question about my overflow

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

rezin

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2004
35
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0
montreal
Hello all, I just built 2 overflows like in this thread http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15733
(BTW thankyou very much to the inventor!) I made 2 of them out of 1inch pipes since my pump is a mag-drive 9.5 and I had read that they could flow around 600gph each. I did a test and noticed that the water line was about 1/2 inch OVER the intake pipe when running. Is this normal or am i close to their maximum flow? I'm a bit nervous since I've only tested them with nothing in the media tower. When I'll add the floss and all the bio media, I suppose the flow will be slowed even more. Will this cause a flood? I think 800gph is a bit too much flow (950gph with 4feet head) for my 90g.

And also, is there a way to quiet them more then with the foam pads in the vent tubes? My GF calls it the Niagara toilet fall lol and if I cant make it more silent, she says its out of here quick.... I really want to keep it though. Any idea?
 
I put a cap on the vent tube and drill a hole in it.
If its over the top of them, you're flowing too much. Double check to make sure you have ALL of the air out of them, because that will impede the flow. Hook some airline tubing to the check valve and make sure no air comes out when you suck on it. Goodluck and keep us updated:)
 
Ok I've checked for air in the U and there was some. Some I made it run, for about 5 minutes, sucked the air out and let it sit for 1 hour. After that i rechecked for air and there was none. Let it run for 5 minutes and DAMN there was air. I noticed that the intake is pulling in water so fast that it sucks in some air at the same time ( looks like a little tornado) so I guess thats where the air is brought in. I guess I'll end up making 2 more in a bigger diameter pipes. Would a 1 1/2 pipe be too big for this type of overflow?
 
I was just thinking about something... right now my intake pipe is just a cut pipe, nothing else, so the water goes in from all the sides of the pipe. What if I put a 90 degree elbow on top (considering i reajust the height of the pipe after)? Then the water would only go in from 1 side of the pipe, letting the other side free so the bubbles that come in can go out again from the side of the pipe that has less water pressure. Anybody following? Just a thought...
 
I had an overflow box that i bought... untill a friend talked me out of it, and i'm glad he did. I know that they are quite noisy like you are experiancing now. I brought my tank to him, he drilled it. I then put a bulk head on it and a strainger. It gives the tank a super-clean look and allows me to put a canopy on. If I were you, I would definatly ditch the overflow and drill your tank.
-justin
 
I think putting the 90 on will help. If the water level is the same as the top of the tube you should be ok, but I wouldnt want it to go any higher. Mine has the little vortex too and it works fine.
 
I will take a picture, but I noticed something wrong again (I always think after I do something :( ) At the end of the T that goes to the sump I installed a barb fitting so it would be easy to unplug and move around with flex hoses. Turns out the ID of the fitting is only 3/4in. So now I have all my pipes in 1in and a 3/4 restriction at the end. I'll remove the barb (screw in) and make it dump in a larger pipe since I cannot take off the threaded fitting because it is glued. Pics will be coming today...

The drilling method with the durso now looks more tempting :( I'll see
 
Ok well no pictures, I dropped the camera in the stairs going down to the basement :( But anyway, I found what was going on; the threaded barb at the end of the T that I put on was restricting everything to 3/4in and since the female thread was glued I could not take it off. So I built another set of overflows but this time I did them with 1 1/4in pipes and a bit longer too to make it harder for the air to come in in the intake and get stuck in the U. And now I am no longer using flexible hose from the overflows to the media tower, only 1 1/4in tubing all the way. It flows like mad now :) PLus everything looks alot nicer now that I was able to get some grey PVC. I'll definately put a picture of them on here as soon as I can get my hands on another camera.
 
Glad it's working! I've got faith in these overflows:)
 
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