Calling all the reefers with external overflows.

[BZOFIQ]

How many external boxes do you have?

What size are your drains? especially the full siphon.

How much water are you pushing through it?

Pics would be nice too


Thanks

 

[hart24601]

I had a custom 180g and another custom 120, both with external overflows. One box, but most the middle area. Both had 3 holes for drains that were 1". On the 180 I used sicce 3.5 which is 660 w/o head pressure. I still had to mostly close the full siphon, a 1" siphon flows a crazy amount of water.

 

[kados]

How many external boxes do you have?

What size are your drains? especially the full siphon.

How much water are you pushing through it?

Pics would be nice too


Thanks

187g tank, 1 external overflow, 2x 1" drains, 2x Neptune COR20 pumps

 

[KStatefan]

One box 3 1" drains 450 gph.

 

[kados]

One box 3 1" drains 450 gph.

#Clean

 

[BZOFIQ]

Thanks guys, very clean setups.

Looking for more examples, multiple boxes and/or experience with 1-1/4" or larger drains.

Keep it coming.

 

[WVNed]

I have 4 x 1.5 inch drains coming from 1 box on my 240. 2 have valves. I run 2 8000 l/hr pumps at 2 ft of head.

 

[Art2249]

I have 3 drains 1.5 inch and 1.25 return. The big return makes the pump last longer.

 

[Billldg]

225 gal tank, MM 2400 overflow, 1.5" drains. Roughly 950-1000 gals and hour flow rate. You can look at my build thread for more photos.

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

187g tank, 1 external overflow, 2x 1" drains, 2x Neptune COR20 pumps

Cool setup!

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have 3 drains 1.5 inch and 1.25 return. The big return makes the pump last longer.

So one of the 1-1/2 drains runs at full siphon.

Did you have any issues with the horizontal run or does it achieve full siphon right away?


Which pump?

 

[BZOFIQ]

225 gal tank, MM 2400 overflow, 1.5" drains. Roughly 950-1000 gals and hour flow rate. You can look at my build thread for more photos.

Is the valve on your full siphon wide open or did you have to dial it down much?

 

[Billldg]

Is the valve on your full siphon wide open or did you have to dial it down much?

I had to play with it a bit to find out what it liked, but, I really didn't have any issue.
Just make sure you use a Gate valve to have precision.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have a few things in mind while I assemble plumbing on my new setup.

It's a custom from MM with one large internal weir (66') and two external boxes, each with 3x 1-1/4" drains. They did a great job BTW, fits like a glove into holes pre-drilled by the manufacturer.

I'm going to use an Abyzz A200 which I would like to run at about 60-70 % with one additional pump (Varios-4) running manifold and minimal input into the DT (this pump can be run off of batteries @24V, but I digress).

My goal is to achieve a full siphon - one in each box for a super quiet non-gurgling overflow. Watching EMS videos they advise against going too big on the drain pipes. Pushing say 2000-2500 GPH am I going to provide enough flow to fill 2 x 1-1/4" drains @ gravity? Should I plumb one of the external boxes main drain with 1" or are valves at the bottom of the stream enough to restrict it if needed?

Additionally, I read somewhere to avoid horizontal runs or the siphon pipe/main drain, (2 in my case) may have a problem purging all the air but I now see people doing it..... I guess without issues?

Trying to get it right the first time as it would be a MAJOR PITA to have to re-do..... given the very limited access behind the tank.

 

[Jubei2006]

Don't have an external overflow, but a 2 inch siphon WILL outflow a reeflo hammerhead (6000gph) with about 14 feet of head so I estimate I'm getting about 4000gph of return flow based on reeflo's head pressure chart.

 

[cmozz]

Synergy reef has this overflow with dual 1.5inch drains. I have it on my tank. It's super quiet and easy to maintain

16″ Shadow Overflow V3

New Shadow V3 Overflow Kit – Just arrived!

synergyreef.com

 

[Pntbll687]

I have a few things in mind while I assemble plumbing on my new setup.

It's a custom from MM with one large internal weir (66') and two external boxes, each with 3x 1-1/4" drains. They did a great job BTW, fits like a glove into holes pre-drilled by the manufacturer.

I'm going to use an Abyzz A200 which I would like to run at about 60-70 % with one additional pump (Varios-4) running manifold and minimal input into the DT (this pump can be run off of batteries @24V, but I digress).

My goal is to achieve a full siphon - one in each box for a super quiet non-gurgling overflow. Watching EMS videos they advise against going too big on the drain pipes. Pushing say 2000-2500 GPH am I going to provide enough flow to fill 2 x 1-1/4" drains @ gravity? Should I plumb one of the external boxes main drain with 1" or are valves at the bottom of the stream enough to restrict it if needed?

Additionally, I read somewhere to avoid horizontal runs or the siphon pipe/main drain, (2 in my case) may have a problem purging all the air but I now see people doing it..... I guess without issues?

Trying to get it right the first time as it would be a MAJOR PITA to have to re-do..... given the very limited access behind the tank.

You want 2 x 1.25" drains at full siphon. If you were to run these at full siphon gravity drains you would need 1000gph flowing through each of them. That's 2000gph which is allot of flow for an overflow to handle.

You don't need to restrict the flow down to a 1" pipe. The only time I would do that is if you're plumbing it to a sump where the sump has a bulkhead that takes 1in pipe.

Horizontal runs are ok with full siphon drains. The advice on no horizontal runs usually comes from people using durso pipes, and almost everytime the person installs a 90 to start the horizontal and the sharp turn in pipe allows air to get trapped. If you're worried about trapped air after a power outage just use 2 x 45 elbows instead, this allows the water to hit the turn in pipe and flow into the run instead of "crashing" straight down into the turn.

Ok, I bolded the last part because of one reason. Put the gate valves for the full siphon as close to the sump as possible, preferably right at the bulkhead on the sump. This will keep the full siphon as quiet as possible by filling the entire pipe with water. It will also be accessible for you to adjust in the future. If you think access behind the tank is limited now, you'll really be kicking yourself 3 years from now when you need to adjust that valve and can't reach it because you put something next to the tank.

 

[BZOFIQ]

You want 2 x 1.25" drains at full siphon. If you were to run these at full siphon gravity drains you would need 1000gph flowing through each of them. That's 2000gph which is allot of flow for an overflow to handle.

You don't need to restrict the flow down to a 1" pipe. The only time I would do that is if you're plumbing it to a sump where the sump has a bulkhead that takes 1in pipe.

Horizontal runs are ok with full siphon drains. The advice on no horizontal runs usually comes from people using durso pipes, and almost everytime the person installs a 90 to start the horizontal and the sharp turn in pipe allows air to get trapped. If you're worried about trapped air after a power outage just use 2 x 45 elbows instead, this allows the water to hit the turn in pipe and flow into the run instead of "crashing" straight down into the turn.

Ok, I bolded the last part because of one reason. Put the gate valves for the full siphon as close to the sump as possible, preferably right at the bulkhead on the sump. This will keep the full siphon as quiet as possible by filling the entire pipe with water. It will also be accessible for you to adjust in the future. If you think access behind the tank is limited now, you'll really be kicking yourself 3 years from now when you need to adjust that valve and can't reach it because you put something next to the tank.

Thank you - Just what I needed.

Your post gives me the confidence needed to "glue" it all up.

I did buy some 90 degree long sweeps to avoid sharp turns and coming down from the external box I'm only doing 45 degree turns to offset the pipes. The valves are going right at the bulkhead at the sump level but I got some high-quality ball valves instead of gate valves.....can I get away with them or are gate valves an absolute must?

 

[Pntbll687]

Thank you - Just what I needed.

Your post gives me the confidence needed to "glue" it all up.

I did buy some 90 degree long sweeps to avoid sharp turns and coming down from the external box I'm only doing 45 degree turns to offset the pipes. The valves are going right at the bulkhead at the sump level but I got some high-quality ball valves instead of gate valves.....can I get away with them or are gate valves an absolute must?

Long sweeps are nice, and look awesome when you have multiple stacked together.

I don't know about the ball valves, I've only used gate valves on full siphon drains. I imagine you should be ok, but I'm not sure how accurate they can be. You could be fighting going back and forth depending on how accurate they can be.

 

[BZOFIQ]

225 gal tank, MM 2400 overflow, 1.5" drains. Roughly 950-1000 gals and hour flow rate. You can look at my build thread for more photos.

@Billldg

BTW This looks mightly clean!