Questions about a filter

[carlosngloria]

Ive been thinking. I have a 65g tank not drilled and I want to add a sump to it. I dont want to use the siphon overflow box just incase the siphon breaks while im at work. So Im thinking about drilling a hole in the bottom of my filter and putting a bulk head in it. Running pvc from that to the sump. My filter has a flow adjustment valve on it. Has anyone ever tried this? If not does it sound like an ok idea?

 

[jessp]

are you talkin about a hob filter? I don't think the filter pump would keep up w/ the return pump and the tank would overflow.

 

[Rogger Castells]

I assume you meant drilling the bottom of the tank and running the pvc from there to the sump, This can be done,however, a flow valve will be almost impossible to match exactly and if you ever loose power it will drain your entire tank, you will need to put a stand pipe on the bulk head that rises to the water surface to maintain level you want to use a fairly large diameter to avoid slurping noise. You can also drill the back of the tank.
Overflow boxes are the best alternatives to your project, they provide superior skimming of the water impurities that accumulate on the surface and they very quiet compare to a stand pipe.
I only saw issues with early models (15yrs ago) and even then it was always human error, Todays designs are very safe.

 

[pedromatic]

Both my tanks have external siphon overflows and I've never had a problem in 5 years. Just don't use the filter sponges that come with most of them, they clog easily and raise the water level in the tank, lowering the water level in the sump pretty quick.

Well, there was that one time where I removed the U-tube to clean it, forgot to put it back and turned on the return pump. I remembered pretty fast, though, when water started spilling over the top of my tank onto the floor