Drilling for the return line?

[royaleFork]

Hi,

I just got done drilling a hold for my overflow box on my 55 gallon tank and am wondering if I need to drill a hole for the return line or if that can just go over the top?

Thanks!

 

[AZDesertRat]

Drilled gives it a more finished look but over the top will work.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I came up over the top....to four loc-lines.

I didn't want to drill for the returns because that would be too low in the tank and cause for too much drain-back into the sump when the pumps were turned off.

 

[Dalmatia]

I came up over the top....to four loc-lines.

I didn't want to drill for the returns because that would be too low in the tank and cause for too much drain-back into the sump when the pumps were turned off.

The water will still syphon out of your returns unless you have a ball valve joint

 

[cymonous]

You can do either or.

 

[VicD81]

A ball valve will not stop a siphon in the even of a power outage (Unless you are there to shut it off). Maybe you meant a check valve but they have a tenancy to fail over time.

You can go over top of through the glass. Gust keep the nozzles fairly close to the surface to break the siphon ASAP.

 

[tigerdragon]

I use wye check valves got from BRS you can take apart and clean

 

[Dalmatia]

A ball valve will not stop a siphon in the even of a power outage (Unless you are there to shut it off). Maybe you meant a check valve but they have a tenancy to fail over time.

You can go over top of through the glass. Gust keep the nozzles fairly close to the surface to break the siphon ASAP.

Ya sorry.
That's how my returns are, maybe 3/4" under the water level

 

[sawdonkey]

I drill little holes in the top of my lock line Y so it breaks the siphon more easily. It also shoots a little stream of water out and agitates the surface.

 

[Dalmatia]

I drill little holes in the top of my lock line Y so it breaks the siphon more easily. It also shoots a little stream of water out and agitates the surface.

A pic

 

[redfishbluefish]

The way I made my siphon breaks was to take a threaded PVC coupling and drilled a hole to fit 1/4 inch tubing....the same stuff on our RO/DI units. I epoxied that tube into the hole and cut the tubing just below the water line. This siphon break coupling went between the LocLine and the plumbing coming up from the sump.

 

[Kworker]

Just go over the top and position the return high enough so that when you turn the entire system off it does not overflow your sump. I turn my entire system off 2-3 times a day to feed.

 

[Dalmatia]

The way I made my siphon breaks was to take a threaded PVC coupling and drilled a hole to fit 1/4 inch tubing....the same stuff on our RO/DI units. I epoxied that tube into the hole and cut the tubing just below the water line. This siphon break coupling went between the LocLine and the plumbing coming up from the sump.

Ummm I think I like it

 

[sawdonkey]

A pic

Sure. Not that complex. Just drill a hole in the Y. Then put it so the hole shoots water out on top or your tank water surface. It creates a siphon break and agitates the surface.

 

[VicD81]

I was thinking about doing this but read too many negative things about it which makes sense. Any small debris even a snail slithering over it can clog it and will not break siphon. so I just keep my nozzles close to the surface.

 

[Mike in CT]

+1 with drilling a hole...., 2 holes in fact is recommended just in case one gets clogged.

 

[Dalmatia]

+1 with drilling a hole...., 2 holes in fact is recommended just in case one gets clogged.

Hmm,, I think I'll stick with the return on top and let my pumps do the action

 

[Goodair]

This thread answered same question I was gonna ask! Thank you everyone