Built Custom Sump PIC, question about drain connections

dsn112

Premium Member
Hey all I built my sump fuge and am having an issue on how to connect the drain line to it.

Currently I have the drain line sitting in the sump inside a filter sock.
I tried the cpr flter sock kit, and the one marine depot sells and at this point am out $60. They both are junk.

How are you doing it? Any suggestions. I can't drill the side, as its too tight already.
IMG_0913.jpg
 
This may sound a bit complicated and you'll spend the entire day at home depot to find all the parts, but here is what I did.

Find a PVC T that is about 5" in diameter, but where the T'd part coming off the side is only 2" AND if you can make sure all joints are threaded.

You put a cap on the bottom and drill large ( 1/2 inch ) holes all through it and the sides of the bottom.

On the top you put a reducer until your down to your drain hose size, and connect.

The remaining 2" tee, I put a 90 degree bend a short pipe so it's above the water level, then 2 sets of T's to give me a place to connect skimmer outflow and tank change water.

The large pipe that is capped can be filled with live rock rubble to reduce bubbles and noise.
 
i would shorten the drain hose so it falls naturally to just below the water line, that should make it quieter and not restrict the drain flow...
 
I was using the 100 micron sock myself, but switched to using pvc all the way to below the water line, with the final connection being a T that works to create some back pressure and stop the noise. Nearly silent now and no bubbles, but would be better if the air vent tube described earlier was plumbed in at the water level.
 
Filter sock is going to take away all the tiny critters that live in the water . Not a good Idea to keep that on. There are a ton of differentways to reduce the bubbles.
 
Take that filter sock off of there and cut the hose so that it sits about 4 inches into the water and let it be. With the 3 baffles that you have before the area where the heater is you should not have a problem with bubbles.

Sometimes we overlook the easiest ways to do things. Just let it naturally drop into sump.
 
Ok so my description earlier wasn't exactly the way I had it.. It's been 2 years, give me a break :) But the concept is pretty much the same, this has 2 advantages to just cutting the host and droping it in. ( which by the way isn't exactly bad advice )

One, it is very quiet with the air being able to escape without creating large bubbles.
Two, Salt creep is kept way down because you don't have bubbles breaking in open water, it's contained inside the chamber. The salt you see in the picture is about a years worth and mostly comes from drips on the drain line which is only pressed together.

sumpreturn.jpg
 
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