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solenoid controlled overflow

danmil3s

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2010
Messages
756
at the moment to get more water through my sump and increase flow im running a DIY over flow box* with 3 X 1.5" pipes on. this doesn't work as well as id like and is hard to clean.also i think a large source of lost co2. so i was thinking of ways to increase water in to the sump. i was thinking syphon but if the pump fails with a sump the water just keeps syphoning. so my plan was to use 1.5" waste pipe and a solenoid controlled valve
http://cityirrigation.co.uk/acatalog/co ... alves.html
if there's a power cut should avoid a flood i know if just the pump fails it will be a different story but that's less likely and a risk im willing to take.no worse than a hose falling of an fx5
does any one have any thoughts on this. is there a better way or a cheaper bit of kit. or will i be wasting my time and should i just stick to the overflow box. thanks for any advice


* for those who dont know what an overflow box is mines a DIY theses wont fit my tank
http://www.swelluk.com/aquarium/fish-ta ... googlebase
 
stop messing around and drill the tank, My tank is drilled to feed the sump using 2x 11/2 pipes and I am running 10000 to 12000 ltrs an hour through them easily.
Its worth the time to do it. You can do it yourself.

Simon
 
drilled my sump it then cracked a week later. did think about it but its not worth the risk tanks full off fish to many to rehouse even just while i drill. did aquariums Ltd not drill your tank when they made it.
 
Why not just fit a loop on the outside of the tank to work as an overflow?

You use rigid plumbing and have a syphon loop over the side of the tank that is primed with water that then loops back up to the water level you want and feeds into an open tee. This works like an overflow box.
 
i think i know what you mean ed but i think that will only draw as much water as an over flowbox not as much as a syphon is capable of i have 3 X 1 1/2" pipes from the tank in to the over flow box and they not max out the 1 X 1 1/2" pipe that go's to the sump
 
The flow will depend on the size of the pipework and the number of pipes you use. You could easily use two of these set-ups with 22mm overflow pipe (available from any DIY store) that both fed into the filter.

I don't understand the bit where you say you've got 3, 1.5" pipes from the tank into the overflow box but they can't keep up with the one pipe to the sump. If they're completely full of water then they should allow as much water to flow as if they were gravity fed pipes. 1.5" pipe should allow 400gph to flow through it with almost difference in height between the water levels, so your three should allow at least 1,000gph, surely you can't be moving that much water through them?
 
im not very good at explaining my self sorry i struggle with writing thank god for spell check. what i mean is the i have 3 1.5" pipes that take the water out of the tank over the edge and in to the over flow box. the water then goes down another 1.5" pipe there is the possibility to get more water down this pipe so that tells me that the over flow box isn't as efficient as syphoning would be then the pipe would be full the over flow box is just the water leveling its self out sorry don't know what its called. and not as fast
 
just re read your post do you mean my overflow pipes arnt full of water as in ther might be air in them
 
danmil3s said:
just re read your post do you mean my overflow pipes arnt full of water as in ther might be air in them

Yeah, that was what I was wondering, or are they blocked in some way? What flow do you reckon is going through your filter?
 
i think your right, there might be air in them. i just thought they didn't work that well normally. if your estimated flow is right i need to have a play with them, at the weekend thanks mate.
 
I was just wondering why you want more flow through your sump?
In fact after years of experimenting I find it is more effective to run moderate flow from tank to sump but, to recirculate the sump water to get the best biological effect without to much surface gas exchange in the display tank.
I just use a large power head to pupm water around the sump from one end to the other!
 
was more about flow in the tank to be honest than filtration. managed to get the overflow box working a bit better but stll need to play with it makes a right racket
 
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