wet dry questions

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M

midnight

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jun 20, 2006
5,716
13
92
under a bridge in fl
ok,ive searched for a month and learned alot,thanks.but..

i have a 10 gallon under my 55.
my 55 is cloudy and i think killing my fish.
i have a hob filter,with an air bubble wall.

isnt there a way i can make an overflow pickup tube like the tube on the hob?
where it picks up water half way down.with a hole just under the water line to stop the flow.

i want to use 1/2" pipe with a 200gph submersible pump as return.

im sure i will have more questions.
any help would be great.
 
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15733&highlight=Pvc+overflow

Click on this link for the "how to" on overflows. Then try the following link and go to post #33 for a picture that is "worth a thousand words"

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41471&page=4

An overflow system should restart after a power failure. By drilling holes in the system without understanding what is going on, you can either end up with dead fish or a mess on the floor. I know you will have questions so ask away. There are plenty of us to answer them.
 
midnight;539699; said:
sorry forgot a part.

i dont want a skimmer or that jalopy pvc getup "no offense lol"
Click to expand...

The PVC overflows are pretty ghetto looking but they are cheap and reliable. They can be painted to blend in. There is another design that keeps the works out of the tank except for one pipe.

And by skimmer, do you mean the clear box type overflow? Being clear, they are not very noticable.

I think the best option is to drill the tank and add bulkhead fittings. They are fail safe, they have a low profile, and they are fairly cheap. The tooling is pricey though.
 
here are some thoughts on your design:

It will work as long as you are ok with a low water level in your main tank. I like my tanks filled so that the water level can not be seen (hidden by the top frame). You will need the extra room in the event of a power failure. When the power comes back on, the water volume in the sump will pump into your tank and then onto the floor. Your top tank will have to hold the volume of your sump. If you run it as a wet/dry then you can minimize the volume. It will be wise to mark the sump tank with a maximum fill line. Also, you will need a syphon break hole in your return line too. It will syphon water out of the tank too.

Btw, my tanks are stacked three tall and plumbed to a common sump and wet/dry. They are on a timer; they turn off and on twice every day without my assistance.
 
here is a design that keeps all of the plumbling out of the tank except for the overflow tube.

DSC00105.JPG
 
Here are two of my tanks with the overflows painted black and semi hidden.

DSC00083.JPG

DSC00108.JPG
 
They are hard to see, but in the first pic the overflow is to the left of the large plant. In the bottom picture you can see the overflow plainly along the sand line at the back of the tank. I have since moved the driftwood to cover that. The overflows blend with the back and are not obtrusive in the least.
 
CHOMPERS;539737; said:
here are some thoughts on your design:

It will work as long as you are ok with a low water level in your main tank. I like my tanks filled so that the water level can not be seen (hidden by the top frame). You will need the extra room in the event of a power failure. When the power comes back on, the water volume in the sump will pump into your tank and then onto the floor. Your top tank will have to hold the volume of your sump. If you run it as a wet/dry then you can minimize the volume. It will be wise to mark the sump tank with a maximum fill line. Also, you will need a syphon break hole in your return line too. It will syphon water out of the tank too.

Btw, my tanks are stacked three tall and plumbed to a common sump and wet/dry. They are on a timer; they turn off and on twice every day without my assistance.
Click to expand...



Why do you turn your tanks off?
 
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