Dual overflows joining up

[Reefrookie733]

I have dual overflows for my 200G tank, based on this image can i join the 2 siphon drain pipes and the 2 emergency drain pipes together to run into the sump or does it need to be 4 individual pipes?

Also, is this the level at which they should be in the sump, i am assuming so based on the pic but i wanted mine to use a filter sock???


Thanks!

 

[Sweet Reef Corals]

I personally would not impede either main siphon drain. I would keep those separated. Impeding those would be asking for trouble in my opinion.

I probably would “T” all the other drains together though...

 

[Albertan22]

I would keep them all separated. If you Tee’d the emergency drains and for some reason needed to use them, their capacity wouldn’t be as high as the two independent siphons. If you do decide to combine the siphons, I could see there maybe being issues tuning them. You would certainly be reducing the capacity of the drains unless you did some calculations to figure how how to upsize the pipe after the tee (beyond me). Assuming a reduction in drain capacity, you would have to downsize or throttle back your return pump.

In terms of the location in the sump. You want the lines submerged about an inch to facilitate the siphon starting up. If you dump the pipe above the water line it will be so noisy you may as well do a Durso and not bother with a siphon.

 

[Plecosam]

If you join them you will get noise coming back up the emergency drain, it will be quite annoying.

 

[Dom]

I would think joining them would be okay, as long as they come together in a pipe that is the combined width of the two drains. As an example, (2) 1 inch pipes draining into (1) 2 inch pipe.

 

[Reefrookie733]

I personally would not impede either main siphon drain. I would keep those separated. Impeding those would be asking for trouble in my opinion.

I probably would “T” all the other drains together though...

Thank you!!!

 

[Reefrookie733]

I would think joining them would be okay, as long as they come together in a pipe that is the combined width of the two drains. As an example, (2) 1 inch pipes draining into (1) 2 inch pipe.

Thank you!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I have my 200 gallon tank set up with two... one primary drain piped to the entryway of my sump. I have my overflow plumbed as a real overflow... and to be honest, I am thinking of changing that setup. I think I can change the overflow to a part of the primary drain system. (There is a secondary connection on my sump for it) I’d have to increase the flow rate of my return pump, but it would really increase the gallons per hour flowing through the filtration system.

Imma follow this thread : )

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

If you join them you will get noise coming back up the emergency drain, it will be quite annoying.

Why is that : )

 

[Reefrookie733]

I have my 200 gallon tank set up with two... one primary drain piped to the entryway of my sump. I have my overflow plumbed as a real overflow... and to be honest, I am thinking of changing that setup. I think I can change the overflow to a part of the primary drain system. (There is a secondary connection on my sump for it) I’d have to increase the flow rate of my return pump, but it would really increase the gallons per hour flowing through the filtration system.

Imma follow this thread : )

Hey man! just setting up my 200G for the first time and trying to get the plumbing thing down....this thing is tougher than that video i watched on youtube! lol
If you dont mind can you seen me some pics of your setup if possible?

Appreciate it!
Wes

 

[Reefrookie733]

Soooo....the short answer is i should just stick to 4 piped lines coming into my sump from those drains!

But...if they are 1 inch under the water how do i use a filter sock on them Albert???

 

[Reefrookie733]

I would keep them all separated. If you Tee’d the emergency drains and for some reason needed to use them, their capacity wouldn’t be as high as the two independent siphons. If you do decide to combine the siphons, I could see there maybe being issues tuning them. You would certainly be reducing the capacity of the drains unless you did some calculations to figure how how to upsize the pipe after the tee (beyond me). Assuming a reduction in drain capacity, you would have to downsize or throttle back your return pump.

In terms of the location in the sump. You want the lines submerged about an inch to facilitate the siphon starting up. If you dump the pipe above the water line it will be so noisy you may as well do a Durso and not bother with a siphon.

Sorry i meant for the other reply to be to you regarding the 1 inch below the water level in sump

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Hey man! just setting up my 200G for the first time and trying to get the plumbing thing down....this thing is tougher than that video i watched on youtube! lol
If you dont mind can you seen me some pics of your setup if possible?

Appreciate it!
Wes

It’s on my build thread, but yeah... of course. You cannot really see the bottom of my overflow in the pics below... but you should be able to tell what’s going on The first pic is the primary drain line.. the 2nd 2 are of the overflow... I am not a good enough photographer to give you a pic of the inside of the overflow..

Does this help?

 

[Albertan22]

Sorry i meant for the other reply to be to you regarding the 1 inch below the water level in sump

I’m not sure how people do it when their sump doesn’t come with built in sock holders/chambers. In my sump the pipes flow into a plunge chamber which is a small but tall chamber basically designed for the pipes to come in and stay below water. It then overflows into the sock rack where the socks are hanging. If you want the pipe to dump right into the sock, you could put a union right above the sock so you could remove a short length. You could also just put a coupling there instead of a union and not glue the last piece, that would give you the ability to change the length of that pipe easier if needed. I had something like that setup on my last tank since I made that pipe too long and ended up having to cut it out to quiet the whole setup down.

 

[Plecosam]

Why is that : )

I tried running both a 1" emergency and 1" full siphon drain tee'd into a 2" filter sock holder. The noise of the siphon drain was gurgling and echoing back up the durso emergency drain, it was very annoying.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I tried running both a 1" emergency and 1" full siphon drain tee'd into a 2" filter sock holder. The noise of the siphon drain was gurgling and echoing back up the durso emergency drain, it was very annoying.

Good info! That had not occurred to me at all. Thank you

 

[Reefrookie733]

I’m not sure how people do it when their sump doesn’t come with built in sock holders/chambers. In my sump the pipes flow into a plunge chamber which is a small but tall chamber basically designed for the pipes to come in and stay below water. It then overflows into the sock rack where the socks are hanging. If you want the pipe to dump right into the sock, you could put a union right above the sock so you could remove a short length. You could also just put a coupling there instead of a union and not glue the last piece, that would give you the ability to change the length of that pipe easier if needed. I had something like that setup on my last tank since I made that pipe too long and ended up having to cut it out to quiet the whole setup down.

Thanks man! Since my sump is older i think i will have to do an add-on sock and pipe job to get it tweaked correctly.

 

[Reefrookie733]

I tried running both a 1" emergency and 1" full siphon drain tee'd into a 2" filter sock holder. The noise of the siphon drain was gurgling and echoing back up the durso emergency drain, it was very annoying.

So in reality the emergency drain will not have any water in it unless the pump stops for some reason??

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

So in reality the emergency drain will not have any water in it unless the pump stops for some reason??

The emergen you overflow pipe is usually plumbed to be higher than the natural water level in the overflow... that way it doesn’t really get used unless the water level rises. It seems to me all you’d have to do is plumb the top of that pipe shorter and it would always stay full.... and then become part of your normal drainage system.

please know I am not one of the experts on this forum.... I am still a rookie at this hobby.

 

[Plecosam]

I run the water level quite high in my overflows, my emergency drains are just flowing, by this I mean the tiniest trickle of water. This gives me the quietest running system, but perhaps not the safest or most optimal to the purest. I also ensure both the emergency and siphon drains are both out flowing under the sump water level, this removes any gurgling or trickling noises.

When I ran filter socks, I drilled a hole close to the main drain in the perspex filter holder, both drains ran into a 7" sock. The sock holder, still has the 50mm and 25mm bulkheads.