Overflow help

[makoshoemaker]

Hey MFKers,
I have almost finished my sump but I have ran into problems with my overflow. Instead of having a drip tray, I decided that I wanted to just do PVC rods that come in above my bioballs. I am going to drill holes into these pvc rods that are over the bioballs so that the water will disperse evenly over the bioballs. My overflow is a PF-1000 that is rated for 900 gph, and my return pump is rated for 700 gph. I understand that there is a loss of gph depending on how far the water has to move. What is the pressure lost per ft? and how many holes should I put and where? My sump is a 20L and is pretty basic with just a box I made with the bioballs in it. and the rest is where the pump is.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

is think you loose 150 gph for every foot

 

[RODinCALIFORNIA]

with no drip tray what is going to filter the water before it drip over the bio balls? all the gunk and poop is just going to drip down in your bio balls?

 

[jsodwi]

with no drip tray what is going to filter the water before it drip over the bio balls? all the gunk and poop is just going to drip down in your bio balls?

put a drip tray in with some filter padding on top

 

[makoshoemaker]

there is a prefilter on my overflow

 

[watercrawl]

The sponge filter on the overflow cannot be the only mechanical filtration prior to the water hitting the bio-balls if that's what you're talking about.

I have my drain dump into a box filled with filter floss, then it passes over two layers of matting and then over Purigen and lastly a layer of micron pad. All before the bio-media. Mine is probably overkill, but the sponge on the overflow box is not enough.

 

[watercrawl]

Oh, but to answer your initial question....I highly doubt anyone can tell you exactly how many holes you'll need to drill. Start with a few spaced along the entire length of the bio-chamber and increase the number of holes spacing them as evenly as possible until you get the desired results.

IF, big IF if you ask me...but, if you're not going to do a drip plate, the PVC needs to cover the biggest area over the bio-chamber as possible. Otherwise many of the bio-balls (at least on the top layer) will never get hit with water. Drill holes in not only the bottom of the PVC, but up the sides a little bit to get the water to kind of jet out to cover more of the bio-chamber like a drip plate would do.

 

[fox3]

there is a prefilter on my overflow

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[makoshoemaker]

Oh, but to answer your initial question....I highly doubt anyone can tell you exactly how many holes you'll need to drill. Start with a few spaced along the entire length of the bio-chamber and increase the number of holes spacing them as evenly as possible until you get the desired results.

IF, big IF if you ask me...but, if you're not going to do a drip plate, the PVC needs to cover the biggest area over the bio-chamber as possible. Otherwise many of the bio-balls (at least on the top layer) will never get hit with water. Drill holes in not only the bottom of the PVC, but up the sides a little bit to get the water to kind of jet out to cover more of the bio-chamber like a drip plate would do.

Yeah, i wouldnt do any straight down. 1 to the left of the bottom about 45 degrees. and 45 degrees to the right. I might just end up doing a drip plate to save me some problems later down the road. I was thinking if poop does get in my PVC then there could be a clogging problem if they are too small and if they are too big then the pressure wont be high enough to get all over the bio balls like i need it to.

 

[makoshoemaker]

The sponge filter on the overflow cannot be the only mechanical filtration prior to the water hitting the bio-balls if that's what you're talking about.

I have my drain dump into a box filled with filter floss, then it passes over two layers of matting and then over Purigen and lastly a layer of micron pad. All before the bio-media. Mine is probably overkill, but the sponge on the overflow box is not enough.

Filter floss definately if i do a drip plate. I will have that over it. But Purigen, and micron I have no idea what these are. What kind of matting? Are these for salt? My sump is a freshwater sump