FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Just as a community service I thought I would start this thread for the newbies.

It was ages before I realised what a check valve was. You snip the air hose and connect the hose back up each side of the valve (just slides over)

Why are they gold?
If ever the power cuts out and there is no air being forced up through the hose the check valve stops all the water pumping from the tank out onto your floor. Like a mini insurance policy all for less than a dollar - bargain!

Luckily it wasn't a major flood that educated me. But I wanted to save you the pain.

Enjoy


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Hi,
Similiar valves are also used in presurized CO2 injection
systems. Should the bottle run out of gas while no one
is watching, it prevents the water from siphoning back into
the CO2 regulator and ruining it.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

It should really standard practise to use them for anyone who's tank equipment is sited lower than the aquarium itself, using them much reduces the risk of electrical issues, shocks to the fish or yourself, burned out units and fires. Cant go wrong for the money. I used them on all the tanks I ever had that needed external aeration devices.

Even on diy co2 systems it's a good idea but I sit mine on top of the lights so it isn't an issue. Currently the only air pump I have running is also sitting on top of the tank. When I do set air pumps on the floor or lower than the tank I put in a check valve. About a year ago I had one sitting on a shelf that was under the tank and above the power strips. Water managed to run down the tube and when it reached the pump drip out onto the power strip. When the power came back on we noticed an odd burnt smell. After a couple hours of looking around we found a black and smoking power strip that probably would have started a fire if the carpet hadn't been so wet underneath it.

I dont use check valves on my air pumps. The reason I feel no need for this is because the air pumps are mounted on the wall approximately 6 inches higher than the tank itself. This should be enough to prevent backflow.
However, if I had the air pump level or lower than the tank, I would definitely have check valves on them.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

I would also like to make a point that you shouldn't just add one and forget it... When I took my tank down to move it, I found out that the check valve had failed and would have just popped apart had there been a backflow of water.

Totally worth it to get a good quality check valve and CHECK the check valve every so often. It's a buck or something... it's not a lot of money, better safe than sorry.

I never had any problems before learning about check valves (despite power outages), but I don't want to learn the hard way!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Yes I have one for the Betta tank BUT it has never been connected. In all my years of fish keeping I have never had one connected. Even with power outages never a problem.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Even on DIY CO2 systems it's a good idea but I sit mine on top of the lights so it isn't an issue

I have no idea how this happened, as it would seem to defy gravity. When I had DIY, I had it sitting on top of the hood, which contains the light. There are vents to keep it cool. We woke up to no power in the house one morning & hubby went out to the fuse box & saw that something had activated our safety switch & shut the power off. He turned everything back on & it immediately shorted out again. It took us a little while to realise that somehow my C02 had been drawn upwards & was spilling down into the light unit. I now have check valves everywhere & have pressurised C02 instead.

I still can't figure out how the water drained upwards though.

Cheers
TW

If you overfill a co2 bottle or it gets shaken up alot it will overflow from the bottle downward quite easily. If your setting it higher than the tank be certain to keep the level in the bottle quite low so it has space to expand once it starts producing co2. A check valve will not protect against this since it is flowing the same direction as the valve is pointing. Usually though all that happens is the tank gets a little sugar water mixture in it and turns cloudy for a few days.

Sounds like lots of technical talk here. All the co2 stuff is over my head because I haven't run one of those. But I hope I helped one or two newbies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~