Does an overflow have to be limited to surface skimming?

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pdjs

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 30, 2012
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Birmingham uk
Hi really like the simplicity and low cost of doing a diy wet dry sump with pvc overflow. My question is, is there a way to putting the overflow together so it takes water from under the surface line like a conventional filter would. As ive never really seen fish poo floating on the surface

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(i just reread your post that this is for a pvc overflow not sure if this would work never looked that close into a pvc overflow. my description is for a drilled tank)

there are a couple people working on this very thing me being one of them. it can be done it is just not as simple to set up and requires a bit more plumbing.

you have to have your underwater opening get piped to the top of the tank where you will have a "T" at the top of the pipe coming from the bottom of the tank this "T" will be placed so the pipe coming off the "T" will be at your desired water level you will then attach a 90 to the "T" so the pipe will then go down to your sump. im not sure how load this system will be because i do not have a running system yet but i will have one soon

here is a pic
BOTTOM DRAWING OVERFLOW.jpg

just a note the top of the tee must be open to air otherwise the drain line will turn into a full siphon and drain your entire tank you can put a cap on the tee to help reduce noise but it must have a hole drilled into it

BOTTOM DRAWING OVERFLOW.jpg
 
just a quick sketch but this might work for a pvc overflow (disclaimer: i just though this up it is not tested so if you try it proceed at own risk) if it works let us know though

BOTTOM DRAWING OVERFLOW.jpg

BOTTOM DRAWING OVERFLOW.jpg
 
Looks really simple.
Done some YouTube searches and came across this, a bit more work involved but seems to do the job

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Even though you don't see it, the water surface (air/water interface) is where the most contaminated water is. Dissolved organic carbon, which contains fish urine, toxic compounds and nearly invisible rotted plant and fish waste etc, tends to collect on the surface. If you allow the surface to become still, you would see a film collect, that can actually stop oxygen from entering water.
It's not always what you see that is the worst. I use a filter called a fractionator to remove DOC from the water, at appears as the thick, stiff, foam when concentrated, below is what you don't see that collects in the air/water interface. And why surface skimming is very important.
027-1.jpg
 
i thibk its Marineland that does a double wall overflow where u basically have a normal overflow with holes cut half way down. inside that you have a conventional overflow that pulls water from the surface but its water from between the walls of the overflow. hard to describe but it ive seen it.
 
Yeah, I was going to say! Just build another wall outside the first overflow that only opens at the bottom, so all the water going through the thing had to come from the bottom of the tank in the first place.
 
I think as long as you have some good flow in the entire tank, there shouldn't be a problem. My 150 has an overflow... The return pumps water out at the surface of the tank, but I also have a Hydor K8 moving water under the surface. Also, my 405 intake is down near the bottom, so water is taken from everywhere...

Bottom line, water movement is the key. Fish poop will float up into the water column and be taken away by whatever type of filtration is present.
 
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