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incase a hose pops off and floods your house.....

Dogtemple

Member
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22 Nov 2011
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217
Location
Brighton
just an idea, should in a worse case scenario a hose pop off your filter and quietly drain the tank from inside the stand and you don't notice or are at work etc, is there some product that exists to stop this?

I'm thinking something along the lines of a water sensor attached to a circuit breaker, should water come in contact with the base of the stand it would turn the filter off to stop pumping water out or something along those lines.


just trying to prevent the worst things I can see happening.

any thoughts?
 
I don't really think a hose can just pop off on its own especially if they have been secured. It's possible and more realistic to happen when fiddling with the filter, like tilting it for example. You could also add some jubilee clips for extra security, but i don't like using them as then it blocks your view to the pipe connections (if clear) to check or monitor if they are becoming loose.
 
in my instance the pipework will be moving up and down, so there is a possibility as its not static. plus theres an increased risk of the hose splitting due to fatigue.
 
You can get WiFi water sensors, you could add one of these to notify you of water where it shouldn't be and then if you have a WiFi socket for you filter you could turn it off. Drilling a hole just below the water level of the inlet would stop it siphoning the tank completely if you were worried about that hose popping off. I'm sure there's a more technical automated solution to all of that but that would be a relatively cheap and simple way of doing it.
 
something I have considered is just running a flex from a circuit breaker, if it gets wet it should short out and turn the filter off. don't know if that is a safe or sketchy solution though
 
something I have considered is just running a flex from a circuit breaker, if it gets wet it should short out and turn the filter off. don't know if that is a safe or sketchy solution though
That is proper sketchy! :eek:
Turning the filter off wouldn’t stop your tank from draining anyway, gravity would do this (unless your filter and pipe work is all above the tank)

The simplest solution would be to make sure that your intake and outtakes are just below the waterline, that way if your get a leak in any of the filter pipes, it will only drain a bit of water.
 
something I have considered is just running a flex from a circuit breaker, if it gets wet it should short out and turn the filter off. don't know if that is a safe or sketchy solution though
Please dont.

Unless you have a way of stopping the water syphoning turning off the filter does very little to stop it. You could have a leak alarm off the internet to alert you. Unless you are close it will have emptied in about 20 mins max. This is why you have a gap from bottom of intake to substrate so you dont loose all the water. Doesnt save the house though. In 10 odd years of having external filters nothing has ever popped off on its own
 
I applaud your bravery, I've done some very sketchy things with electricity both intentionally and unintentionally, some I got away with, some I got shocked and one I almost burnt my parents house down. I would definitely consider the flex circuit breaker option sketchy. If you have an open circuit you could get a shock from it if you accidentally touched it, while doing maintenance. The incident that nearly burnt down my parents house was not dissimilar to what you are suggesting. I had a skimmer on a marine tank start skimming really wet, to the point it started emptying the tank. I had an extension lead on the floor, which when it got wet it started to short out. It wasn't sufficient to blow the fuse and so it got pretty hot, eventually scorching the carpet.
 
Most pumps etc. nowadays come with a hose lock nut... :) Then with this, it is very unlikely to happen.
If you still have older material without it, then use tube clamps.

Then depending on which tube break where you still would need a return valve to stop the siphoning. the only thing is, for the filter inlet the flow direction already is down towards the filter, and a return valve won't work in this tube. A circuit breaker won't work either since siphoning has nothing to do with that.

If you want to eliminate all possible worries you should use some electronics with a water sensor and solenoids in the tubes, that shut off /close when power runs out or when the sensor gets wet. :thumbup:

In this case, I advise you to visit

Or visit an Arduino community.
 
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You're probably better off detecting the water level in the tank, rather than relying on a leak to be detected. That would be a more reliable method of leak detection. You could do it with a float switch and a WiFi enabled microcontroller to send a push message if the water level dropped below a certain threshold. But would be more DIY. I don't know of an off the shelf product. By the time you got back home, likely be too late anyway!
 
A cheaper, simpler option would be to use (aquarium safe) silicone sealant on the hose fittings. It'll be a PITA disconnecting it all but it will make the chance of leaks negligible.
 
Search for Herbie Clips.
They come packed wet in a bag, and need to be kept wet.
Once secured onto the pipe, they shrink ever so slightly as they dry out.
You can buy a cheap tool to remove them.
I've used them on my 25mm sump return pipes.
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Circuit breaker to stop the pump would only work if leak is in pressure side of pump. If it’s on the siphon side it won’t help. Easiest it to just drill a small hole into siphon tube u der the water line. If you get a leak, the water will I lay drip as far as the hole, air will be drawn in and the siphon will be broken. Cheap and fail safe so long as the hole is kept clean.
 
As already said, pipes popping off is unlikely and some jubilee clips make it even harder, more likely will be slow leaks from the seals on the filter.

A standard leak detector will help there.
 
The old drill a hole in the pipework just below the waterline trick...
 
No circuit breaker or warning alarm will work if you are away from home when accident occurs. The only sure way to prevent flooding from leaky hose is not to install filters with hoses, meaning no canister filter or sump filter that has external plumbing. I’m paranoid about flooding as I keep large fish tanks in my living area so I use only HOBs with no external plumbing.
 
It’s a concern, however in all my years of fishkeeping I’ve never had a hose pop off......usually it’s a task to remove them! :lol:
Most filter/equipment manufacturers have hose locks on all hose joining points and regards glassware, just ensure to push the pipe on far enough (I usually go for a couple of cm).
A leak sensor could be a useful tool to alert if the worst should happen.
 
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