe 20%. Unplugged the pond pump. Left it in in case I wanted to drain more water. Depended on how much displacement would occur with new substrate.

Went outside for awhile to rinse the sand. Came back in, heard the filter making an awful noise, running dry. This was the tank.

 

FFC27DDC-32D6-43B6-BB3A-CA50593404CF.jpeg.fbc5126abb069de4ecc67953cfb2150f.jpeg

It had gravity drained. I almost killed everybody. My heart sank to the floor when I saw what happened. Everybody survived though. They just got like a 95% water change. 😥 

And fortunately I had unplugged the heater when I took out the 20%
 

Lesson learned. I will remove pump or any kind of hose ASAP.

Edited by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
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On 7/26/2022 at 9:09 PM, PineSong said:

Ah, I see now. Thank you! 

 

On 7/26/2022 at 8:52 PM, PineSong said:

Kind of? What attaches the caps to the large pipes?

Here's it is taken a part. All the parts just slide together. If there's an air or water leak in each section, the parts might need to be siliconed or glued together. I made mine from 3/4" PVC pipe and 1½" PVC pipe:

PXL_20220730_235615412_MP.jpg.21852f4b1f1d811a143da8d3c60426b1.jpg

Fill the U-shaped section (3/4" pipe and elbows) under water:

PXL_20220730_235809146_exported_1659288151218.jpg.d9d6214bbf38bfc095246db77f554678.jpg

Do the same with the two "cup" sections (1½" pipe with caps):

PXL_20220730_235857596_exported_1659288143429.jpg.fd3c2c674085a3d2122d6e2aa81438b9.jpg

While still underwater, put each end of the U into one of the cups:

PXL_20220731_000436323.jpg.027155f7c39dda23c855934582762c30.jpg

Then you can take the whole thing out and, if no air bubbles got trapped in the U, it's good to go. (The U section shouldn't be glued to the cups. You want the U to be easily pulled out and placed back in the cups in case the siphon ever needs to be restarted.) You can see at this point each cup is filled with water:

PXL_20220731_000528996.jpg.23154b478c248ee9b4e848f8038d55bb.jpg

Here the tank's water level is below the cup inside the tank and the siphon is not overflowing:

PXL_20220731_001258168.jpg.e64c8045ab45c697438d3b3d535a1d8a.jpg

Here I started filling the tank with a hose until the tank's water level went above the cup inside the tank which triggers the siphon to overflow:

PXL_20220731_001623755.jpg.d946d9a16f147f9dde88c577e0b8711e.jpg

The hose filled the tank faster than my siphon could drain water back out. The larger the pipe diameter you use, the faster the siphon can drain the tank. If my U-shaped section was made with 1" pipe, the siphon probably could have kept up. But I live in an area that doesn't get much rain (as you can tell by the lawn) so I don't need a larger diameter pipe.

When new water is no longer entering the tank, the siphon will continue only until the water in the tank becomes level with the top of the cup inside the tank. At that point the siphon will pause.

But if the water level inside the tank goes up again, the siphon will automatically restart:

Screenshot_20220731-113510.png.20e6fb665a8a350c18d85030f56fca65.png

The cups on mine just rest on the ground but here's another design that can be hanged on the side of the tank instead:

Screenshot_20220731-113852.png.9bad92b81beffac3db0355ddeba4867f.png

 

Edited by modified lung
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  • 1 month later...
On 7/31/2022 at 11:42 AM, modified lung said:

 

Here's it is taken a part. All the parts just slide together. If there's an air or water leak in each section, the parts might need to be siliconed or glued together. I made mine from 3/4" PVC pipe and 1½" PVC pipe:

PXL_20220730_235615412_MP.jpg.21852f4b1f1d811a143da8d3c60426b1.jpg

Fill the U-shaped section (3/4" pipe and elbows) under water:

PXL_20220730_235809146_exported_1659288151218.jpg.d9d6214bbf38bfc095246db77f554678.jpg

Do the same with the two "cup" sections (1½" pipe with caps):

PXL_20220730_235857596_exported_1659288143429.jpg.fd3c2c674085a3d2122d6e2aa81438b9.jpg

While still underwater, put each end of the U into one of the cups:

PXL_20220731_000436323.jpg.027155f7c39dda23c855934582762c30.jpg

Then you can take the whole thing out and, if no air bubbles got trapped in the U, it's good to go. (The U section shouldn't be glued to the cups. You want the U to be easily pulled out and placed back in the cups in case the siphon ever needs to be restarted.) You can see at this point each cup is filled with water:

PXL_20220731_000528996.jpg.23154b478c248ee9b4e848f8038d55bb.jpg

Here the tank's water level is below the cup inside the tank and the siphon is not overflowing:

PXL_20220731_001258168.jpg.e64c8045ab45c697438d3b3d535a1d8a.jpg

Here I started filling the tank with a hose until the tank's water level went above the cup inside the tank which triggers the siphon to overflow:

PXL_20220731_001623755.jpg.d946d9a16f147f9dde88c577e0b8711e.jpg

The hose filled the tank faster than my siphon could drain water back out. The larger the pipe diameter you use, the faster the siphon can drain the tank. If my U-shaped section was made with 1" pipe, the siphon probably could have kept up. But I live in an area that doesn't get much rain (as you can tell by the lawn) so I don't need a larger diameter pipe.

When new water is no longer entering the tank, the siphon will continue only until the water in the tank becomes level with the top of the cup inside the tank. At that point the siphon will pause.

But if the water level inside the tank goes up again, the siphon will automatically restart:

Screenshot_20220731-113510.png.20e6fb665a8a350c18d85030f56fca65.png

The cups on mine just rest on the ground but here's another design that can be hanged on the side of the tank instead:

Screenshot_20220731-113852.png.9bad92b81beffac3db0355ddeba4867f.png

 

Great idea was wondering what I might do when it starts raining

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