Overflow Question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
S

sbrady5pts

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2008
416
63
61
long island
I have a predrilled 125 with two holes at the top of the tank that overflow to my sump. All and all this works really well, my only problem is that since the water is only being drained from the top of the tank it does not get any waste from the bottom.

Can I run Piping from these holese towards the bottom of the tank so the water gets sucked in from the deepest part of the tank?

I know I run the risk of draining the tank during a power outage, so is there some way to safeguard against this?


What are your thoughts? Has anyone done this?
 
If you plumb a pipe lower in the tank, drill a small hole near the top (but under the water level) to act as a siphon break in case of power outage.
 
In actuality the air/water interface tends to hold at least as many undesirable pollutants as the waste at the bottom. That is why you see scum when there is no water movement. Syphoning off the bottom waste during a water change is much more effective than trying to allow an overflow to do it.
One of the reasons foam fractionation works so well, is the amount of waste that collects in the air/water interface.
pond2015.jpg

below is waste from my fresh water fractionater removed over a 24 hour period
image001-10.jpg
 
Gbhammbone has a good idea and for the shut off all it is a manual turn but I know there are electric ones for irrigation systems that close when there's no electricity

Sent from my PC36100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Fractionation/protein skimming is considered a mode of chemical filtration.
No media, just water crashing into air and the air/water interface removing undesirable stuff.
Many salt water people use foam fractionation/protein skimming. Many fresh water people don't believe it works, my photos are my proof. Along with dirt, algae, dissolved organic carbon, it even removes parasites that get caught in the air/water interface. I compared water from the tank to water coming from the fractionator waste stream under the microscope. The ratio was over 10 to 1 nematodes, micro and macro invertebrates and other phages. I use it on my ponds and tanks, I build my fractionators using plans provided by Stefan Meyer from an article in TFH mag from the late 80s, that's when I built my first one.
 
So it is a protein Skimmer? I did not know you can use them on fresh water. Does it run constantly, or is this something you occasionaly hook up?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom