| Overflow Prevention |
I have recently had a couple of really close calls where the drain in my display got
plugged and my tank overflowed. Luckily I was home both times and caught them
right away, shutting off power to the pump. Only about a gallon of water ended up
on the floor each time. I couldn't stand the thought of it happening again, when I
wasn't home. This would have caused large messes as well as probably killing
much of my livestock. I couldn't take this chance.
Physically blocking the drain is impractical. One of the overflows was caused by
an anemone. When irritated, the anemone can expel most of its volume in water
and squeeze through very tight spots. A screen covering fine enough to insure
that another anemone couldn't pass through would be a complete nightmare to
keep clean from other random debris. Something else had to be done.
I headed online for help and quickly found that there were no commercial solutions
that were offering the mix of reliability, ease of use and affordability I was looking
for. Most of them involved probes that were prone to corrosion and ultimately
failure. Others were so expensive that only a large factory could afford them. So I
headed over to the All About Circuits forum for help. There I met erich_7719 and to
him I owe all the credit for the finished product. He designed a circuit for me and
walked me through the build. Here is what I ended up with.
plugged and my tank overflowed. Luckily I was home both times and caught them
right away, shutting off power to the pump. Only about a gallon of water ended up
on the floor each time. I couldn't stand the thought of it happening again, when I
wasn't home. This would have caused large messes as well as probably killing
much of my livestock. I couldn't take this chance.
Physically blocking the drain is impractical. One of the overflows was caused by
an anemone. When irritated, the anemone can expel most of its volume in water
and squeeze through very tight spots. A screen covering fine enough to insure
that another anemone couldn't pass through would be a complete nightmare to
keep clean from other random debris. Something else had to be done.
I headed online for help and quickly found that there were no commercial solutions
that were offering the mix of reliability, ease of use and affordability I was looking
for. Most of them involved probes that were prone to corrosion and ultimately
failure. Others were so expensive that only a large factory could afford them. So I
headed over to the All About Circuits forum for help. There I met erich_7719 and to
him I owe all the credit for the finished product. He designed a circuit for me and
walked me through the build. Here is what I ended up with.
If you have questions contact me.
| Here is a link to the original thread discussing it. It contains links to all the parts used although it is kind of long. |
See more of the little tank here.