Word to the wary: small sump disaster and a narrowly averted big system disaster!

[fkshiu]

So I decide to clean out my skimmer cup tonight after feeding like I have million times before. Everything goes smooth, I replace the cup and decide to have a boo at Canreef before I go to bed. I decide not to turn the skimmer back on right away since the oils from the frozen food make the skimmer go crazy.

While I'm reading through Albert's musings and the latest soap opera I hear the Osmolator trigger (whatever). A little while later it activates again (hmm, must be a lot of evap tonight). Then a minute later it pops on yet again (uhhhh, better check).

Everything seemed OK upon initial inspection on the return end. As I make my way over towards the skimmer end I notice some water along the bottom of the stand. As I get to the skimmer end I finally see that that the venturi intake hose for the Sedra is hanging over the edge of the sump and has started a great little siphon and water is pouring out of the sump.

Arrrghh!!!! There's about a quarter inch of standing water in the stand. Fortunately, I had sealed the bottom of the stand with a waterproof membrane for such an occurence. No leakage out of the stand, but I estimate that over a gallon of water was lost. It easily could have been much worse especially considering that I have a couple ballasts under the stand as well (only their rubber feet got wet).

Lesson: WATCH THAT VENTURI HOSE WHEN THE SKIMMER IS OFF!