Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[stealle]

Maybe I should also mention, in the display, I plan to use a moderate amount of LR that will be at least 4" away from the glass on all 4 walls. I'll have two islands of LR that will go about half way up the height of the tank. I mention this because I should have good flow in the display with the design (avoiding the big rock wall that rests against the back wall of the tank).

 

[slammin]

Hey bean,

so i moved the valve to the bottom, that helped with bubbles, i'm only getting tiny bubbles out the siphon pipe now, but sound wise it hasn't helped much at all. Still getting the gushing noise, but i can;t make out if it's from the siphon or the open chanel...

any advise would help. i think the hole ontop of the open is too small so i will make it a little bigger

thanks

 

[Flamehawk1221]

First of all, one does not need a huge turn over between display tank and sump, just enough to the skim the surface of the water. THis eliminates micro bubble problems and conserves energy. IMHO, the best, fail-safe overflow is one that has two drain pipes into the sump, one always in use, the other, positioned 1 pr 2 inches higher than the primary stand pipe which would pick up the overflow in case (when) the primary stand pipe gets clogged.

Hope this helps.

 

[BeanAnimal]

First of all, one does not need a huge turn over between display tank and sump, just enough to the skim the surface of the water.

There are numerous ways to setup a healthy system. Sump turnover rate depends on the goals of the aquarist and what the sump and contains. There are certainly valid reasons for high flow sumps.

THis eliminates micro bubble problems and conserves energy.

There are NO micro bubbles with this setup, no matter how high the flow rate is. That is part of the beauty of the system.

IMHO, the best, fail-safe overflow is one that has two drain pipes into the sump, one always in use, the other, positioned 1 pr 2 inches higher than the primary stand pipe which would pick up the overflow in case (when) the primary stand pipe gets clogged.

Kindly, the standpipe system described in this thread is far more "fail-safe" than what you describe and is also silent and bubble free at an flow rate. In other words each of the points you touched on in your reply is covered in depth here. This is a thread about a 3 standpipe, silent and fail-safe overflow system

 

[teesquare]

flamehawk:
I know that this is a LONG thread...but with good reason. It would be worth your time to read all of it, if you are interested in setting up another tank, or looking for additional ways to create more versatile overflow sytems for your tanks.
T
*EDIT* Well - I just noticed the "Moved On" under his name.....and with only 20 posts.....ooops. Maybe he will be back soon?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Who knows... by looking at the wording of many of his posts, it could be somebody like hahn or fatman with a new nickname.

 

[teesquare]

I am trying so hard to find ways to NOT get frustrated,or sound like a "know it all" (because I don't think any of us know it ALL )and post things that will be taken too harshly.
Sometimes I read what I wrote - and too much time has passed to edit it....and I cringe at how I must come across sometimes.
Maybe that is what got flamehawk "moved on"....... that his posts were read as too adversarial...?

T

 

[BeanAnimal]

No idea

Slammin. Adjust the siphon so that NO water is going into the open channel. Let us know if there is still sound. Once we figure out what is going on there we can look for answers.

Bubbles in the siphon indicated that air is still getting in. Is it getting sucked in through the intake? If not then you have a leak in a fitting.

 

[sean04]

I'm setting up an external overflow with all 1" piping and wanted to know how deep the water should be in relation to the intake elbows. Should the elbows be fully submerged? I've been told by other fellow reefers that the water line in the overflow should be half-way of the elbow. Is this a requirement or can the elbows on the siphon and open channel be fully submerged?

Also how much higher should I place the open channel than the siphon channel to help out during start ups?

Thanks!

 

[slammin]

oops double post

 

[slammin]

thanks bean, i managed to get the siphon silent after a lot of tweaking of the valve...i think i was having a problem purging the line of air...seems to take close to 20mins to get the air out...

anyway, now onto the open chanel...i am hearing the water trickle through the line (or at the intake in the top, i can hear the air being sucked in)...i think i may have a little too much water flowing through there, but to adjust that to the exact spot is very difficult...especially cuz the valve is downstairs...

would making the air hole in the cap bigger help with that?

 

[BeanAnimal]

The cap should not be restricting air at all, that creates a partial siphon and makes the system noisy and hard to keep adjusted.

Once you get the system set, it should not need to be adjusted further

 

[slammin]

thanks for all the help bean, i'll make the hole one size bigger, then play with the adjustment tonite...hope i can find that sweet spot! want to get the tank water in there already!

 

[jesserettele]

Hey Bean and all who have contributed. I enjoyed reading through these 100+ pages of posts as I am in the process of setting up a 75 disply with a 75 sump/fuge. I like your thoughts and design criteria of fail safe, quiet, set and forget, no air bubbles, easy clean, Bean drain system.

Do you have any small detail changes or updates/modifications to your original design from 2 years ago that I could incorporate into the install that I will be doing in the near future?

I noticed in your gallery on your website that the drain system on your in-wall tank has air nozzles on all three drains with air lines on two of them. Is this an update or where those the research trials that determined your fail safe method?

Thanks for sharing this reproducable drain system that is clearly successful.

 

[jb61264]

Hey Bean...six months in on my system using your silent/failsafe overflow and it is an absolute perfect setup...I am the envy of all my reefing friends who now want to upgrade their tanks and implement this as well. I'm so glad I came across this thread when I was deciding how to set up my tank 8 months ago. Thanks!

Quick shout out to Uncleof6 as well since I see you here as well...thanks for ALL your assistance as well!

One quick note of change to my overflow...I originally had three length-wise panes of glass cut for my oveflow (even though only two were required as mine sets on the inside of my tank). I was having problems with a couple smaller fish wanting to explore and taking a ride so I used Krylon spray paint to paint one side of the remaining piece of glass and bought some cabinet stoppers (the clear rubber kind) and now have a nice "cover" for my overflow that also keeps any possible build-up of algae in there...the outside of my overflow has been covered completely with corralline

 

[reefermad619]

Hey Bean...six months in on my system using your silent/failsafe overflow and it is an absolute perfect setup...I am the envy of all my reefing friends who now want to upgrade their tanks and implement this as well. I'm so glad I came across this thread when I was deciding how to set up my tank 8 months ago. Thanks!

Quick shout out to Uncleof6 as well since I see you here as well...thanks for ALL your assistance as well!

One quick note of change to my overflow...I originally had three length-wise panes of glass cut for my oveflow (even though only two were required as mine sets on the inside of my tank). I was having problems with a couple smaller fish wanting to explore and taking a ride so I used Krylon spray paint to paint one side of the remaining piece of glass and bought some cabinet stoppers (the clear rubber kind) and now have a nice "cover" for my overflow that also keeps any possible build-up of algae in there...the outside of my overflow has been covered completely with corralline

POST PICS!!!!!!!
I'm about to start mine as well. Got holes drilled, box in, and now I need to plumb it all up.

 

[jb61264]

POST PICS!!!!!!!
I'm about to start mine as well. Got holes drilled, box in, and now I need to plumb it all up.

Here you go:

Side view with bulkheads in...you can see the overflow box installed...my tank is 48" wide (standard 75 gallon)...I built my overflow to be 36" wide so I could 1. not see any silicone on the side of my tank (like you would have with a full coast-to-coast overflow) and 2. so I could bring my returns over the top back corners of the tank.

This shot gives you an idea of how the three overflows come down into my sump

This shot shows you how I do my center return...I split my return at the base of the tank to both back corners. All around my plumbing is 1" up to the return at the base of the tank where I split...at that point I reduced down to 3/4" to increase the velocity of flow out of the returns.

 

[montipora80]

Very nice im doing the same thing as we speak, did you go with the 1in bulkhead and 1 and a half inch pipe? I got some smoked glass and went with 44in on the size of my box with the return coming in threw the center so I can run my powerheads in the corner with my wave maker. Also how far down did you drill your holes from th top of the inside of the rim?

Thanks, Pete

 

[jb61264]

Very nice im doing the same thing as we speak, did you go with the 1in bulkhead and 1 and a half inch pipe? I got some smoked glass and went with 44in on the size of my box with the return coming in threw the center so I can run my powerheads in the corner with my wave maker. Also how far down did you drill your holes from th top of the inside of the rim?

Thanks, Pete

I use 1" pipe all the way around, except for where I split my return at the base of my tank to the two corners..at that point I reduce down to 3/4".

I figured out where to drill my tank by stacking 2x4's and various other sizes of wood on the inside of my tank and positioning it where I wanted (the top edge of my overflow box just slightly above the black rim of the tank)..so whenever I shut down the main pump, the tank never drains below the black rim. I used blue painters tape to hold my overflow in the exact place I wanted it once I had it to the correct level (on top of the wood places)...after that, I used my 1" elbows to figure out how much I wanted them to be off of the floor of the overflow box (which is not very much...maybe 3/16" to 1/4") and then marked the locations.

 

[reefermad619]

Here you go:

Side view with bulkheads in...you can see the overflow box installed...my tank is 48" wide (standard 75 gallon)...I built my overflow to be 36" wide so I could 1. not see any silicone on the side of my tank (like you would have with a full coast-to-coast overflow) and 2. so I could bring my returns over the top back corners of the tank.

This shot gives you an idea of how the three overflows come down into my sump

This shot shows you how I do my center return...I split my return at the base of the tank to both back corners. All around my plumbing is 1" up to the return at the base of the tank where I split...at that point I reduced down to 3/4" to increase the velocity of flow out of the returns.

What's up with the two extra gate valves over the fuge? I was thinking of puting an extra ball valve with a hose barb in it to help with my water changes. Is that what those are for?