Overflow/ Return Pump Opinions

My strainer is your strainer - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!;D

The T, the elbow, and the cap all were all cut short to make the design more compact, and there are no pipe "nipples" inside - I just glued the ends of the fittings together, so the inside diameter would stay as large as possible.

Not sure what you mean about the the overflow entering the tank? But it's a pretty standard design, not like what you are planning (I think).

But here, this pic will probably explain it. If not just ask.

 

I personally would never do it that way because I feel it's too risky, having a surface skimming overflow box is another layer of protection from floods IMO.

But if you accept the risk I would make sure you have a valve on your return pump in case you need to fine-tune the flow so it isn't super loud.

Also I would look at a strainer with lots of surface area, I would want to make sure that if half or so of it gets clogged by something (multiple snails on it, algae, a dead fish, food etc) that it can handle it. I would also consider doing 2 and making one the emergency in case one gets clogged up. Redundancy is always a good idea IMO.

Here's a strainer with lots of surface area:
Suction Screen Slip

 

Thanks dixiedog for the picture once again. I think I understand your design. It flows to the sump from the bottom of your tank right? Did you build those partitions for the overflow box? What did you use? Acrylic?

Screwtape thanks for your opinions, It sounds like I should probably build an overflow box of some kind, I definately do not want to risk a flood.

Now what to use as the overflow box? Hmmmmm :-/

 

Yep. Here's a pic taken during the construction process, drain on the right, return on the left:



And one of the overflow. It's made of smoked glass:

 

K+ to that.

 

These are relatively cheap as far as I know. I know glass-holes.com has some overflow kits as well. Not sure if you're really trying to budget this out though.

Aquarium Overflow Boxes Bulk Reef Supply - Bulk Reef Supply

 

Thanks again dixie dog for the pictures ;D
I think I'm going to imitate your design, it is rather good. I think the durso standpipe (thats what yours is right) is the way to go. I hear they are the most quiet.

I think I want to go through the side of my tank though. I really want my overflow box to be small that way I can maximize the useable area in my tank.

Is there a benifit in having your overflow go all the way to the bottom of the tank like yours dixiedog?

I like those ones you reccomended Screwtape, but you are correct I am trying to do this on a budget. I will most likely try to make my own out of 1/8" acrylic. I've been looking for an excuse to play around with my heat gun ;D

Thanks for all your replies k+

 

There's not really any benefit to the way I built my overflow. Just looks. I only did it that way to hide all the plumbing (since it's a peninsula setup) and keep the outside of the tank clean looking. It does skim the surface quite well though, I'll say that for it.

And yes, this Durso is indeed stone cold silent at about 480gph. ;D

 

Thanks for all the help dixiedog, you've really helped me a lot.

One more question though. What size return pump would you recommend for my setup?

My tank is 112g and I'm pretty flexible with the size of the pipe for the overflow. I have a 400GPH submersible pump laying around, do you think I should put more water through my sump though?

 

I'm just a noob myself, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But with regard to return pumps, my understanding is that you need to be moving as much or more (preferably more) water through your sump than what your skimmer pump is using.

And make sure to take into account the flow your return pump will lose with the 4' or so height it's lifting the water. This flow loss is very substantial.

Long story short, I personally would go bigger than a 400gph return on a tank that size. I'm running a Mag 7 (700gph) on my 29 gallon tank.