Frag tank drain to main sump

[j0shc]

Hi all! I’ve been working on setting up a frag tank off my display tank. At the moment this is what it looks like. I’ve since moved the drain line higher above the sump water line and it has been running 48 hours without issues. Using a 1” bulkhead and 1” lines with a 3/4” return off the sump.

LFS recommended a 475gph pump because of the distance but I’m thinking the flow rate is too high…


However I am still worried about the drainage. If somehow the overflow stops, the return will flood the tank. I have ordered some water alarms and wifi shut offs for the pump but am wondering if there is a better way I should go about this in general. Please feel free to make any suggestions to start over, or upgrades to the current setup to have a fail safe/make me have more peace of mind.

 

[Mebbid]

If I were in your shoes I would get an overflow box with either 2 or 3 drains in it. What you have now is not a particularly safe setup.

If you end up with 2 drains, look into a durso overflow. Use the second drain line as an emergency drain. That way if the primary drain plugs up somehow then you have an emergency drain line with a huge maximum flow rate, and it'll make a lot of noise to warn you.

If you end up with 3 drains plumb it as a Bean animal overflow. With bean animal you would have to have 3 drain lines fail completely to cause a flood, and generally you will have a lot of warning if 2 of the drain lines plug up.

Also, look at hard plumbing the drains. It's not particularly hard and is more resistant to a failure. A kid or an animal could bump or kink the soft tubing and cause issues, maybe it pulls it out and drains the water onto the floor.

 

[j0shc]

If I were in your shoes I would get an overflow box with either 2 or 3 drains in it. What you have now is not a particularly safe setup.

If you end up with 2 drains, look into a durso overflow. Use the second drain line as an emergency drain. That way if the primary drain plugs up somehow then you have an emergency drain line with a huge maximum flow rate, and it'll make a lot of noise to warn you.

If you end up with 3 drains plumb it as a Bean animal overflow. With bean animal you would have to have 3 drain lines fail completely to cause a flood, and generally you will have a lot of warning if 2 of the drain lines plug up.

I agree, I’m worried about it still hence the post. Any recommendations for over flow boxes? Would need to drill another hole I’m assuming… May just buy another 20 long to set it up with tomorrow. LFS helped with the setup and honestly want to fix it first thing in the morning. Planning to shutoff the return before bed in case.

 

[Mebbid]

I agree, I’m worried about it still hence the post. Any recommendations for over flow boxes? Would need to drill another hole I’m assuming… May just buy another 20 long to set it up with tomorrow. LFS helped with the setup and honestly want to fix it first thing in the morning. Planning to shutoff the return before bed in case.

With a single 1" hole in the tank i'm not sure you have any options unfortunately. Most overflow boxes ive seen use a 1.5" through tank bulkhead. You could get something custom made, but that's going to take time.

With a second hole, you could potentially skip an overflow box and have both drain lines inside the tank, similar to how you have the single one now.

But since this is in a common area I'd still go with the overflow box and drill the original hole bigger to accommodate one, could go 1 or 2 holes whichever you'd prefer.

 

[j0shc]

With a single 1" hole in the tank i'm not sure you have any options unfortunately. Most overflow boxes ive seen use a 1.5" through tank bulkhead. You could get something custom made, but that's going to take time.

With a second hole, you could potentially skip an overflow box and have both drain lines inside the tank, similar to how you have the single one now.

But since this is in a common area I'd still go with the overflow box and drill the original hole bigger to accommodate one, could go 1 or 2 holes whichever you'd prefer.

I’m considering starting over with the tank, possibly doing with acrylic for ease/safety of drilling in the two drains. It’s always the cheap and fast projects that turn into something expensive it seems!

Rather not risk the flood and rather re plumb it to look nicer and less exposed hose for kinking

 

[Reefering1]

The easy thing to do, right now, is to raise the return pump as high as possible without sucking in air. Put it on a pedestal or stand. This way it runs out of water before overflowing frag tank.