Drains size for 540 Gallon?

[ragin_cajun]

Both of the main drains will come together at a single gate valve. That fails somehow, I'd lose both main drains. If 2 inch lines could handle the output of the pumps, that'd be the way to go? If there's no way they could drain that much water without a siphon, then 1.5 inch would be the way to go cause the tank would overflow before the emergency drains could establish a siphon.


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[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

If I was you I would pm Egon, he has tons of experience with huge tanks and drain sizes. I have made my point as many times as I can. Good luck op! Keep us updated

 

[Egon]

If I was you I would pm Egon, he has tons of experience with huge tanks and drain sizes. I have made my point as many times as I can. Good luck op! Keep us updated

Personally I would go as large as possible. The reason is nothing is perfect or predictable. Filters clog sooner than expected, fish die and cover drains, and so on. Also what’s the down side of a larger drain? A couple bucks in fittings and PVC. Go with the larger drain. Maybe someday you have really big fish or you're overstocked and you want to add another pump, you will be happy for the extra drain capacity.

Question, what's the syphon rate of a 1.5" drain with a 4" dead angle fish covering 90% of the opening?

 

[DB junkie]

Myself, I'd go with a pair of 3"ers...... But then again I run stuff a little different then most.....

I use a pair of Dart Hybrid pumps on my 750. They're rated at 4300 gph each. (4) 2" drains "T" into (2) 3" drains. Never had an issue and there's a lot of restriction in the drain system.

I had (2) 1.5" drains on a 150. Using a Dart rated at 3600 the water level was too high (teeth were already cut out) until I changed one of the 1.5' drains to a 2"er.

I only have experiences with standard drains, not any siphon drains....

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

Question, what's the syphon rate of a 1.5" drain with a 4" dead angle fish covering 90% of the opening?

But then the drains wouldnt have any effect on it, the overflow box will be blocked. How does a dead 4" fish get through the teeth on the box to cover the drain? I get your point but like I said, if your tank is properly designed this is a non issues.

 

[Egon]

How does a dead 4" fish get through the teeth on the box to cover the drain?

It happened to me, not sure if the fish was dead, floated to the surface and blocked a portion of the teeth causing the water level to rise in the tank then the fish went over the teeth and blocked the drain. Or the fish was spooked and somehow jumped over the teeth?

Of course you see my point. Who can plan for something like that? Thankfully I had an emergency drain at the surface. I had an extra hole in the back side of the tank and I put a bulk head on it and ran a 90 elbow to the surface. I ran that straight down to the sump by passing the filter floss thinking if the filter ever clogged at least I could keep water from overflowing the tank. Now whenever I’m building a new tank I try to incorporate multiple larger than needed drains. I was just lucky and now I’m sharing it with you guys. It might be over kill but that’s how I roll.

 

[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

This is where your experience trumps mine. It's always nice to hear real world stories for this kind of thing. So in you opinion if the op was running 2x Laguna 2400 and 2x1.5" main drains with 2x1.5" emergencies and had the 2 mains running to a single gate valve and had the emergencies run straight to the sump would this be enough redundancy to sleep at night? Or should he go with 2"? Because even without full siphon the 2 emergency drains can handle both pumps, so he would have to have 2 drains clog to have any issues IMO.


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[ragin_cajun]

Either way, 2 inch or 1.5 inch, I'm definitely over engineering it. I've asked at my LFS and looked at some of the contraptions reef guys have under their tanks on youtube. Having two full emergency drains straight to the sump, just standing by, two overflows--that's solid. So, one last question....what size return lines?

 

[Egon]

Either way, 2 inch or 1.5 inch, I'm definitely over engineering it. I've asked at my LFS and looked at some of the contraptions reef guys have under their tanks on youtube. Having two full emergency drains straight to the sump, just standing by, two overflows--that's solid. So, one last question....what size return lines?

I always match my return lines to the pump. If the pump is a 1.5" then I use 1.5" lines all the way to the tank. All my pumps are 1" kinda makes it easy for me. Also it's nice for redundancy, I have one spare pump stored in a closet. When one of my pumps fails (they all eventually do) then I just swap in the spare. The spare I use is a quiet one, both submersible and out of the water pump. So it doesn’t matter what pump fails I have a spare

 

[Egon]

This is where your experience trumps mine. It's always nice to hear real world stories for this kind of thing. So in you opinion if the op was running 2x Laguna 2400 and 2x1.5" main drains with 2x1.5" emergencies and had the 2 mains running to a single gate valve and had the emergencies run straight to the sump would this be enough redundancy to sleep at night? Or should he go with 2"? Because even without full siphon the 2 emergency drains can handle both pumps, so he would have to have 2 drains clog to have any issues IMO.

I hear ya, eventually over kill is over kill. It comes down to $$$ If 1.5" lines will handle it then go with that. If it's not too much trouble to go with 2" lines well then.....

Good discussion!