Overflow and Plumbing

[Wandering Albatross]

Good afternoon all,

I have an interesting, or maybe stupid question. I’m trying to set up my plumbing, but I’m concerned about the power going out and draining half my tank. The tank is 24” tall, planning to have the water level just over the weirs.

What I find odd, maybe cause it’s my first internal overflow, is that there are tiny slots down about 2-3” from the bottom of the tank. Is that supposed to help the overflow fill quieter? I’ve never seen this myself, and I just imagine it draining the tank.

How tall do the main and emergency drains need to be respectively, in relation to the water level to keep from draining the main tank in the event of a power outage?

Blessings

 

[BryanM]

pics? That seems weird to me.

 

[C_AWOL]

Usually those slots on the bottom are for settled detritus.
You can make a stand pipe for your drains and that will dictate how low the tank will drain if the power goes out.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

pics? That seems weird to me.

Here’s what I’ve got, hopefully I’m just paranoid. Pre-water jitters.

Blessings

 

[Liquid361]

Photo of the sump?

 

[JumboShrimp]

Those bottom-slots do seem quite low, don't they? (On a BioCube 32 gallon, for instance, they are quite a bit higher.) I wonder what would keep the pump from pulling sand into the back chamber if the tank gets a sand-bottom?

 

[Pntbll687]

Those slots lets water into the wier, but the water travels up between the two walls and then into the wier.

The water can only do this when the total water level is above the top of the wier. As soon as the water level drops below the teeth, the water cannot travel high enough to continue into the wier.

I circled in the picture where the water comes up and into the overflow. You might need to zoom in a little to see the space between the inner and outer walls of the overflow.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Yes, you are absolutely correct as to how that all works. But unless the photo angle is playing tricks on me, those bottom-slots would get covered/buried by even a 1 1/2 inch sand-bed, it would seem to me.

 

[theMeat]

The water in tank will only drain as low as the top of the pipe inside the overflow box.
Having a siphon break on the return line is a must if you don’t want a flood if the power goes out.

 

[JonoH]

The stand pipes or returns will still dictate how much the tank will drain. (Returns will continue to siphon if you dont have a one way or check valve on them).

I would imagine perhaps those bottom slots are for flushing out the overflow? Although i have never seen them like that before as if you had a fish jump into the overflow, you couldnt drain it out to help retrieve it (have had to do this before!)

 

[JumboShrimp]

My apologies-- forget every comment I made. (Face-plant. Lol.) I looked at the photo closer-- I thought I was looking at an all-in-one tank. ;)

 

[Wandering Albatross]

The return lines were going to be just above the waterline, for a little waterfall effect. Does a siphon break still apply in that case?

 

[Wandering Albatross]

The sand wouldn’t get sucked up in there right? I hadn’t even considered that yet, I was more concerned about the water. I had to believe they won’t hurt anything, they were designed and added for a reason. I’m just trying to make sure I understand the reason.

Blessings

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Here’s the sump, not yet glued, hence the tape. I’m wondering about the filter sock section. It’s set up for 3 socks. How would you run the plumbing to that first chamber? Would you have flexible tubing so you can divert the water into one sock, then rotate to the next so you can clean/replace the first and so on? Or would you divide the drain into 2-3 flexible tubes and run a little water into each? Maybe alternate between 2 socks and have the emergency drain flow into the third?

 

[19Mateo83]

I have a very similar set up on my sump with two socks. The section in the right side of your photo is what they call a boil box. Your drains go into there and then the water boils up and evenly goes into the three filter socks, like I have indicated in the photo.

You can see how I set mine up in the pictures below

When you silicone your filter, sock area in you need to make sure you silicone around the inside of the boil box also

 

[Llyod276]

I have a very similar set up on my sump with two socks. The section in the right side of your photo is what they call a boil box. Your drains go into there and then the water boils up and evenly goes into the three filter socks, like I have indicated in the photo.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I have a very similar set up on my sump with two socks. The section in the right side of your photo is what they call a boil box. Your drains go into there and then the water boils up and evenly goes into the three filter socks, like I have indicated in the photo.

You can see how I set mine up in the pictures below

When you silicone your filter, sock area in you need to make sure you silicone around the inside of the boil box also

Oh okay, that makes sense lot more sense. I was a little on the fence about what that extra section was for lol, as I had yet to see one like that. I always thought the main drain went directly into a sock. Thanks for clearing that up