8 foot tank idea

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Egon;5131816; said:
This is exactly how my sump is. All my sumps are acrylic and it was super easy to drill the hole. I use 1" PVC coming out of all my sumps and they drain into a 1.5" line that goes to my yard.

Set the hight of the water in the sump by trimming the PVC. The only problem is a 1" drain line will not keep up when power goes out. Test everything by turning off the pump and watch the water level rise in the sump. If it's about to over flow turn the pump back on and shorten the drain line and test again. If you go to short then too much water will drain out and the pump will run dry once power goes back on lol. Ya gota fine the sweet spot.
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Hm... Good info. And now I'm a bit confused.

Okay, so when the pump turns off, the water level rises in the sump because the flow rate out of the sump slows down, and I need to figure out at what height it ends up and adjust my water level and then cut the drain pipe accordingly?
 
muffywrx;5131809; said:
That was for on the sump for draining purposes, since the water increase will be 1gph. I might be confusing myself, but I wanted a non-drilling option to drain the extra water out (from the 24/7 drip system). I think drilling might be better.

I see what you're saying about the GPH of the pump though, that helps me understand better. It would probably suck them towards it, huh?
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Oh okay :) I understand. Yes drilling, I think, is your only option for a sump drain.

Yeah the guppies will eventually get tired in the strong current. The pump always wins :grinno:
 
Ohhh kay I think I understand now. I can turn off the pumps, bail out enough water to get the water about an inch below the rim, and then turn the pumps back on to mark max water level. Then I can cut the drain pipe accordingly!

Do you think a professional glass ... person ... would drill the tank for me though?
 
muffywrx;5131822; said:
Just a sidenote ... the tank is glass. Only reason I'm nervous about drilling it.
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The sump is glass? Is it a 55? 55 gallon tanks are 100% tempered. Can't be drilled. Most tanks 55 and under are tempered.

Most glass shops will drill for something like $20 a hole.
 
muffywrx;5131829; said:
Ohhh kay I think I understand now. I can turn off the pumps, bail out enough water to get the water about an inch below the rim, and then turn the pumps back on to mark max water level. Then I can cut the drain pipe accordingly!
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That's the start.
A sump with out a trickle system typically runs at the minim water level possible to still keep the pumps running. Then when power is lost the pumps stops and the water in the tank flows into the sump filling it to the very top.

Enter the trickle system. Lets say you add a drain at the lowest water level possible. Everything is running great, one GPH extra water is flowing into the tank then draining out to the back yard. You lose power for an hour. First the pump stops and the water in the tank drains to the sump. All that water drains out to the yard. Power comes back on after an hour, pump turns on, but there's not enough water in the sump to run the pump. Pump is running dry (bad)

Lets say you put the drain high at the very top of the sump? The trickle system fills the sump until 1 GPH overflows into the yard, all good. Lose power and the extra water drains to the sump and the little 1" pipe cannot drain fast enough and your sump floods your house.

Somewhere between the highest point and the lowest point there "may" be a sweet spot. Easy pesy :D
 
Gotcha. That makes sense. Enough for the drain to drain fast enough, but not overflow. I can do the aforementioned test, and then find something below that for the drain. Thank you :)

No way I can incorporate a refugium then, huh? *cries*

I emailed marineland about the 60 gallon. They should know. If not, I'll take a closer look at the 75 gallon or bring it to a shop.
 
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