Overflow Question

Feel Good/Feel Bad

Ill post pictures when the tank clears up but i just got my overflow and since it was made for a 75 gallon tank, it is pretty big and takes up a lot of space in the tank so i re-arranged the tank but it looks good now. Anyways, one last question, what happens/what are the effects of having an overflow with a higher GPH rating than my return pump. My return pump loses a lot of GPH because it has to get from my closet to my DT and the overflow is big. Is this going to be a problem? i transfered all the filters and heaters and everything to the sump. I just have to go to home depot and get a converter to let my hose fit on the overflow so it can go to the sump if you have any idea what im talking about. Heres a picture of that if you dont know what im talking about. That is why i am asking this. Because i havent plugged the system in yet

Big converter, right?!?!?!?!?

 

TWO OPTIONS; Get a return pump to match the over flow or add a ball valve to the over flow line to the sump.

 

As far as using a "big overflow" with a limited pump, there's not an issue... however, the other way around can be bad...

Your level in the DT will be determined by the overflow and how you have setup and leveled the inlet to the overflow. Should you find that the pump can bring more water back from the sump than the overflow can handle, placing a ball valve in the pump discharge will allow you to balance the flows and reduce the risk of overflowing the DT.

 

Im confused are you saying that my setup is ok now or that i need a ball valve on the overflow???

 

Now that I can see the pics, are you planning to use the small clear tube in the pic as the return to your sump? If so, you will greatly restrict the flow back to the tank. With out more information, it looks like a piece of 1" flex PVC will fit inside of the fitting and would likely glue in using standard PVC cement.

As for a ball valve in the discharge line of the sump pump's return to the DT, it is not required as long as your over flow capacity is greater than that of the return pump... if you have the space and spair change, it is a good Idea to have a the ball valve....

To be clear, you don't need, and likely don't want a valve in the over flow line from the tank to the sump as this can lead to overflowing the DT...

 

ok i got everything going and everything is going fine now. I love the fact that my water is 2x the volume that it was before and that i have a working overflow! but on the other side it takes a huge hit on the look of my DT. I completely redid the aquascape and i dont really like it and it just takes up a lot of room. Maybe because its for a 75 gallon tank? anyways it was the smallest one they have. My lfs makes acrylic tanks and everything so they said they will see what they could do for me. They said if they can they'll make me one. So to sum it up, happy but not happy

Thanks,
Ryan

 

Post a pic so we can see it and maybe a suggestion or two. Some, with limited space have employed just a tube with a modified head to act as an over flow (no big box). Maybe someone who has tried it will chime in.

 

You can run into an issue if you don't have enough flow through a siphon overflow box. If there isn't enough waterflow, it will lose its siphon and stop draining. If you can keep the siphon going(sounds like you do) then you won't have an issue with it.

 

ya ive had the system running for about 16 hours now and its been doing great. No more "film" on the surface of my water, strangly enough there is a lot more surface agitation and movement which is a +. Im kinda getting used to the box in the tank. Im planning on buying completely new dryrock to fill the tank so it would look better. The water level in the DT is perfect and hasnt changed since... Little to no noise at all in the overflow. Also another benefit of having no hob filter on the back of my tank... no splashing water on the light (which i used to wipe off every day) and no waterfall noise (except for in my closet which i cant hear) I have to do a "mock" power outage to see where my max fill line is in my sump and thats about it. also my Royal Gramma is finally getting comfortable with coming out of her cave and she actually enjoys it outside of it.

 

sorry for the unclear tank but i took these last night a little after i moved the rocks around... and i since then moved the in-tank overflow box up so you cant see the water line