Setting up a FOWLR tank and have some questions?

[BWoolf]

I am setting up a 6’ long 125 gallon FOWLR tank and I have OCD issues, lol. My tank is not drilled so I can do anything I want as far as overflows and returns go, I’m good with drilling it. The tank is going in my living room and my sump is going in the basement on the other side of the house, about 10’ in height and about 30’ across the house. I want to run 2 return pumps and 2 overflow box’s. 2 pumps more for redundancy than need and 2 overflow box’s (1 on the left side and right side of the back wall) because of my OCD
What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks

 

[agame2021]

I have never done it but it would be cool to see! From theory sounds good from what I have read… but again never done it myself.

 

[threebuoys]

Sounds like a good DIY project. You may want to check that forum out to see if anyone has done something similar. Someone with experience running plumbing over those distances and with that amount of lift will be able to share advice hopefully.

 

[BWoolf]

Thanks, I’m having fun with it collecting parts building the stand rearranging my house but now comes the do or die time. I have start drilling the tank running the pvc and actually committing to a design. What forum are you suggesting?

 

[Uzidaisies]

That would be my only concern is the distance. But I’m not familiar with the capabilities of sump return pumps. As long as it can pump the water that far, sounds good I suppose. There are a lot of options for overflows, I like the look of the v2 shadow overflow from.. Synergy Reef?

 

[threebuoys]

Do It Yourself (DIY)

DIY projects can save money and also be fun and interesting. Share your projects and learn from many others here.

www.reef2reef.com

would be a good place to start

 

[John08007]

Not a problem with 2 overflows, just a little more of a pain to dial them in. I would suggest check valves down near the pump and make sure you still have enough room in your tank to hold all the water from those lines in case of a power outage and a check valve failure

 

[BWoolf]

I bought 2 of the eshopps prodigy L overflows, do you have any thoughts on those?
Thanks

 

[DaddyFish]

I've run dual overflows in the past, but not across your planned distance. Getting two overflows balanced is only three times as complicated as one overflow. My best advice is to be sure to use good quality gate valves and definitely DC pumps.

 

[BWoolf]

I have read about connecting the 2 overflows together ( my overflows have 3 drains each). The way I interpreted it I would run 2 emergency drains ( one out of each overflow) tie the 2 overflows together with one of the drains in each than use the third drain in one overflow has the main drain and the third drain in the other overflow as the trickle drain (bean animal style). Do you think this would work?
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[BWoolf]

by the way I have 2 dc pumps, I want to set up the 2 pumps more for redundancy but if that distance is a problem I would have the extra flow.
thanks

 

[DaddyFish]

I have read about connecting the 2 overflows together ( my overflows have 3 drains each). The way I interpreted it I would run 2 emergency drains ( one out of each overflow) tie the 2 overflows together with one of the drains in each than use the third drain in one overflow has the main drain and the third drain in the other overflow as the trickle drain (bean animal style). Do you think this would work?
Thanks for your thoughts.

That's beyond my experience. I only did two independent Herbie drains with two e-drains tied together.
Maybe someone else will chime in?

 

[BWoolf]

Cool I appreciate your thoughts.

 

[nereefpat]

With that much total dynamic head, a DC pump isn't go to be a good choice unless you buy a really expensive pump like an Abyzz or Red Dragon. I will always recommend an external AC pump like Iwaki, Blue Line, etc for this application.

Any time you tie drains together, you are making things less safe. I would just run 2 separate Bean systems.

 

[BWoolf]

I appreciate your input. Would you go with 2 AC pumps or just 1?
I’m starting to rethink my pluming design. I am setting up a FOWLR aquarium, do you have a thought on how much water I should have running through sump?
Thanks

 

[nereefpat]

If you are using a quality external AC pump, it will run with very little maintenance for basically forever. In that case, I would just run 1. If someone talks you into a jebao DC or something, then I would run 2.

I would shoot for 3-5 x an hour display volume through the sump, so 600-ish gallons per hour. That sounds like a small pump, but you will have lots of head loss to consider.

Off the top of my head, a Blue Line 40x or 55 or 70 should be in the range, but I'd have to look at some pump curves and add up your pipe and fittings to figure it out.

 

[BWoolf]

Thanks for your thoughts. I had already bought 2 of the Current USA eFlux 3170 gph pumps, do you think these would work, if not I can return them. They claim a pretty high head pressure.
thanks

 

[nereefpat]

Thanks for your thoughts. I had already bought 2 of the Current USA eFlux 3170 gph pumps, do you think these would work, if not I can return them. They claim a pretty high head pressure.
thanks

I'm not familiar with those. Manufacturer claims up to 20 feet of head, so I would think they would work.

 

[BWoolf]

Cool thanks, I really appreciate your input.

 

[DK450reef]

I am setting up a 6’ long 125 gallon FOWLR tank and I have OCD issues, lol. My tank is not drilled so I can do anything I want as far as overflows and returns go, I’m good with drilling it. The tank is going in my living room and my sump is going in the basement on the other side of the house, about 10’ in height and about 30’ across the house. I want to run 2 return pumps and 2 overflow box’s. 2 pumps more for redundancy than need and 2 overflow box’s (1 on the left side and right side of the back wall) because of my OCD
What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks

The size of sump is critical. A power outage two overflows and the length of piping you have to capture a lot of water. Large pumps like the Red Dragon 250w will give you the head pressure you need.