Eshopps Eclipse M or the new Prodigy M or L for my new 75g ?

[Trever]

Clearly, one has to do a lot of mental gymnastics to get reef ready plumbing right, and I can see how it's easy to get wrong, no fault of a product.

Even at the most basic levels, our intuition is confounded. This wonderful video still blows my mind:

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Ok, I would like to thank you all for your opinions and suggestions but I have a major concern that just find out. I was looking at the Modular Marine over the Eshopps as an option but they only have three drains while I only want two because I'm using the same sump that I currently have and only have one filter cup for the main drain and the emergency. That let me with one only choice, the Eshopps Eclipse M or the Prodigy M that only have two drain holes.

 

[Water Dog]

I actually use the Modular Marine 1200 gph box as a Herbie using only two of the drains because of space constraints in my sump, a Trigger 26. In the third unused drain hole, I PVC glued in a 3/4” PVC cap to plug up the 1” bulkhead. Works like a charm and I’m still able to push a heck of a lot of flow silently. I’m running a Sicce ADV 5.5 (1400 gph) AC pump, valved back about 10% in a 57 gallon tank.

Heres a shot of the installation. You can see how the external box is even with the internal weir box. That allows me to run a great deal of flow (relative to my tank size) nice and quietly. The removable weir box makes cleaning a breeze as well!

 

[Ruben's Reef]

I actually use the Modular Marine 1200 gph box as a Herbie using only two of the drains because of space constraints in my sump, a Trigger 26. In the third unused drain hole, I PVC glued in a 3/4” PVC cap to plug up the 1” bulkhead. Works like a charm and I’m still able to push a heck of a lot of flow silently. I’m running a Sicce ADV 5.5 (1400 gph) AC pump, valved back about 10% in a 57 gallon tank.

Heres a shot of the installation. You can see how the external box is even with the internal weir box. That allows me to run a great deal of flow (relative to my tank size) nice and quietly. The removable weir box makes cleaning a breeze as well!

Do you have a picture of what you did? Thanks

 

[Water Dog]

You can see the plumbing below into the sump here...

 

[Water Dog]

Inside the external box, I have 2 sets of a 1” elbow and a 1” street elbow joined together. The primary is set low in the box and the trickle is set higher in the box with a hole drilled on the top for venting. The standpipe heights are set by cut lengths of 1” PVC pipe. Then as stated earlier, the third hole is plugged with a 3/4” PVC cap glued to the flange side of the bulkhead.

2 sets of each of these in the 1” size...

Schedule 80 90° Elbow Slip x Slip

Slip x Slip 90° Elbow. PVC Pipe Elbows for your plumbing needs. Use Schedule 80 90° Elbows where a turn is needed. More professional look than white Schedule 40 PVC. The golden rule of plumbing is that every job takes three trips to the store. While this can be frustrating locally it can be much...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Schedule 80 90° Elbow Slip x Spigot (Street)

Slip x Spigot (Street) 90° Elbow. PVC Pipe Elbows for your plumbing needs. Use 90° Elbows where a turn is needed. The spigot or street side of these Schedule 80 elbows slides into other fittings and valves to conserve space. More professional look than white Schedule 40 PVC. The golden rule of...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

And a 3/4” PVC cap to plug the bulkhead...

Charlotte Pipe 3/4 in. PVC Socket Schedule 40 Pressure Cap PVC021160800HD - The Home Depot

PVC schedule 40 pipe and pressure fittings are used in irrigation, underground sprinkler systems, swimming pools, outdoor applications and cold water supply lines. These fittings are highly resilient,

www.homedepot.com

 

[Ruben's Reef]

You can see the plumbing below into the sump here...

I meant a picture of the overflow box inside to see how you setup your drain pipes.

 

[Water Dog]

Try this...

 

[lpsouth1978]

You don't need all 3 drains to be plumbed into the filter sock. I have my primary and secondary plumbed into the filter sock section, but the emergency is just in the skimmer/fuge section. The only time there will be ANY water in the emergency is if there is a problem with the other 2 drains. I also have the emergency well above the water in the skimmer section. This way if something does go wrong, I will be able to hear it and fix the problem ASAP.

 

[Water Dog]

Remember, if you go with Modular Marine, get the 16” 1600 gph box for your 75 gallon tank. The standard 12” 1200 gph box comes with 3/4” uniseals. I had him upgrade my external box so it could accommodate 1” bulkheads. It’s a bit tight back there.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Once again, thanks a lot for your suggestions for the overflow box. After thinking and keep thinking I decide to go with the Eclipse M with I got one new for $80. Two reasons apart of the price, First, I only want one drain to the filter cup and second I think the M will be enough for the 75g.
Now, the other question is, Will be better to install the Overflow box on the middle with two return line on each side or install the overflow box on the corner and one return line on the opposite side?

 

[W1ngz]

I'd keep it simple. I can see multiple returns on a larger 5'+ tank so you can use the return flow to push surface oils towards the overflow, but a 4 footer only 18" wide I think a single return with a flare does the job just fine pushing the water in one end and having it skimmed from the other end.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

I'd keep it simple. I can see multiple returns on a larger 5'+ tank so you can use the return flow to push surface oils towards the overflow, but a 4 footer only 18" wide I think a single return with a flare does the job just fine pushing the water in one end and having it skimmed from the other end.

That's the setup I have on my 40g breeder right now and is working fine. Thanks.

 

[Bodyguard]

Amazing to me that overflow manufacturers haven’t yet worked out that a dropped down external box is NOT a good design. Comical.

Seriously! Do they not test these things and hear the water fall!!!

 

[ca1ore]

LOL ..... doesn’t seem like it’d be a hard thing to do. There’s a lot of monkey see-monkey do in this hobby. First iterations of these boxes had the dropped down box so everyone else just copied it. There are a few design flaws in these boxes that could quite easily be fixed. Better options like MM and Fiji have done them.