plumbing question/problem

[scott711]

I built a return using pvc(3/4") and hooked it up last night. The problem I encountered was the pump was pumping too much water into the tank and the return (only one overflow box) was not pulling out enough water to replace what was being taken out. I had built a valve to limit the amount of water returning to the tank which worked, but then there wasn't enough flow coming from the pump into the tank.

I thought of a few possible solutions, but I wanted to see if anyone had any other ideas.

 

Solutions:

1. get a smaller pump and hook it up in place of the bigger one. The only fear with that is that I might experience too little water flow.

2. Make the whole thing a closed loop system and build a intake from the remaining pvc. The downfall with this is I would have to have two pumps running because I have a refugium/sump running and I wanted to eliminate running two pumps.

3. To install bulkheads to accomodate the additional water flow. The fear with that is I would have to drill the tank to install the bulkheads and I would hate for the tank to crack in the process. Has anyone done this before?

 

Any ideas/comments would be helpful.

 

thanks,

 

Scott

[Sph2sail]

Typically, the return needs to be 1" or 1 1/4" to handle the flow from a 3/4" feed.  You may need to simply increase the size of the return to allow flow.  The feed is under pressure, the return is gravity/siphon, hence the sizing differential is very important.

 

s

[scott711]

Is there anyone that has drilled their tank with water in it or is there a member that drills tanks?

[michaelg]

I would not drill it with water in it, unless it was acrylic (even then I would make sure to remove a good portion of the water).  Water inside is putting pressure on the glass- it is almost sure to crack.

 

I'd go the closed loop route if you are using this new pump to increase the flow.  It doesn't need to be in the sump this way.

[xeon]

Scott,

My question would be what kind of pump is it, what kind of plumbing is involved in the return (90 bends.. etc), and what is your overflow rated for?  You could do a number of things really, depending on what your setup is.  I have a return pump that will over run my tank.  I did this by design so I could split off of my return to feed my refugium.  My refuge is then gravity fed back into my return chamber.  I have a ball valve going to the refuge and on my return to tune it if need be.  I have had no problem with this setup.  

 

FWIW, there is a thread in the DIY section of reefcentral.com where someone drilled their tank with water in it.  They used a Dremel of all things.  The thread is entitled "How I drilled my 20 gallon with water in it" or something like that.  I'm not sure if I would do it, but others certainly have.

[scott711]

Dave,

The pump is a mag 12 and there are a number of 90 degree bends in it (at least 4) the pump is going to a SCWD and then going into the tank.  I am not sure what the overflow is rated for, but obviously less then the amount of water going back into the tank. I was trying to increase the flow on the tank(there is a mag 5) and eliminate powerheads in the tank.

 

As a matter of fact I was reading that thread and was thinking about trying it. I am curious if anyone has done this before.

 

Scott

[Guest HVF21221]

What type of overflow is it? If it is a U-tube type, add another U-tube into the same overflow box. This will double your return flow. If it is a CPR type there isn't much you can do. HTH, Howard

[scott711]

The overflow is a U tube type, but I don't think both tubes will start up again if there is a power outtage. I think one of the tubes will break its siphon

[Gatortailale]

I had built a valve to limit the amount of water returning to the tank which worked, but then there wasn't enough flow coming from the pump into the tank.

Not enough flow from return pump to tank - huh - open the valve more to increase flow and fine tune return flow against amount flowing out overflow.  Might take few minutes, just tweak it a bit until you get steady rate so it does not overflow.

[scott711]

If I understand you right, I think I tried thatt and if I got the flow rate high enough in the tank, the overflow box wouldn't support it without adding additional U tubes