Sump question

You do not want a valve on the drain. It will do little more than provide a handy place for a blockage which will result in a flood.

 

I will have two drain lines. One about two inches above the other. The lower one has the gate or ball valve which is adjusted to put the water level in the overflow between the two drain lines which makes no bubbles in the first and an overflow drain in case the lower one gets clogged. Its the setup that I have used for my last two tanks and never had a problem yet.

 

What if I changed it to something more like this where the water flow enters the bubble column from a bulkhead instead of a line from above as pictured below. Am I just asking for a greater chance of leaks or is it an alright idea?

 

I would not drill your sump. Just run your drain as AZDesertRat suggested and you will be fine.

 

Alright I agree, too many places to leak. Thanks for the help everybody.