Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

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Bean, sorry for the dumb question compounded by the typing errors. I realized (once I thought about it) that 'the air intake at the top of the vertical standpipe' will do the job becaue the 6" horizontal offset from the bulkhead fitting would also have the air excape from the air relief.
Thanks & have a Happy Hooliday, Jim,
 
Bean, sorry for the dumb question compounded by the typing errors. I realized (once I thought about it) that 'the air intake at the top of the vertical standpipe' will do the job because the 6" horizontal offset from the bulkhead fitting would also have the air excape thru the air relief.
Thanks & have a Happy Holiday, Jim,
 
Bean, I like the overflow and wanted to use it in my 90g upgrade. I have already ordered the bulkheads and some other fittings. I wanted to use a closed loop instead of powerheads and I ordered a small internal overflow for my sump return, SO how could I plumb my tank with your overflow to feed both? I like the long internal overflow for it skimming ability, so do you have an idea?
 
Oldsalt, are you wanting to run both the sump and the closed loop off the same overflow?

If that is the case, I'm not certain the results are what you'd want. The overflow will take the surface "scum" (for lack of a better word) and send some to the sump, and the rest would be injected into the water column again through the closed loop.

The upside is that you would have to drill less holes, and would not have a large closed loop input in the middle of the tank somewhere, but I believe the downsides outweigh the upsides in this case.

Or I too may have misunderstood what you meant.
 
Yea, sorry. I am upgrading to a 90g inwall with a 30g sump/fuge underneath. I also am adding a 5g bucket for a DSB. I have not drilled the tank, but like your overflow idea! How would it work if I also wanted a closed loop system? Are you using powerheads with that design? How would it work with a closed loop? Does that make sense?
 
I do not use powerheads either.

I use a closed loop fed from a bulkhead fitted UNDER the overflow box. If I had it to do again, I would use at least (2) 1.5" intakes about 1/2 down the back side of the tank for the closed loop and use a Reeflo dart as the CL pump. I currently use an OM squirt on the CL and would upgrade it to an OM 4-way or 8-way.

You have an inwall, so why not use as large a sump as you can and then use an above tank (off to the side if needed) 20 gallon or so refugium fed by part of the return pump.
 
I know that it had been asked before about using 2 siphon's, and that the answer had been thatt it would be to hard to get them equalized, but i have another reason for wanting to do it and whant to know if you think this is a doable option.

I want to run 2 siphon. One that would be valved down to only allow 600 G/H to feed a skimmer. And the other to take on the remaining 2200+ G/H. The tank I am setting up ( when I get the funds again, weddings are expensive ) is going to be about 900 display, +450 sump / fuge / frag. I plan on having an orca 250 and would like to gravity feed it. All holes will be drilled for 3".

Would this work, could I set the first siphon to always pull 550 - 650 GPH, and then dial in the other siphon so that it was taking 95% of the rest of the water?
 
Thanks for the help! I was going to pick up the tanks tomorrow, but I may look at a bigger sump tank. I really am going to have limited room behind my tank in the fish room (laundry room). I did order the 1 1/2" bulkheads and had planned on using two as you described. I just didn't see that anywhere in your design.
 
Vegas,

In theory you could get it to work. The open channel would need to be set at a fixed hight so that both siphons always had the same head pushing against them. In reality.. I am not sure how stable the balance between the two standpipes will be.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13921749#post13921749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OldSaltMan
Thanks for the help! I was going to pick up the tanks tomorrow, but I may look at a bigger sump tank. I really am going to have limited room behind my tank in the fish room (laundry room). I did order the 1 1/2" bulkheads and had planned on using two as you described. I just didn't see that anywhere in your design.
Click to expand...

I would use a tee inside the tank and place (2) strainers on each intake to ensure that inverts and fish have no chance of getting stuck due to the suction.

If you look at the photo gallery on my website of the "in-wall" build... you will see the single 1" bulkhead and CL intake below the overflow.
 
Hey Bean,

Great thread. I am doing something similar to your overflow system. Do you have a better pic of your plumbing other than the pic in your gallery. I want to see how you plumbed the drains into your sump. Also, is it absolutely necessary to have the open chanel drain or can I have two siphon drains and one emergency drain.

Thanks.
 
You can try to use two siphons, but they will be hard to balance. The open channel allows the system to balance itself over a wide dynamic range.

My website may have some photos. The plumbing just drops into the sump with a slight bend of some spaflex attached to the lower portions of the standpipes.
 
Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

HJappy Holidays & a Happy New Year to everyone. A special thanks to Bean for his dedication in time and his patience.
Take care, Jim
 
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