Can I still call this a Durso?

[Dom]

So I'm putting together a small tank with spare parts I have around. And I came up with this idea for the drain:



Can I still consider it a Durso? But more importantly, does anyone see anything wrong with this configuration?"

 

[Jamie814]

It would work but your water level in the tank is going to be very low. You'll also want a cap with a hole in it on the pvc pipe on top of the tee or it will be noisy.

 

[Boehmtown]

If your return gets clogged, it's gonna come out of the top pipe

 

[Jamie814]

If your return gets clogged, it's gonna come out of the top pipe

This is the OP's drain line, not return.

 

[Dom]

It would work but your water level in the tank is going to be very low. You'll also want a cap with a hole in it on the pvc pipe on top of the tee or it will be noisy

Yes, I hadn't though of that. The water level will be too low.

Thank you!

 

[Dom]

If your return gets clogged, it's gonna come out of the top pipe

The picture is of my drain line.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

You can turn the drain up to control water level. You would have been better drilling your hole lower and have the drain pointed straight up. But it will make noise. I did this on a frag tank

 

[cilyjr]

So I'm putting together a small tank with spare parts I have around. And I came up with this idea for the drain:



Can I still consider it a Durso? But more importantly, does anyone see anything wrong with this configuration?"

Its an external durso. They were fairly common in the late 90s to min 2000s.
Turn the internal elbow at an angle to control water level.
Cap (don't glue) the top of the breather pipe and drill a small hole in it. Adjust hole size to help with noise.

 

[Boehmtown]

The picture is of my drain line.

I meant drain. If your drain gets clogged

 

[Dom]

I meant drain. If your drain gets clogged

I thought you meant drain... and I hoped the screen on the end would prevent that from happening.

But overall, I don't think this will be a good without installing an overflow box.

 

[o2manyfish]

You need to turn the elbow inside the tank around so it's facing up. Your design is pulling the water from the middle of the tank. With a reef aquarium, and most salt water - you want to pull the water off from the surface of the aquarium. You may need to cut the elbow to make it shorter so that the water level isn't too close to the top of the tank.

If you don't pull from the surface then proteins and orgranics build up on the surface and create what looks like a oily skin. These not only are not pretty to look at but impede gas exchange between the aquarium water and the outside air.

Dave B

 

[Dom]

You need to turn the elbow inside the tank around so it's facing up. Your design is pulling the water from the middle of the tank. With a reef aquarium, and most salt water - you want to pull the water off from the surface of the aquarium. You may need to cut the elbow to make it shorter so that the water level isn't too close to the top of the tank.

If you don't pull from the surface then proteins and orgranics build up on the surface and create what looks like a oily skin. These not only are not pretty to look at but impede gas exchange between the aquarium water and the outside air.

Dave B

I have since moved on from the design in the picture.

I’m just gonna go with an internal overflow box. I just hope I have one small enough not to take up the tank.