Please critique design!

[Frontosas]

Hello,

Can someone help? After hearing all the scaring stories about a siphon stopping and causing a flood, I've came up with this alternative. Can u tell me if it'll work?

I'll have an internal overflow box (basically a homemade skimmer box inside of the tank). In it, I'll put a powerhead with a filter. Surface water is skimmed into the box, filtered by the powerhead, and sent to the sump via a hose of some sort.

There, the protein skimmer will do it's thing...water goes through some baffles, through some bio filtration (live rock, sand, algae), maybe some more baffles, and back up to tank with a submersible pump.

Kind of looks something like attachment.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Alex

 

[Anonymous]

I see some issues:
1, good pump selection must be made to match the down/up flow rate
2, physical filter usually is in the sump, not inside the overflow box, unless the filter is very coarse to keep the fish/snail out of the plumbing (but that's what the overflow box is for...)
3, gravity and a reliable siphon is better than a powerhead inside the overflow... prone to problem when return pump does not match the flow rate.

Instead, you can use the pwrhd with venturi valve inside the overflow to suck air/water out of the siphon if you are worry about the broken siphon problem. Or get a low wattage water pump to replace the ventri valve.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but this design won't work. Here's why. The overflow powerhead will either cycle between running dry and pumping which means water level will continuously fluctuate. Or it will not be able to kep up with the return pump and the main tank will over flow. You can cut out a lot of complications if you just drill the back of the tank, and the overflow box, put in a bulkhead and let gravity do the trick to the sump. Make sure drain size is 1.5 times inlet at the minumum.

 

[eums]

i would go with drilling it also, i installed 2x one inch bulkheads in my 60 gal. i got a set of 2 dremal bits from orchard for about $5 and spent 45 + min on each hole.

having the 2 one inch bulkheads makes life alot easyer than trying to build a syphon-overflow box and saved me alot of money

all together my 60 gal (glass) with 2 bulkheads installed and all equiptment cost comes to about $80 and that was including buying the tank brand new from a LFS

best of luck to you

 

[NewMan]

NO WAY this is gonna work.

drill a hole & install a durso pipe to drain the water to the sump....tis will reduce the noise & control the downflow to the sump.

 

[Frontosas]

Okay, I take it that the PH thing just won't work. Fine.

I can't drill a hole in the tank...since all sides are tempered.

Can you please take a look at the revised design and critique. Thanks.

Question...notice I only use one overflow box inside, but not outside. Traditional ones have a box inside and out. Does anyone see a problem with that?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Modo]

I think your best bet would be redundency with traditional hang-on overflows.

Use two overflow boxes instead of one. Just don't max out the flow on both. Split the GPH flow of one between two and you should be okay. If one fails then the other should be able to handle the load.

This way you really aren't trying to recreate the wheel and your going with something that is tried and true for the most part.

Good luck in whatever you do.

 

[eums]

another problem.
1. if say you have a power outage and your over flow box keeps syphoning it will drain the box and break the syphon. when the power comes back on your pump will kick in and over flow your main tank.
2. or if it syphons to fast and pulls air in it will stop syphoning and your tank will overflow.

the reasion they have the over flow on the back of the tank is so they syphone dosent break and air will not enter into the syphon tube(U-tube)

i attached a picture of what a syphon box should be so you do not get air in it, but you will still need to check it for air every so often.

i recomend getting a new tank that is not tempered. i got my 60 gal all glass, not tempered for $59 new still in the crate. and spend another 15 $ installing the 2 one inch bulkheads in each corner.

 

[toy4x4]

i would go with drilling it also, i installed 2x one inch bulkheads in my 60 gal. i got a set of 2 dremal bits from orchard for about $5 and spent 45 + min on each hole.

How did you make the holes with the dremel??

 

[WRASSER]

8O I THINK IT'S ALOT OF WORK. MAYBE BUYING AN IN SUMP PROTIEN SKIMMER WILL BE A BETTER CHOICE? IT APPEARS LIKE IT WOULD WORK, MAYBE WITH A FEW KINKS TO WORK OUT. GOOD LUCK! 8)