I am going to get 3 bottoms drilled 1.5" bulkheads, 2 for the overflows and 1 as an emergency for both tanks thank you so much everyone for your input
How would you do it? Overflows, PVC Size (230 & 310 US Gallons!)
- Thread starter louiloui
- Start date
That's a good choice and it's what I have in my ghost overflow. 1 main siphon, 1 trickle and 1 completely dry e-drain. This is basically a herbie but with 3rd pipe like bean animal. If you're getring a custom tank consider an external overflow to keep the tank space open. Ask if you have more questions. Good luck with your build.
Yes an emergency drain is mandatory, some people demand one for each drain but I personally use the same setup you are suggesting. I always run both drains full siphon, completely submerged and adjust the flow through each with a valve but a lot of people run theirs like DN328 suggests above.
This is exactly what I did with the external over flow it sure makes the internals of the tank nice and clean, and it works very well.
One point that never seems to be mentioned or considered is the relative fragility of the vertical standpipes used in bottom-drilled tanks. You have a plastic pipe the height of your tank, screwed (or I suppose possibly glued) into a bulkhead on the bottom but otherwise unsupported. The amount of leverage that can be applied from having the top of that pipe suffering an accidental elbow strike, the careless use of a tool or net, or even the unwelcome attentions of a large and determined cichlid or other fish, can result in breakage right at the bottom. If you're there when it happens, it's a mess; if you're not, it's a HUGE mess.
Having the standpipe surrounded and partially protected by another larger pipe or column mitigates this, but at the cost of being much bulkier and uglier.
After one such mishap, caused by a mid-sized turtle jamming himself between the top of the standpipe and the tank wall and then pushing with all his might, I have never used bottom drilling again, except in those cases where I have installed one for the sole purpose of complete or partial draining. In that case I will put a valve on the outside of the bulkhead, and also cap off the inside with a simple threaded cap which must be removed to drain any water; I like redundancy. Nothing sticks out waiting to be smashed or broken.
For me, side-drilled near the top is the only way to go. Less likely to be whacked in the first place, and much more resistant to damage in case it is somehow struck.
Having the standpipe surrounded and partially protected by another larger pipe or column mitigates this, but at the cost of being much bulkier and uglier.
After one such mishap, caused by a mid-sized turtle jamming himself between the top of the standpipe and the tank wall and then pushing with all his might, I have never used bottom drilling again, except in those cases where I have installed one for the sole purpose of complete or partial draining. In that case I will put a valve on the outside of the bulkhead, and also cap off the inside with a simple threaded cap which must be removed to drain any water; I like redundancy. Nothing sticks out waiting to be smashed or broken.
For me, side-drilled near the top is the only way to go. Less likely to be whacked in the first place, and much more resistant to damage in case it is somehow struck.
I brought that up on the first page. But no one noticed. Just letting you know I hear you brother!
Would it be possible to run one or 2 of the drains near the bottom of the aquarium to catch most of the fish waste? Using a valve as you said to regulate/adjust the flow and cap on the top with holes/slits drilled in the sides
Keeping one of the drains above water level as an emergency overflow possibly drilled in the side to avoid using long PVC that can be hit.
These will most likely be installed inside of an overflow weir
I've seen people drill drains near the bottom of the overflow box but I do not subscribe to this myself. I don't think it will accomplish what you hope to, possibly just gunk up the bottom of the overflow box. I don't design or have internal boxes on any of my builds though, so maybe someone with more experience doing do can chime in.
Imo, you'll want to keep the overflow box "dry" in the sense that if you need to do maintenance inside, you can drop the DT water level below the weir, pump out or drain the water from it and you can access the bulkheads and plumbing without draining the DT to those bottom drains youre suggesting.
As for the drain pipes themselves, I would position the inlets 2-3" below the weir teeth. A strainer on top can minimize gurgling noises if the drains are slurping air.
Sorry if this doesn't help, sometimes hard to understand or articulate exactly when discussing this stuff. In short, try some stuff out if you're curious and have the time and resources. You could always simply plug the lower drain if it doesn't work the way you want it to.
The reef ready overflows usually have a feature that pulls from the bottom of the tank. It works on the weirs suction though not the position of the pipes in the overflow. It works okish not great. The best thing for fish waste is flow to get it in to the water column to be pulled out.
I will probably run an fx6 or some other type of canister filter, possibly an Eheim one in the main aquarium to try to suck some of that out and have as much flow as possible.
In my sumps do you think I should put the media on top of a course sponge so the water can flow evenly through or put it directly on the glass bottom?
The last thing I was questioning was if I should use bags like these for ease of removing media, my argument being they give me less room for media and I'm looking to put around 50kg of alfa grog. https://www.finest-filters.co.uk/filter-media-bag/
I was also considering using a net instead of these bags and having it bigger than the chamber of the sump so all the media is easily lifted out.
(Going to try run the sumps at 3000 lph)
