Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[oldsaltman]

Wow! I too am building this as we speak. I didn't think about the fish issue. I think I may go with gutter guard or something across the top? Do you have lot's of water going over the top?

 

[BeanAnimal]

dammartis,

I take your clowns are very small...

In any case, you have two basic options.

1) stand eggcrate (or getter guard) up in the overflow box to form a barrier. You will still get good surface skimming due to the very narrow cross section of the "teeth".

2) Build a cap for the weir that rests on the trim and center brace. The cap would be fitted to leave 1/4" "slot" above the weir.

Just placing gugger guard on TOP of the weir will only serve as a death trap for the fish. They will flop onto it and dry unless the gutter guard is sloped back towards the tank enough to allow them to flop back off if they flop on in the first place. I hope that makes sense.

 

[oldsaltman]

Will the gutterguard/eggcrate stand up the the heat of ML bulbs?

 

[BeanAnimal]

It only needs to extend 1" or so above the weir. It should be fine

 

[oldsaltman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14022293#post14022293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
It only needs to extend 1" or so above the weir. It should be fine

Great that is my plan. I will post a few photos of the overflow build when I get it finished. Thanks for the design!

 

[danmartis]

thank bean.i will have to try that.and yes the clowns were small.now they dissapeared

 

[oldsaltman]

Anyone know how much water I can expect to to drain back to the sump with my over flow design like this one? Mine will be 48" long 4" x 6" with 3 x 1 1/2" drains. I am just tring to calculate about how much water will flow back to the sump when I cut the return pump off?

 

[BeanAnimal]

That all depends on how deep your returns are submerged into the display tank.

 

[ToeTag77]

So I filled the tank and I have approx 1500 gph flowing through the sump. Once the water reaches the overflow (3 1" bulkheads as you suggested) it starts to drain but not nearly fast enough. All the ball valves are completely open. What could I be doing wrong?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1516511&perpage=&pagenumber=2

 

[BeanAnimal]

I can't see all of the overflow plumbing in your photos. Regardless of "my" silent and fail-safe setup, if you have (3) 1" bulkheads, they should be able to do 1500 with standard dursos on them (though they would be noisy). With (3) 1" bulkheada at full siphon, you should be able to handle much more than 1500 GPH.

Can you please post more details regarding your plumbing? Pipe sizes etc? If it is 1" plumbing with the 1" bulkheads, and 1" Ball Valves and 1" unions, you may have much more restriction than you think. In any case they should still handle the 1500 GPH under a full siphon.

More photos?

 

[mflamb]

Still working on the new tank.

 

[oldsaltman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14024384#post14024384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
That all depends on how deep your returns are submerged into the display tank.

I am going to put them in the bottom as close as I can.

 

[ToeTag77]

1" bulkheads to 1.5" T and 1.5" ball valve.
All three setup as suggested.
I have to be missing something....

 

[BeanAnimal]

Photos?

Is the siphon starting?

 

[ToeTag77]

Doesnt seem like to siphon starts on the middle(main) down turned elbow.. The only time the overflow drains fast enough is when I block the air hole on the far left. I will take some pictures right now

 

[ToeTag77]

 

[BeanAnimal]

AI would venture to say that your intake strainers may be too restrictive. Can you try it without? Is that all 1.5" spaflex? Is the CENTER standpipe air-tight, or do you see bubbles shooting out of it? How deep are the standpipes exits submerged?

Answer those... and we can move on to more troubleshooting.

 

[sikpupy]

Ugh, I hate to chime in with a question Bean, but, would a 4"x4"x44" trough be enough for a 1.5 pipe setup with a ball valve using Eheim 1262 pump? Too little, too big (I am sure thats not the case, lol) just right?

 

[BeanAnimal]

If you can fit the elbows inside the trough it will be big enough. The 1262 will be somewhere around 600 GPH I would guess and will work just fine.

 

[BeanAnimal]

ToeTag:

Any Luck?

Basic testing:
Close the "open channel" all the way and open the siphon all the way. Start the return pump. The water should rise and start flowing into the siphon AND emergency overflow. The siphon should kick in and purge the air and drop the water below the emergency overflow.