overflow questions

[Emg]

Ok.....I'm a yearling as far as reefs go, but my tanks are small and fairly simple. I have a 15 and a 29, both have HOBS on them, for water movement mostly....but both HOBs on the 29 are aquaclear 70s and setup as small refugiums. The HOB on the 15 is just for water movement. The only other thing in my tanks for filtration are some macro algae.....very simple setups

They're doing well enough with diligent maintenance on my part, but I am looking into upgrading to a 65 and moving everything from both tanks into that. (a 65 because that's the largest tank I can fit into that corner) I'm looking into a drilled overflow system, though I'm not really sure what that's all about. I'm no plumber and new gadgets make me nervous....one reason I havn't invested in a skimmer....

I've seen the box type intank overflows that have the 'teeth' at the top with holes mid height and then more at the bottom of the box......the thing with those that makes me nervous is.....what happens if your pump in the sump cuts out ? I can see visions of 65+ gallons of water all over my den floor running into the basement.... (my husband would have a FIT !)

A friend of mine had a pipe in her 90gallon that was a couple of inches shorter than the height of the tank....so that water just drained down from that into her sump. They had the height set so that if the pump shut off, the tank would only drain as much as the sump could hold...so no spillage. They just had to be sure not to overfill the sump. Seemed logical enough to me.....

Is there any disadvantage to not having water drain from different levels of your tank ? My thinking is that if you have enough powerheads in your tank with enough water movement it shouldn't matter what level the water drains off from....am I right ?

Anything else anyone can enlighten me on would be much appreciated.....


....

[framerguy]

The water that goes through the holes at mid level and the bottom still goes up and over the inner wall of the overflow. If you use a durso stand pipe in the overflow then the level in there will only go as low as the intake. With the durso, only as much water as you put in will come out so you usually don't have to worry about floods. Plus they are quiet.

Also, I think you should invest in a skimmer. Your animals will thank you. Skimmerless can be done but why work that hard when you don't have to? Decide which one to get and RS will help you set it up and run it!

[BigAl07]

Great advice Greg! He's 100% correct. Many times you'll see new ideas come through that LOOK logical but pulling the water from the bottom of the tank will only add to build up IN the bottom of your over flow. I think I know which one you're talking about.. if it's the one I am thinking of it doesn't flow water OUT of the tank. There's actually a power head and multi-level filtration system IN the over flow. I'll look for a link and be right back.

[BigAl07]

The All-Flo Freedom Filter by Freedom Filter: Product Features | Freedom Filter - Freedom Aquarium

Is this the one Emg?

[framerguy]

Geez Al! That thing makes me nervous too. I'd have to do some serious research on that before buying.

[cioutlaw]

The AGA Megaflow overflows pull water from 3 different heights. I never had a problem with it. I would guess it still pulls 80% from the top, skimming the surface water.

All-Glass Aquariums MegaFlow Overflow Accessory Kit

[burning2nd]

mY 75 THAT im building is a AGA mega flow...

Im still only planing on runing my drain pipe all the way up and be about 1/2" from the top of the "teeth" since the tank has 2 holes... (i assume one for return) (or your choice of 2 Down's+ return over the back) the smaller one will run all the way up and stop short about 2" from the top

then ill convert to this niffty Loc line i got from work... blue 1/4 that will split and go to 4 outlets.... 2 to the left 2 to the right... probably pointing down, behind the rock .

the tunzes will do the job... the flow rate thu my sump i think will be slow...

not to hijack... but Im unsure of the hole Reef ready tank setups.

[cioutlaw]

Originally Posted by burning2nd

mY 75 THAT im building is a AGA mega flow...

Im still only planing on runing my drain pipe all the way up and be about 1/2" from the top of the "teeth" since the tank has 2 holes... (i assume one for return) (or your choice of 2 Down's+ return over the back) the smaller one will run all the way up and stop short about 2" from the top

then ill convert to this niffty Loc line i got from work... blue 1/4 that will split and go to 4 outlets.... 2 to the left 2 to the right... probably pointing down, behind the rock .

the tunzes will do the job... the flow rate thu my sump i think will be slow...

not to hijack... but Im unsure of the hole Reef ready tank setups.

The Megaflows are designed for the larger hole(1") to be the drain & the smaller(3/4") is the return. You can flow 600gallons each.

[burning2nd]

so then the 1" drain and the 3/4 return....

[BarbMazz]

Originally Posted by cioutlaw

The Megaflows are designed for the larger hole(1") to be the drain & the smaller(3/4") is the return. You can flow 600gallons each.

So, with the Megaflow (which my AGA tank will have) I would want to limit flow to 600gp (is it hour/day?).... which means I would control my return pump flow to that level, with one sort of valve or another, correct? After allowing for head loss due to whatever the vertical return height will be?

[burning2nd]

GPH per hour.

you dont want a return pump rated more then that,

i mean i guess you could then you would have to restrict it's flow with a valve or something like you said,

[cioutlaw]

Originally Posted by BarbMazz

So, with the Megaflow (which my AGA tank will have) I would want to limit flow to 600gp (is it hour/day?).... which means I would control my return pump flow to that level, with one sort of valve or another, correct? After allowing for head loss due to whatever the vertical return height will be?

It would per hour. I had 2 Megaflows & (1) 1200gph pump. If you have a corner overflow you might want to double check the flow rating...mine were the back wall type.

[Emg]

Oye !....I can see that I'm going to have to take a gooood look at an overflow system to know what the heck it's all about. I think I have the basics sorted out.....water flows out of the main tank....into a sump/refugium and then a pump moves the filtered water back up into the main tank......simple enough....right ?

BigAl....that doesn't look like anything I recognize.....the ones I've had a quick look at seem to have some type of sponge/bio filter where the water going through the overflow trickls over...into a sump under the main tank. That thing you linked to looks like it's a whole system within itself...not hooked to a sump or any other filtration. Did I see that right ?

Also....Framer...I most certainly will be getting a skimmer when I move up to the 65. I'd like to build it into the sump/refugium...along with the heater and anything else I can get out of the main tank and put down there out of sight. I need to do some serious researching and checking I think....before I jump ahead and do anything right now.....I'll be digesting any info I get from you folks here as I go along. Please be patient with me.....I really have not much of a clue when it comes to gadgets/pumps/doohickies and the like, but I am willing to learn !

[ReefGuy69]

Well your on the right track.. planning ahead is key. and trust me once your done planning and see your hard work come together it was worth all the time and every penny. I took me a year in planning on my sump/refugium. and now its up and running and im so glad i took my time and did it right. I did alot of DIY stuff and saved alot of money and i made it to what i wanted as opposed what someone else thought i should have. I wouldnt worry about the overflow overflowing. There are so many different ways to set it up so that doesnt happen. But having the sump will benefit your tank so much. And stated above having a nice place to put heaters, pumps and whatnot make your tank look 100 times better. plus its easy access. for cleaning and maintence. I had a tank before without one and i will never ever do one or recommend a tank without one.

[burning2nd]

my days at sump school