another stupid question from a guy who should know by now

[SnowManSnow]

so im picking up a tank with 2 drains in the overflow. one goes to the sump.. but what about the other one?

 

[Anonymous]

so im picking up a tank with 2 drains in the overflow. one goes to the sump.. but what about the other one?

Either to the sump, to a lower tank that itself drains to the sump, or seal it off.

 

[Anonymous]

so im picking up a tank with 2 drains in the overflow. one goes to the sump.. but what about the other one?

It's more for redundancy so that you don't overflow. You always want your drain to be larger than your return (volume wise).

 

[Anonymous]

I use one as the drain and the other as the return.

The return hose hooks to a bulk head screwed into the hole at the bottom of the overflow. Inside the overflow, PVC is glued to the bulk head and goes straight up and over the overflow. At the end is a T to push flow in two different directions.

I've seen it done this way many times. Do you all have your returns going out and around the tank? :?

The reason I drilled was so I could put the tank right up against the wall without any space behind it that you would normally need for hoses and such.

 

[SnowManSnow]

so the RETURN actually comes up into the overflow box?

i was planning on running it up the back and over the top into the aquarium.

also, the holes are 2" and 2 3/4 that pretty standard?

Thanks
b

 

[Anonymous]

so the RETURN actually comes up into the overflow box?

i was planning on running it up the back and over the top into the aquarium.

also, the holes are 2" and 2 3/4 that pretty standard?

Thanks
b

Yes,

The bigger hole is your drain. You use a bulk head and leave the top open and connect a drain hose to the bottom of it. Or you use a stand pipe to cut back on noise...but I just stuff the overflow full of bio balls to cut the noise down. I also link up a few bioballs into strings at the bottom and form a sort of barrier to prevent a single bio ball from sitting in the drain hole and clogging it.

The smaller hole is your return. You do like I said and run a hose from your pump to the bottom of that bulk head and then use PVC for the top. The PVC runs right up through the overflow (through the bio balls or filter fiber or whatever you put in there) and then up and over the lip of it with a 90 degree elbow. Then you can go sideways along the back of the tank and put as many return outlets as you want. I just go over the cross brace and elbow back straight down into the center of the tank and a T at the end shoots the return flow in two opposite directions.

See at the center top of my tank in the photo?

 

[Anonymous]

You can't see it, but just below the surface there is a small hole drilled in that PVC T to let air in so there is no back syphoning in a power outage.


If you were running your hose behind the tank and over into the system, you could also put a hole in it just below the surface to stop back syphon.

Running the return through the overflow is cleaner looking...lets you put the tank closer to the wall.

 

[trido]

If you take a look at my tank build thread there is a great pic of my overflow and closed loop.
The small pipe on the left in the overflow is my 3/4" return and the right is the 1" durso. My durso is just pushed into the bulkhead and the return is glued in. There is a small hole drilled in the return just below the top of the overflow.

 

[SnowManSnow]

thanks guys you;ve educated me!

 

[SnowManSnow]

so here it is.

there is a big hole and a smaller hole. The big hole i plum down as a drain into my sump. The smaller hole comes from the sump PUMP back up through the overflowbox and over the side somewhere into the tank for the return.

I drill little "anti-syphon" holes in the return pipe somewhere at the turn where it goes back into the tank.

In the return I use a stand pipe for the drain in order to keep noise to a minimum.

is that it?

 

[SnowManSnow]

oh.. and ill be looking for 1 2" and 1 2 3/4" bulkhead for the connections correct???

Any particular brand that everyone has been chasing?\
\
B

 

[SnowManSnow]

hmm can someone post some linke from www.marinedepot.com for the bulkheads that will fit these holes? All the lingo is a bit confusing.

b

 

[trido]

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=FT1123
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=FT1125

These are the only two I see that fit the holes you described.
A 1 1/2 inch drain and a 1 inch return. Make sure you double check before ordering by holding the tape measure at the one inch mark to start, and then its easier to get exactly to the sixteenth. The eight inch of play is normal. you dont want to force the bulkhead into the hole as it would ruin the threads..
Heavy duty bulkheads. Ouch, good thing you only need two.

 

[SnowManSnow]

in that description on marinedepot i dont see the SIZE OF MY HOLES anywhere... how do I know what bulkhead fits what??????

B

 

[Anonymous]

so here it is.

there is a big hole and a smaller hole. The big hole i plum down as a drain into my sump. The smaller hole comes from the sump PUMP back up through the overflowbox and over the side somewhere into the tank for the return.

I drill little "anti-syphon" holes in the return pipe somewhere at the turn where it goes back into the tank.

In the return I use a stand pipe for the drain in order to keep noise to a minimum.

is that it?

Sounds good to me.

 

[Anonymous]

It's pretty standard.

The guys who drill your tank know what bulk heads are going in. Just buy the 1 1/2 inch bulk head with the drain hose connection (along with a drain hose of the right length). Then buy the return bulk head at 1 inch with the return hose connection on the botom and the pvc connector on the top.

If I were you, I would go to an LFS. They usually have all the connectors and if something doesn't fit you can go right back to the store and exchange it for the proper piece.


And some advice you might also already know....if it's feasable, after you set it all up, you should run your tank for a few days with just tap water to make sure your bulk heads aren't leaking. It is a real PITA to have to adjust leaky bulk heads and return locations when your system is already in place. I know from experience. :lol:

 

[trido]

Trust me. If the measurements you posted are correct. Those two links I posted will work like a charm. :wink: