Drilled Returns with a Coast to Coast Overflow

I really want the 2 returns in the new 180 to be about 5-6" under my planned coast to coast overflow with those hydor rotating water deflectors. In the current plan the 1" bulkheads for the returns will be around 10-12" from the top on the back wall of the tank . . . in a power outage what's going to stop the tank from draining to that point?

I have used check valves in previous setups without the disastrous results many claim to have seen, but is there any other options? The sump will only hold around 35-40 gallons of extra water until it overflows.

Thanks.

~Will.

 

Nothing will stop it from draining to that point. The worst would be a short power outage. Overflowing the sump then turning the pump back on and running it dry or sucking air. 35-40 gallons is a lot though, but not for 10" of a 180g.

Only a check valve, and those are not 100% in the real world. Check valve are only to prevent back flow, they do not always seal tight. So even a small leak by will still drain the tank.

 

you could bring the plumbing up to the water surface behind the overflow and put a small hole in the pipe to create a siphon break? This way when the power goes out water will only drain to the small home then air will be sucked in and the siphon will stop

Hydor water deflectors have a max water volume. You might want to make sure you are not going to exceed that volume though the units or they will just break

J

 

I really want the returns to be centered on that back wall about 18" apart and 10" down from the top to get some random flow going in the middle of the tank. the bottom will have a 4 closed loop outlets, and the upper portion of the tank will get moved by a pair of modded (3000 gph) K4's on swirl steins I have yet to build.

If I can get the returns where I want them I wont need any more powerheads to keep my softies and LPS's happy. the return pump will be a mag 18 run through a manifold pushing the skimmer, phosban and carbor reactors. that should get me enough headloss (especially when split between 2 returns) to keep those hydor flows spinning happily.

~Will.

 

maybe I could go up and over the coast to coast overflow then run PVC down the back 2 corners to the bottom of the tank then over to 9" off center each, then up to where I want them?

I could drill the siphon breaks at the same point where the overflow would stop pulling water from, but that would be a lot of head loss and extra plumbing. The back of the tank will be black, so I might be able to get away with painting all that plumbing with some black fusion to try and blend it in and get creative with the rock work. Is that a better option than going with a check valve? Any other ideas?

~Will.

 

I know people always complain about check valves, but I used one on my return for over a year and never had a problem with it.

I had a valve installed above it so I could remove it to be cleaned, although I never did.
I also turned off my return pump every day for feedings.

Although, in your case, I would try to get a siphon break in there somewhere.

Maybe run your returns up to the top of the OF, then back down to your exit height, all behind the OF. Drill your siphon break just below the water line of the OF.

 

There is no "behind the overflow" with a coast to coast setup . . . I would have to get 2 additional bulkheads and try to drill the bottom of the overflow which is only a 5" wide strip of 1/4" or 3/8" glass

~Will.

 

I want a coast to coast too on my next tank, but haven't got around to thinking of returns. Bottom line is that you have to get it up and come down with a siphon break.

How much flow do the eductors put out? Is it worth the work arounds you have to go through to make this happen? No way to do things different with the closed loop?

 

I got the 180 free from a buddy because he bought a huge lot of stuff and this 2 year old glass 180 sump was part of it. It was drilled for a large return (2" bulkhead) on the lower right hand corner, and there is 2 more holes for 1" bulkheads in the middle bottom and left bottom - bottom = 3 - 4" up the back glass. So the plan is to make the closed loop intake the 2", and split the 1" bulkheads with Tee's for CL returns and get enough flow around the bottom of the tank (going barebottom) to keep detrius from building up. Basically I'm trying to reuse as much of what I already have to work with to keep initial costs to a minimum (read: happy wife).

Wavemakers: Hydor FLO Rotating Deflector Wavemaker

It looks like they can handle 310 Gph (620 for the pair), which should be doable with the mag 18 running the skimmer, reactors and taking into account head loss and ball valves on each return outlet.

I'm starting to get used to the idea of going up and over with the returns, and could just add in a couple K2's or 3's under the overflow pushing towards the front glass . . . but keeping the cords out of sight might be a problem.

~Will.

 

Got it.