Hang on overflow

I took a airline valve and siliconed it to the highest point on the u-tube, hook an air line on it and when I need to start a siphon I suck on the air line till all the air is gone. then close the air valve till the next time, No muss no fuss.

 

If I get the eshopps PF-300 with 300gph flow rate what size return pump should I be looking at? Dude at the local aquatic shop was telling me a pump around 500gph would do the trick, but that seems backwards to me since the pump would have more outflow than the overflow box has coming into the sump. I was thinking of getting eheim pump, but Im trying to take into consideration that I want to upgrade from my 55gal eventually.

 

Well when you build your return line, just put a ball valve in it somewhere so you can turn down the flow to exactly what it needs to be.

 

I used to do this until stuff got stuck on the tube and caused a back up, think about your arteries.

With mine i have the U-tube with one longer end tan the other. The shorter on is in the water inside of the overflow box(duh) and the longer one in the box on the back of the tank in a res with water, when it is running the res overflows to a pad and through into the drain. This is done so that if the power goes out i don't lose my siphon. also i painted my tube black so that algae wouldn't grow inside(GHA) of it but i left a gap to see if any airbubbles appear. also have a tooth brush on hand because the teeth do get stuff stuck in them. I also use a ball valve on my return line.

 

A 500gph pump is fine. I just happened to include a recirc line just off of the pump outlet. Just used a t-fitting and ball valve for the recirc line. Also have ball valve on the main discharge line.

The reason you need a 500gph minimum is because yr head pressure. This Is the amount of height the pump has to over come to get the water back in the tank. Usually 4ft is a good estimate. I think a 500gph pump will flow just over 300gph by the time it reaches the tank.

Just remember that all of the 45 & 90 degree pieces that are plumbed on your return line start to add up and will create some backpressure which is ok as long as it isn't too much. Most pumps like an unrestricted free flow.

 

Cleaning the tubes is part of weekly maintinance so I never had an issue. I also bought a complete set of bottle cleaning brushes, takes about 30 seconds to clean any tube completley.

But I also made sure thet the air vaile did not stick down into the tube just for that reason, I used some epoxy to build up the area where the tube went, then drilled that and siliconed the valve into the epoxy and tube.

 

With the eshopps model overflow that I run don't have any holes drilled in my u tube. Wouldn't recommend it either.

 

gazog, i have thought about doing that so many times but i havent done it. Its not broke so i anit gonna fix it

 

A 500 GPH pump will probably be close with the additional head from the vertical distance between the sump and display. You should always install a ball or gate valve on the discharge of the pump too so you can throttle the flow slightly if needed. recirculationg water back to the sump with a tee and valve is a bad idea as the pump actually works harder and draws more power since it is producing more water and wasting it back to the sump. Centrifugal pumps only draw the power required to do the work at hand (plus a little ofr inefficiencies) so valving the discharge down actually lowers the wattage and heat produced.

 

I have my recirc closed. It's there to stop waterflow to the display for whatever reason I need.