Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[Katrina71]

The 1” is the drain and the 3/4” is a return line. Lots of (mostly older) reef ready tanks came this way. The 3/4” isn’t large enough to act as an emergency drain. I would use it as is, or drill the 3/4” to accept a 1” backup drain. My 140 was plumbed the same way - except there were two overflows. So if one drain stopped up, you still had a second drain. @Katrina71 , is there one or two overflows in the tank? Sorry, but I have missed a lot of what has been discussed.

I had no idea that was even an option.

 

[Fin]

Hey @Fin I was thinking of converting my durso to a herbie, but my return is 3/4. So your saying a herbie doesent work if 1 pipe is 1 inch and the other is 3/4?

I haven't ever run a Herbie style overflow, but it is made to run on a full siphon from the main drain, adjusted by a ball or gate valve. The second, or emergency drain would be there, in the event of the main drain getting stopped up. If you have two different sized pipes and the 1" main drain gets clogged, the 3/4" emergency drain may not be able to keep up with the same return volume coming from the return pump. Depends on the flow rate of your main drain siphon. It would be best to have both pipes the same size, IMO anyway.

 

[Fin]

I had no idea that was even an option.

What, redrilling the hole for a larger bulkhead and pipe? It can be done, but may be a little trickier with a hand held drill. I wish you were closer, I could handle that for you. I have a glass drill that I got from my old LFS that closed down. You said the overflow had oversized pipe. Do you know what size and if you would even have room for two bulkheads the same size in the overflow?

 

[Katrina71]

What, redrilling the hole for a larger bulkhead and pipe? It can be done, but may be a little trickier with a hand held drill. I wish you were closer, I could handle that for you. I have a glass drill that I got from my old LFS that closed down. You said the overflow had oversized pipe. Do you know what size and if you would even have room for two bulkheads the same size in the overflow?

maybe?

 

[Katrina71]

Please excuse it not being totally clean yet. Rain every day...

 

[Fin]

maybe?

Looks like maybe a 1¼" - 1½" pipe? You can get opinions of the others, but if that drain is that size, I doubt you would ever need an emergency drain. If it is 1¼" - 1½", I think I would just go with the one drain as a Durso. It would be simpler on you and you would have a hidden return (inside the overflow). Also, if you just have to have an emergency drain (which is not supposed to be quiet anyway), there really isn't any reason I can think of for not drilling the back of the tank up high inside of the overflow, with a 1¼" to 1½" drain down to the sump. It would probably start gurgling and alert you to the plugged drain. Did I confuse the issue?

 

[Fin]

Please excuse it not being totally clean yet. Rain every day...

Same weather here. Believe me, I understand. ;Meh

 

[mch1984]

Sad day in Midland, we lost an officer last night. He was young, and just started his family. Keep them in your thoughts, sorry for bringing the thread down, just wanted to share.

 

[Katrina71]

Wow. Just had a 3.3 magnitude earthquake! That was strange. It was actually North of here, but strong enough that everybody came out of their houses.

 

[Katrina71]

Sad day in Midland, we lost an officer last night. He was young, and just started his family. Keep them in your thoughts, sorry for bringing the thread down, just wanted to share.

Homeowner shot him while checking an alarm. Very sad. I hope he was a member of FOP. The money will certainly help his family with expenses.

 

[Fin]

Wow. Just had a 3.3 magnitude earthquake! That was strange. It was actually North of here, but strong enough that everybody came out of their houses.

They do feel strange if you are not used to them. When I was in California 40+ years ago, we had the nearby 6.6 Sylmar quake at around 6am. Darn near threw me out of bed. Being from Louisiana, that was a different experience. Aftershocks for days were also a little unsettling.

 

[dantimdad]

Hey @Fin I was thinking of converting my durso to a herbie, but my return is 3/4. So your saying a herbie doesent work if 1 pipe is 1 inch and the other is 3/4?

It will work depending on flow. You make the 3/4" your primary and the 1" your emergency.

You will be limited to about 500gph under full siphon.

 

[mch1984]

Homeowner shot him while checking an alarm. Very sad. I hope he was a member of FOP. The money will certainly help his family with expenses.

Yeah loosing an officer is always bad, but especially when it’s something as senseless as that.

 

[Katrina71]

Yeah loosing an officer is always bad, but especially when it’s something as senseless as that.

Agreed. If we ever do get together I will share my story. The bad one.

 

[Hemmdog]

It will work depending on flow. You make the 3/4" your primary and the 1" your emergency.

You will be limited to about 500gph under full siphon.

Would that change the whole dynamic of my tank going from 900gph to 500? Like fuge & skimmer effectiveness?

 

[dantimdad]

Would that change the whole dynamic of my tank going from 900gph to 500? Like fuge & skimmer effectiveness?

In truth, it'll probably make the skimmer more effective. But it could effect other things. Not sure.

Are you sure you are getting a true 900gph?

 

[Musovski]

I just pulled off a @NY_Caveman except i dont have kids and it was my whole family... thought they wouldve known what the talk was about...

 

[dantimdad]

I just pulled off a @NY_Caveman except i dont have daughters and it was my whole family... thought they wouldve known what the talk was about...

HAHAHA! read my signature!

 

[Musovski]

LOL, thats great! ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

HAHAHA! read my signature!

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Would that change the whole dynamic of my tank going from 900gph to 500? Like fuge & skimmer effectiveness?

Not to much of a change in my opinion. In the old days of reef tanks we would use 1-4 tank turn overs per hour as our guide. This will allow more contact time with the water in the sump. I know many strive for ten turns plus but from a biological filtration stand point less is more. The important part is to make sure the flow in the display is in the range to keep the water from having stagnant or low flow areas. This is handled by your wave makers or circulation pumps.