Maximising Drain Flow

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

i have 2 1" drains drilled in the back of my tank. water flows through a bulkhead and down to my sump.
i'm using a tee fitting between my bulkhead fitting and the down pipe with an end cap drilled with holes on the upward side of the tee allowing air to escape. this is the only way i could think of to maybe increase the volume of water my 1" pvc could handle.
i would like to increase it further as my pump has to much flow for the current drain setup to keep up with. i have added a tee piece in my return line with a gate valve that controls water back to my sump to dial back my pump.
so can i do anything else to maximize my drain flow?

 

[TjStein]

could you post a picture of where and how you drilled it.
I notice I don't have alot of water flowing thru the clear tubing down to my tee .
Thanks

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

1st pic is the drain. I have 1 drill on the back of the tank at each end.

2nd pic is the tee on my return line. to control how much water goes to the display tank.

 

[Imzadi]

BEAN ANIMAL METHOD....

I am a firm believer that this is, by far the best method... I have 2 x 1" bulkheads on my tank, and using this method, my mag 9.5 can NOT supply enough water for this drain.. I actually have to limit the drain, as to not pull too much.

Click my RedHouse, and skip ahead a bit (past the confusion of my first few pages) and I even have video of the set-up starting up.

It drains in stages... like shifting gears. The first drain will handle... I estimate, between 1000-1200gph... and then the second one will take up some slack... I think the second one will handle another 500-600 gph... until the siphon stage gets tripped (you'll understand better after you read Bean's thread, and mine) then it will also pull the full 1000-1200gph... these are just my limit knowledge driven guesses... but I think its close...

The first time you fire up this method... you will be SHOCKED how much water it pulls... it's been a couple months, and it still fascinates me!!

 

[Imzadi]

This is Bean's MASSIVE thread...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1310585&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

or just read my short one. The video is cool.

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

how important is surface skimming? could i use your system without an overflow box?

 

[Imzadi]

No, the level in the overflow governs the drainage. Besides, the amount of suck on that siphon leg of the system would grab your little fishie friends, and I doubt they could fight it. If you saw mine, it is hardly a good example of a good overflow (or anything, for that matter! lol) but it works for me.

The surface is amazing, with this method, I must say.. lol

What is your adversion to the overflow? Tank space lost or looks?

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

lol working with silicone!!! i hate that stuff. i did have a look at yours, it looked good, you could hardly see it. my tank is only 3ft so i spose i'm a bit anal about space. but if thats what i need to do, thats what i need to do. its not about me anyhow, its about the fishers.
so its definitely to risky not having an overflow?
how do you get your siphon started? mine i had to play around with for ages (playing with the valve controlling water level in my sump on my return line...2nd pic above)

 

[Imzadi]

My siphon starts on its own. One of the video shows it. It is essential that it starts on its own, in case of power outages. Thats pretty much all my second drain line does right now... picks up the slack until the siphon fires. They both pull regular gravity drain, at first, until the siphon starts, and then my second line slows to a trickle... then not at all. I use the vavle to slow the siphon line a little, and thats it.

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

i don;t understand why my siphon takes so long to start. i have to like i said, play with the return line valve which effectively almost stops water getting to my display tank. is it the air in the top of the tee that slows the process? would it be an idea to use and elbow instead?