Mini Fuge for BioCube DIY Thread w/ Pics

Well the overflow is in your tank absurd goes into your stand. How would you temporarily remove the system?

 

I also feel like 1" is too much and looks bulky in the picture, I used a 1" pipe as my intake drain but the rest goes to 3/4" this imo is much better for the biocube.

Could you post a picture of the ball valve?

I've had the siphon stop on me a few times while messing around and I'm not sure why, but I think too much water went down the pipe at once or something and it caused the siphon to stop completely while my fuge kept pumping water into my DT, quickly I had to turn off my fuge to prevent the DT from flooding

 

I made a overflow with 3/4 pipe and it would choke past 300 GPH, I can't afford to have this fail, that's why I upgraded to 1inch. Your siphon should not fail if everything is sealed properly, double check your glue and see if you have any leaks.

 

@ Biocube my stand has a open back and the sump hangs out the back of the stand. Also this is a hqi BC so it's a different cover also.

@Ash by using 1" as the intake and 3/4 on the rest you aren't increasing any flow. The 3/4 limits flow and also many people that have built these with 1"because other sizes had flow issues. My system has ran for 8 months and never lost siphon. Knock on wood

 

Ohhhh okay! I need to be able to break away the overflow just in case I need to move or service.

How much water falls back into your Fuge once your pump turns off?

And Ash, I think think 1in looks bulky, I do plan on painting my pipe with Krylon Fusion black paint. 3/4 is just way to small, gravity only has 14 psi and on 3/4 it will choke with higher water flows. That's why you see drain pipes to be larger than water pipes. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

what do you mean by choke with higher water flows?

i know it doesnt increase water flow by having it go from big to smaller, I just felt like 1" was too much of a drain, so far my 3/4" is working fine, but you all think it is better for it to be larger?

i like medium flow in my fuge, i have an aqueon 55 hooked up to the back of the 10g and the overflow going in, it gets nice little flow so detritus doesnt stick anywhere, i've also seen a huge boost in pods everywhere, on the sand, the chaeto, the halimeda, the rocks, shells, its great. next step is going to be either adding 2-3 hermits + nassi's or throw my emerald crab down there, and add some ceriths and nassis, not sure yet i dont really trust hermit crabs not to climb and get stuck into my filter... i do not have any dividers in my fuge

 

I built the 3/4 overflow like you did and it ran great at 200 GPH but when I put my Sicce 2.0 568gph it couldent keep up and choked. When I upgraded to 1in pipe and tried the Sicce it never let the water rise above the PVC inlet. The way I see it, it's always better to overbuild something like this than under.

 

For me 1" doesnt look bulky, I cant see it because its behind the tank which is diagonal in a corner.

 

I'll post more detailed pics when it's complete, painted black it blends in.

 

Actually works off of atmospheric pressure, as well as gravity, and tensile strength I believe would be more correct.