Reef Discussion

[VaultBoy]

MkII is up and running... And its freakin awesome if I dont mind saying so! It is handling my diablo 3000Lph return pump without trying, I shut the tuning valve completely and the second drain handles the flow no worries and even with one of the syphon tubes blocked it will keep up. It doesnt make a sound when tuned properly and I mean it is absolutely silent!

Here are some photos I'll explain as I go.

The shopping list, all the parts are standard fittings. I only modified one part to make this.

This shows the part I modified. The reducer, I had to file off the lip that stops the pipe from pushing all the way through. The pipe that rises up inside the tee piece is very important to the safe operation of the overflow box as this ensures the syphon is not lost when the pump turns off.

All the parts assembled and tested for the first time! I spilt about 20 litres of water of the kitchen floor, like they say "no mess, no progress!"

Some photos of it installed and running.

Heres a shot showing the level of water in the weir in relation to the main tank. I love the way this weir skims off the surface water across the whole back wall only 2 - 3 mm deep across the whole weir.

 

[MTG]

Nice work on the DIY. wouldnt even notice its there if you have it in a hood.

 

[marineclass]

great work - looks nice and discrete too

 

[VaultBoy]

Thank you for the kind words. I am working on a diagram that shows how it works a little better so watch this space!

Is there such a thing as reef safe paint suitable for plastic? I would love to paint all the parts black then they would just disappear against the black background in my tank.

 

[MagicJ]

Probably a silly question, but don't you still have a weak point in your built in 'redundancy' where the left hand horizontal tee joins the right hand vertical tee?

 

[VaultBoy]

Probably a silly question, but don't you still have a weak point in your built in 'redundancy' where the left hand horizontal tee joins the right hand vertical tee?

Well spotted... I thought that myself, but the tube that runs up inside the larger vertical tube maintains the water seal in the horizontal tube along the bottom. This means that only one syphon tube has to be primed for it to work, and it will handle the flow from my pump with only one primed.

I had about 4 different designs when I was originally planning this and narrowed it down to this one for many reasons but the main one was simplicity. The biggest problem i had was seperating the 2 syphon tubes so if one failed the other would still work and I realised that with the riser inside the vertical tube cut to the right level it is perfect.

 

[MagicJ]

But what if a snail gets to that Tee and gets jammed - this would effectively stop water draining to your sump.

Don't take this as a criticism (I only have one durso going to my sump;)) but most people build in redundancy e.g. siphon plus backup, in case one of the pipes gets blocked.

 

[VaultBoy]

This has a full syphon drain and a backup drain from the overflow box and 2 syphon tubes into the overflow box. The only way (i can think of) to make this safer would be to make another one and run them side by side.

I will happily accept any criticism or ideas for improvement!

 

[MagicJ]

Thats what I was getting at. Weir setups with redundancy generally have a siphon and backup durso with completely seperate pipework going to the sump on the basis that if one gets blocked the other will still work. Yours has redundancy at the front end and the back end - there is just that one spot in the middle where you loose the redundancy ;)

Is there such a thing as reef safe paint suitable for plastic? I would love to paint all the parts black then they would just disappear against the black background in my tank.

I have seen some setups using black ag fittings - I will see if I can find some pictures.

 

[ifyalucky]

i made a 40mm one with drain pipe did a test run with fresh water and my return pump 3600lth was more than my drain could take i think i need to drop the level of it down just a touch to get the syphon more full to keep up i plan on having 2 there but want to no one can keep up if other one gets blocked any thoughts

 

[VaultBoy]

i made a 40mm one with drain pipe did a test run with fresh water and my return pump 3600lth was more than my drain could take i think i need to drop the level of it down just a touch to get the syphon more full to keep up i plan on having 2 there but want to no one can keep up if other one gets blocked any thoughts

Using the original design? If so you can lower the tee where the drain is connected and it will flow faster. But it will also lower the water level in your tank unless you use some sort of weir in the tank.

 

[ifyalucky]

Yeah using the original design have built a weir and dropped the tee down a bit and have got it too keep up with the pump with only one drain so will have a second one as back up in case one get blocked so now that is all sorted and running how i want i can put salt water in tonight

 

[VaultBoy]

Glad it worked for you! Cant wait too see pics of the tank and setup.

 

[jashay]

im in the process of this myself. decided to make a internal glass wier that will sit in the tank. does running two syphons increase the amount of water removed ? the way I am thinking is that if one syphon has a flow of 1400lph then if there was 2 there in effect it works out to 2800lph. may seem like a dumb question but a question none the less.

Im making mine out of a 15mm pressure pipe, it seems small but the full syphon I got from it was pushing a lot of water through.

 

[VaultBoy]

running two syphons is a good idea as it will add a failsafe if one blocks up. I would recommend using a larger diameter pipe as it wont take much to block up a 15mm pipe!

By using 2 you will not remove any more water than the return pump is putting in!

 

[jashay]

cheers mate, thats what i was wondering :cool:

I didn't have much choice in regards to pipe size. I have a few ideas on keeping things clear through the pipes. will show them onnce i have it sorted ;)

 

[VaultBoy]

Its good to see others trying these overflows.... they are easy cheap and runs no risk of breaking a glass panel while drilling a tank!

 

[marineclass]

I hate to be annoying and im sure it is on here somewhere - but is there a list of parts needed for these overflows? I can see what is needed but just unsure of the size pipe you have used with it being reduced down. Is there any chance of getting a "shopping list" of parts needed?

 

[VaultBoy]

MK1 (the simple one) shopping list.

7 x elbows
1 x tee
some pipe.

This one can easily be scaled up and down to what ever size suits.

MK2 (the annoyingly hard one) shopping list.

5 x 40mm elbows
1 x 40mm tee
1 x 50mm x 40mm reducing bush
2 x 50mm tee
1 x 50mm cap
2 x 50mm x 25mm reducing bush
1 x 25mm tee
1 x 25mm cap
2 x 25mm ball valves
.5m 50mm pipe
1.5m 40mm pipe
2 x enough 25 mm pipe to get to the sump

This model will become very expensive and bulky if you made it any bigger and wont really work if you make it any smaller. MK1 is the better option to be honest.

 

[marineclass]

Thanks VB- yea the Mk1 looks a little simpler. Off to bunnings on the weekend