return water from sump (where?)

[ros]

The top of my tank is at 5' when the water returns from the sump where does it go at the bottom of the tank, top, or middle. I will not be drilling this tank. Do I also need to figure the drop into the tank and also the elbow in the pipimg?

 

[ReeferAl]

That choice depends on what other methods of water movement. Putting the return near the surface improves aeration as it constantly brings new water into contact with the air. A return at the bottom helps eliminate stratification of the water and keeps the lower levels from becoming low in oxygen.

You really need to provide motion in both areas. It's up to you how you provide that flow. If you are only using the return from the sump for flow then I would have it go lower in the tank as the water must then rise to reach the overflows.

One thing to remember if you have the returns go low in the tank- you MUST have anti-siphon holes near the surface of the return pipe to keep all the tank water from siphoning back into the sump in a power outage.

Allen

 

[whiteshark]

I have both. A small anti siphon hole at the top that provide flow at the suface. The pipe then runs down to the bottom and across. The pipe going across the bottom is drilled with many holes, so it is like a spray bar. When my tank was bare bottom, i had the spray bar angled down slightly and it would blow detrius out from behind the rock, making it easy to siphon out. When I added sand later on, I pionted the spray bar straight up so there was flow behind the rocks.

 

[ReeferAl]

Sounds good to me.

Allen