Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

bennyhanna1 said:
i'm still collecting pieces for my plumbing, as far as constructing the airline, any reason i couldn't simply take a cap, put a hole in the top and seal an airline tube to it? I don't have any of the tools to 'tap' and make the threads to then put john guest fittings in... and john guest fittings seem rather pricey...
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As long as it is air tight, it doesn't matter, as far as I know. Without it being air tight, It would be hard to create a siphon with it in an emergency.
 
For those of you without an NTP tap set (harbor freight, maybe $15-$20 for set of common NTP sizes) you can drill a hole slightly smaller then needed and then tap it with an iron pipe fitting. While it will not be perfect, with a bit of PTFE tape it will work fine for our purposes.
 
Hi everyone! I have some plumbing questions..i'm really new at this so please bear with me!

I just filled my new 100 gal with freshwater today and my overflow is SO LOUD..the water from the top of the overflow drops directly to the bottom of the tank and drains into the sump. My question is....the bulkhead fitted with the tank is 2" and I don't have enough space in the overflow to make a 2" durso standpipe. Would it be really noisy if I added a reducer and made the top of the durso 1 1/4"?

Thanks in advance!
 
I have already drilled my tank for this setup and am using an internal overflow. My question is do I have to have sanitary Tee's directly off the bulkhead on the back of the tank or can I run a lateral and then connect the Tee's? Reason being is the tank is backed up to a wall that I will be drilling through and putting the sump on the opposite side in an equipment room. I can save a good 8" of space if I simply can run my 1.5" pipe off the bulkhead straight through the wall and then attach the Tee's. Not sure if the 6" of lateral pipe will affect the design or flow that much or not. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
 
Sorry to harass guys but I am planning on drilling through the wall tonight and if I can alter my plans per above I would love to know. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Names Brucey said:
Sorry to harass guys but I am planning on drilling through the wall tonight and if I can alter my plans per above I would love to know. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
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There is no apparent reason this wouldn't work. The siphon will still startup on the main line and open drains will also flow just fine.

Will be difficult to tune if you can't watch the overflow box while you adjust your valve on your siphon line. Probly can do it with two people. BTW, a gate valve is easier to fine tune than a ball valve.
 
Thanks Chris. That is what I thought but I didn't want to risk drilling three lines through my wall at the wrong height to find out it was a failure to begin with. Fine tuning is going to be a pain but I figure with a second set of eyes on the other side of the wall I should be fine. It just saves sooo much space. I easily gain 6-8" if not more. That equates to a lot of floor space on a 6 foot long tank. Anyone else have some thoughts?
 
Quick question bean. I setup your overflow and absolutely love it! But I am getting a trickling noise as the water flows into the overflow box.

ry%3D400


Any ideas? Thanks again for the amazing design!
 
I am not sure but I think it looks like you drilled holes too low as a result water have plenty of time to gain ,,free fall`` I think now you have to make an adjustments. Moving pipes, no can do now. So I think you could try installing acrylic plate on angle so water gently slides from tank in to overflow box
 
Give it some time to build up a slime coat, it should quite down. Also if you can adjust your flow where the water level in your overflow isn't so low the water won't fall as far.
 
rayn said:
Give it some time to build up a slime coat, it should quite down. Also if you can adjust your flow where the water level in your overflow isn't so low the water won't fall as far.
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In addition, reduced the flow a bit as this will help as well.

Is the weir perpendicular to the floor? If the weir is leaning, it may cause this problem.
 
When I reduce the flow, I notice some noise coming from the open channel pipe. The weir is perfectly level, but the tank doesn't sit quite level. I thought it would be smarter to make it truly level since that is how the water line will be.
 
I got pic of my 125 G in the past as a fresh water in my folder on Reef Central and I am going to use tank as fish only eventually, but want to build overflow I need to cut out 1 f groove on top I guess so the water have a way to get in to overflow now I am stuck what do I use to cut glass with??? Don’t want to bust the tank and want to build overflow box outside of the tank any subjection????
 
Just about complete with my overflow and sump. i did not go coast to coast rather an overflow centered on the back wall, total 24" length. Now I need to get a pump, tank is 72 gallon bowfront and 29gallon sump. Dont want ot end up with a pump that's too small, thinking 1000gph at a min. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Gus
 
ram1500 said:
Just about complete with my overflow and sump. i did not go coast to coast rather an overflow centered on the back wall, total 24" length. Now I need to get a pump, tank is 72 gallon bowfront and 29gallon sump. Dont want ot end up with a pump that's too small, thinking 1000gph at a min. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Gus
Click to expand...

A. we want to see a pic

B. If you are simply using the pump for a return, 1000 gph may be a bit much. I'm using a Mag 9.5 and I also feed my refugium with it.

I would imagine a Mag 5 would work and a Mag 6 or 7 would be ideal.

Determine how much flow you want through your sump. Only 3 times the water volume would be (72 x 3 = 216). Mag 5 minus headloss would be plenty. Ten times the flow (10 x 72 = 720) would be a maximum amount, I would think.

edit: Eheim 1260 (or 1262) is a favorite among hobbyist.
 
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My vote would be for a Mag9 or a 1262.
I'm running a 1260 through a chiller and up 5' on a tall stand, is minimum flow, 22" of weir.
Oh, and a pump cover from a 1262 does not make a 1260 into a 1262 - ask me how I know. :lol2:

The new sicce pumps are supposed to be really nice. Others have said the ocean-something-or-others are also quiet.

Your stand height, number of bends, pipe diameter, and whatever other applicances you pump water through, will determine your actual volume. Most will drop 30% by the time it's all done. So a pump rated at about 800 or so should work quite well.
 
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