How to plumb from overflow to sump on same level

T

Tinyfish

Membership Expired
Here is a picture of the back (horrors) of my setup. I am using an overflow box because the tanks are sitting on a bar and I don't want to drill holes in it.

I cannot see how I can keep my sump at the same level as my tanks and use the overflow box. Is there something I can do other than put the sump on the floor? Locate a pump somewhere?



The overflow is on the left. I put in a Durso standpipe. The skimmer is hanging off of the sump.


http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q145/warriorkin/20g%2015g%205g%20sump%20aquarium%20setup/overflowtosumpsamelevel.jpg?t=1233847952
 
There has to be a difference in the water surface elevations for a gravity system to work. Your system does not have much if any difference! :shock:
 
But you could drill the tanks on the side and direct plumb a return line to the sump and use a return pump to feed the main tank from the sump.
 
How about if I cap the drain hole in the bottom of the overflow box and then use a pump in the back box to pump into the sump? Wouldn't that work?
 
@Tinyfish wrote:
How about if I cap the drain hole in the bottom of the overflow box and then use a pump in the back box to pump into the sump? Wouldn't that work? said:
then how do you get that exact same volume you are pumping into the sump back to the main tank ?

As in you are not going to get 2 pumps to work exactly the same.
Click to expand...
 
All the tanks are connected with U-tubes to keep them at the same level. It is working fine with the return line. Even if the return and send pump are pumping different volumes the U-tubes will still keep the tanks even.
 
:?: So you use a drain line with a pump and a return line with a pump and a seperate U tube between the tanks to keep the water level even? Water will find it's own level. As long as you don't loose vaccuum in the U tube I could see it working.

No, you wouldn't be able to use an overflow box in this situation. Even if one of your pumps dies, in the current setup you should still be ok as long as the U tube maintains pressure, even though the flow may reverse.
 
Well I got the drain in the overflow box stoppered with a long pipe above water level. I put a powerhead into the outer overflow box. The powerhead is connected to a vinyl tubing and routed to the sump. For experimental purposes I disconnected the return for now just to see what would happen.

Sure enough the overflow box works great now. The surface water finally gets a cleaning. And yes this did reverse the flow through the U-tubes.

Tomorrow I will go and get more PVC to make a more permanent plumbing solution and reconnect the return.
 
@Tinyfish wrote:
Was that really a necessary comment? Have I offended you in some way? said:
Im not offended. Not trying to be rude either if it came out that way. Im just telling you an option on how to fix your problem. Thats what your asking for isnt it?
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top