Drain for a tank. - Not drilling or using overflow

W

Willy

[I plan on using some drilled pvc as my way of taking water out of my tank and draining it to the sump. I will basically make it work like a siphon. I will put the pvc tip about 6" above the sand line (18" tall tank) and i will place a siphon break hole about 3" to 4" from the top of a tank to keep it from draining to the bottum and killing everything. Once in the sump it will go through a skimmer refugium and into the return area with the return pump. The drain line will be about 1" diameter and the pump i will use is the mag 5 at 4 feet it gives me 310 gph and for a 35 gallon tank that seems to be enough. I will bring it into the tank and split it off in two so that i can create a current. this is for a FOWLR that in about 6 months it will be a reef.

Now for my questions.

How do i insure that if my drain looses siphon and the pump keeps going that i wont flood my room? Is there any way that i could hook up a float switch to the pump and if the water falls below the break siphon hole then it will shut off. Will this work???

Am i better off just building or buying a overflow box or drilling my tank, two things i dont want to do but i will if i have too.

This is the first system that i have pretty much built from scratch and i am just worried about the little things that could go wrong. Well i quess it is not so little when you find that you have 20 gallons of water in you carpet.

I read all through melevs site and tried to take anything out of it possible.

Thanks for you time, i really appreciate any advice given.]
 
[First off, think about this. The siphon is draining the tank through your pvc to the sump. The power goes out, the tank drains to where you hope it does and stops because the siphon breaks. When the power comes back on, the pump starts pumping the water up into the tank, how is the siphon going to start on its own. I see the water coming down over the side of the tank flooding the room till the pump goes dry and possibly burns up. You pretty much need to have a overflow box, they restart the siphon on their own when the power goes out and comes back on.]
 
[Build the overflow box. Even if your power never went out it is almost impossible to tune the pump in such a manner that it will be pumping the exact amount of water that your siphon is pulling. Think about it this way, your siphon will suck out a specified amount of water per minute, if your pump is not replacing this water at EXACTLY the same rate then your tank will eventually overfill (pump pushes more water than the siphon can handle) or your tank will eventually break siphon (pump doesn't quite push as much water as the siphon can draw and then the pump will overflow the tank as Rick mentioned).
Even if you could tune the pump and overflow to match exactly then within a week one of the above scenarios will still happen because you will get some buildup in the pipes and your flow rates will change.]
 
[Trust me....I tried that way...it doesn't work...

I was always trying to "tune" the siphon to meet my return pump....no go...

Marc is right...go with the overflow...in the long run..you will thank us.]
 
[I knew that it would probably be a problem, as i posted above.

So is drilling not a good idea??? will i run into the same problem.

Drilling 25 + 5 bulkhead= $30

Overflow 60 to 75 = .....

What will be better.]



Edited By Willy on 1113969911
 
[If you have the choice of drill or using an overflow, go with the drilling. IMO, gravity draining is much safer/reliable than siphoning. You would likely want to add a suface skimmer box in front of the bulkheads, or, use an elbow pvc fitting ad a drain. With either, your prime condsideration should be getting a large enough drain/siphon to handle easily the flow you want coming from the sump return pump. HTH.]
 
[Next question is WHERE TO GET MY TANK DRILLED????

I live in the North dallas/ plano area.

Where on the tank should i place the bulkhead. I would like to place it on the back glass dead center.]
 
[I have read those many times now. I am pretty sure that i will build an overflow, just to keep from drilling the thin glass myself.

Does anyone know of a local place that drills tanks?????]
 
[I know that Tranquil Scapes in Arlington drills tanks and they are one of our sponsors.

I also know that you can get overflows on this board in the buy sell section for $25-$40 as I have bought 1 for $25 and 2 for $40.]
 
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