Sump and Plumbing for my 535. Need help

[Fish Tank Travis]

What about just putting in an upturned elbow with the low profile strainer on it? This will allow you to still get the flow through it but will not allow as much to drain into the sump when power is off. It also won’t require any box installation or holes and you won’t even have to glue it, so you can always change it. Here are some pictures of my emergency drain that I did that way:

 

[JK47]

What about just putting in an upturned elbow with the low profile strainer on it? This will allow you to still get the flow through it but will not allow as much to drain into the sump when power is off. It also won’t require any box installation or holes and you won’t even have to glue it, so you can always change it. Here are some pictures of my emergency drain that I did that way:

View attachment 1302875 View attachment 1302876 View attachment 1302877

That is sweet!

 

[mrrobxc]

What about just putting in an upturned elbow with the low profile strainer on it? This will allow you to still get the flow through it but will not allow as much to drain into the sump when power is off. It also won’t require any box installation or holes and you won’t even have to glue it, so you can always change it. Here are some pictures of my emergency drain that I did that way:

View attachment 1302875 View attachment 1302876 View attachment 1302877

I love it! Are you having good results with the flow? I think I’m gonna do this.

 

[mrrobxc]

What about just putting in an upturned elbow with the low profile strainer on it? This will allow you to still get the flow through it but will not allow as much to drain into the sump when power is off. It also won’t require any box installation or holes and you won’t even have to glue it, so you can always change it. Here are some pictures of my emergency drain that I did that way:

View attachment 1302875 View attachment 1302876 View attachment 1302877

Also, are those simple ABS plastic elbows?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

That is actually my emergency drain. My main drains have the H2Overflows on them, but I run them submerged as a herbie setup.



Here are some pictures of what my setup looks like. Some show my setup before I converted it to a herbie setup. Once I converted it I put the low profile strainer on it.

The elbows came from PVCdirect or one of the other big online retailers. I forget if it was advertised as ABS or black PVC. You can get short radius elbows and long radius elbows, depending on how much height you need. Or, you can get a coupling and run it on the short radius elbow and put the low profile strainer on top. I actually had to cut my coupling in half and then had to jam the short piece of PVC in super hard on the small tapered side. This was because I originally drilled my holes for the H2Overflows and couldn’t move them. Obviously, your tank came with holes so you are in a similar situation where you will have to make the fittings work for where the holes are.

I’m pretty sure that the low profile strainer came from Bulk Reef Supply.

As far as flow goes, I run about 1600 gph in my setup, and it is pretty evenly split between the two overflows. They are both 1.5” with vinyl tubing run into the sump, and each has four 90 degree elbows on it, including the elbow in the tank. I have 1.5” ball valves on each drain (they actually have closer to a 1” opening inside them) and they are both about half closed. I have a 1.5” ball valve on my emergency drain as well, but it obviously stays wide open.

If you have any more questions, or want any specific pictures, just let me know.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/fittings/black-sch-40.html

This is where I got the black PVC fittings. They are advertised as “black PVC,” not ABS.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

https://pvcfittingstore.com/products/ell-pvc-furniture-grade-fitting-90-deg-angle

This place has a lot of PVC fittings in any color you want.

 

[mrrobxc]

That is actually my emergency drain. My main drains have the H2Overflows on them, but I run them submerged as a herbie setup.

View attachment 1302886 View attachment 1302887 View attachment 1302888 View attachment 1302889 View attachment 1302890 View attachment 1302891 View attachment 1302892

Here are some pictures of what my setup looks like. Some show my setup before I converted it to a herbie setup. Once I converted it I put the low profile strainer on it.

The elbows came from PVCdirect or one of the other big online retailers. I forget if it was advertised as ABS or black PVC. You can get short radius elbows and long radius elbows, depending on how much height you need. Or, you can get a coupling and run it on the short radius elbow and put the low profile strainer on top. I actually had to cut my coupling in half and then had to jam the short piece of PVC in super hard on the small tapered side. This was because I originally drilled my holes for the H2Overflows and couldn’t move them. Obviously, your tank came with holes so you are in a similar situation where you will have to make the fittings work for where the holes are.

I’m pretty sure that the low profile strainer came from Bulk Reef Supply.

As far as flow goes, I run about 1600 gph in my setup, and it is pretty evenly split between the two overflows. They are both 1.5” with vinyl tubing run into the sump, and each has four 90 degree elbows on it, including the elbow in the tank. I have 1.5” ball valves on each drain (they actually have closer to a 1” opening inside them) and they are both about half closed. I have a 1.5” ball valve on my emergency drain as well, but it obviously stays wide open.

If you have any more questions, or want any specific pictures, just let me know.

Thank you for all the detail Fish Tank Travis ! Did you end up replacing the h2o overflows for the low profile strainers? If so, was it due to flow issues or simply a change you wanted to make?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Thank you for all the detail Fish Tank Travis ! Did you end up replacing the h2o overflows for the low profile strainers? If so, was it due to flow issues or simply a change you wanted to make?

I actually only replaced the H2Overflow on my emergency drain, and it was because it was too tall. The low profile strainer was the only piece that fit and sits right up against the top cover. The main drains still have the H2Overflows on them. They flow just fine. However, if I had to do it over again, I would have put the low profile strainers on all three and saved the money I spent on the H2Overflows. For the three H2Overflows and the two returns it was around $400. I could have done the same thing using just the black PVC fittings and strainers from Bulk Reef Supply for less than $50.

If you can, post some pictures up of the area you are working with, and let us know the size of the bulkhead you have. You may have mentioned it earlier, but I can’t remember if you did.

 

[mrrobxc]

I actually only replaced the H2Overflow on my emergency drain, and it was because it was too tall. The low profile strainer was the only piece that fit and sits right up against the top cover. The main drains still have the H2Overflows on them. They flow just fine. However, if I had to do it over again, I would have put the low profile strainers on all three and saved the money I spent on the H2Overflows. For the three H2Overflows and the two returns it was around $400. I could have done the same thing using just the black PVC fittings and strainers from Bulk Reef Supply for less than $50.

If you can, post some pictures up of the area you are working with, and let us know the size of the bulkhead you have. You may have mentioned it earlier, but I can’t remember if you did.

Just painted the back of this tank tonight. Here are some pics along with picture of each hole. All three are different heights. So annoying. The two close tk each other near the center are about 2/10th’s of an inch difference from each other in height. Once the 2” bulkheads go in, its off about 4” from the roof of the tank.