Pump size for PVC overflow

[SFish]

LOL

What ever. If you know so much then why even ask? What joke. If you think about it you would know it's safer to not siphon water over the top of the tank. A big ulgy 2" pipe in the tank going down to the bottom is going to stand out and then the noise from the pump would drive me nuts.

 

[QuiQuog]

I've monkeyed with the PVC overflow before and the noise was unbearable for me. If it's not an issue for you, then it's not for others to say it is. Same thing for the ugly factor. However, in the spirit of helping, what this site is for, I would also advise against the PVC overflow due to its unreliability. I understand that many people have had some measure of success with this project, but I think more have been less than thrilled with it.

But in keeping with your desire for a DIY project and keeping cost down, I would suggest that you buy a cheap box style shown above, or make your own. You can then drill the tank and install a Herbie style overflow at the least. You would then have the advantage of a truly silent overflow with a measure of blockage protection. It would cost a bit more than the PVC overflow, but not near as much as buying a prefab product. It would look about a bazillion times better, and you'd have still made it yourself. And you still get to use PVC!

This video shows an interesting way of doing it without a whole lot of piping.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Z_4HrM8WY
There are many other ways of doing it, but they all operate under the same principle. I would suggest that you research a bit about the Herbie and BeanAnimal overflows. When you understand why people have come up with ways to prevent disaster, you will start to understand why most experienced people balk at the idea of the PVC overflow.

As far as the pump goes,
https://www.amazon.com/Rio-Plus-170...&qid=1470811564&sr=1-1&keywords=rio+plus+1700
this Rio+ 1700 will pump about 350gph at 4 ft, but even after factoring in elbows and pipe length resistance that may be too much for you tank. You can look at the charts to find one that matches your desired output. Rio pumps are fairly quiet depending on what you think quiet is, but much quieter than the toilet flushing sound you get with a PVC overflow.

Good luck.

 

[mfinn]

Came here to double check with other users and apparently none of the negative comments have tried them. Just gotta use your head a little more

Wrong, wrong.

You are the one that needs to use your head a little more.
It's a design that's going to fail. I first saw this more than 20 years ago.
I even gave it a try and it only took a day to realize that it's not a good idea.

Time to upgrade.

We are only trying to give you advice based on what has been tried before.

Don't take it as a knock against you.

 

[SFish]

My point exactly. He's posted about the same thing a few times probably looking for someone to tell him these things work great. A few people have told him not to use this type of overflow.

If you want to DIY something DIY an overflow box.

 

[QuiQuog]

Things will work great. ...or not.

 

[Lsufan]

Please don't take it like everyone is bashing u or your ideas but they are giving u the best advise u could hear. I would not run a tank with that setup eighther, I would rather not have a sump then run a overflow like that. The combination of the noise & reliability is just to much for me to take a chance on it. If u really want a sump, drill the tank (which is pretty easy) & get a overflow box. Most of the prefabed overflows actually get held to the tank by the bulkheads so they are easy to do. But if u ask 100 experienced people 99 would tell u the same thing, maybe even all 100

 

[QuiQuog]

I am making a DIY PVC overflow(joeys overflow) wondering if I have a .75 pipe with a 1.5 inch weir, what size size should I get? Can anyone recommend a good, not expensive, submersible pump for my sump? My tank is 29 gallons. I believe he says in his updated video that .75-1.5 inch pipe would handle 600 each.

Okay, I've had a bit of time to look up a more detailed answer to your original question. You want a good, cheap pump for your sump. Given that most advice these days is to have a low flow in your sump, anywhere from 1-7x tank volume, I suppose that 5 times would be adequate. This would but you at about 150gph. Rio pumps in my experience are reliable and fairly quiet, and have the added advantage of being cheap. The Rio+1100 will pump 382gph at 0 head. Add 4 feet and it goes down to 180gph.
https://www.amazon.com/Taam-Rio-Plu..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=A8AEDDGRV8V7EQAJ6CZ2

I used the RC Head loss calculator and inputted your 3/4" pipe and added four 90˚ elbows. That's the minimum to get back into your tank. That makes it 154gph through your sump. You could get slightly better flow by using 45˚ elbows, but you're adding cost.
http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

The Rio+1100 is only $18 right now on Amazon, which should be pretty easy on your wallet compared to higher end gear, but should fit the bill nicely. It should also be a bit quieter than the Rio+1700, but again, I think the vibrations of either will be drowned out by the sound of that overflow. If you can get it to be silent, you should post your solution somewhere for others to see. But to be fair, if you have issues with it at some point, you should post that as well.

Caveat: All previous advice still applies.

Good luck to you

 

[QuiQuog]

By the way, how big is your sump? I'm wondering because I'm curious how much water will be on your floor if the overflow breaks siphon. I know that Joey and others say it's fail proof, but that just isn't realistic. If the seal on the air pump leaks, or the hose cracks or comes off it could let in enough air to break siphon. If the air pump fails, the pump could break siphon. If the weir gets clogged and slows the flow, it could break siphon. It could just decide to break siphon for unknown reasons. In any event, if siphon breaks, the content of your sump will get pumped into your tank. Hopefully your tank can handle the volume when this happens.

Some experimentation may be in order. You may want to break the siphon to see how much extra water your tank will hold. At least then you can decide if it's within your risk tolerance.

 

[SFish]

One of the complaints I see a lot of is air leaks with this type of over flow. You can't even see if you have an air bubble unlike a U tube. It would have have been best to look at all the different types of over flows then decide. Your estimate of $200 is off by the way a premade overflow will not cost you that much.

I thought this was pretty cool

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2353384