Gate valve on drain line

[Garth Schafluetzel]

ok so i raised my stand and added my diy 35 fuge to my system sitting on the floor in the room beside the tank problem is the fuge is getting to much flow and the pump cant keep up i added my water change pump (a power head 802) and have it pumping water up to the overflow of my 75 and everything stays level i was thing i could use a gate valve and restric the flow a little bit and mark the sweet spot on the valve any one see an issue with this? or any other ideas ?

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

another question while im here befor work if i use SE 400wat radiums do i need to mount a pane of glass ive read that u need it with DE but im unsure on SE ive seen allot of setups with out them

 

[Russellaqua]

I once did the same thing on a 40BR going into a 20L sump. It takes a little work to get it properly adjusted but it worked.

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

well i figure if i can add a powerdeah to it and everything is fine i should be able to barly close the gate valve and get it going correctly once i find the sweet spot ill mark just like with my skimmer lol

 

[BluegrassReef]

the se bulbs do not need a glass shield they have the uv blocking built in only de(hqi)bulbs need the glass shield and it as to be tempered. regular glass will not work. I found that out the hard way.

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

thanks for the heads up thats what i thought but im ordering 2 400wat se icecap retro's in the next week or so for my christmas present lol and im going with 400wat radiums ill be hanging them above my 125mixed reef

 

[rocko918]

here is what happened to me when i put a ballvalve on my return. ( not my current setup).

I had a turbo snail go over the over flow and get stuck between the valve and the side of the pipe. This slowed down the flow which over flowed the tank and drained the sump, plus the auto topoff kicked on. So i will never put a valve of any kind on my over flow return.

if you have a sump, pump the water from the sump to the fuge and lift the fuge up a bit and let if flow back into the sump.

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

its temperd glass lol and i have 2 overflows on my main display incase of this happing and worst case the pump runs dry and burns up hey im only out 50 bucks and but i have it set perfect with the extra power head in there i will try the valve tomorrow but wont glue anything yet but i think this is just the way i will have to go its risky but everyone told me agenst HOB overflow and i would loveto drill my tanks dont get me wrong but the have never failed knok on wood in 3 years

 

[Poseidon]

Never restrict the overflow, use the valve on the return. If you want to, you can put a T in the return line and divert the flow back into the sump.

 

[gparr]

Restrictions in drains lead to floods on floors.
Gary

 

[gparr]

As I think about it, how is it you're getting more flow into your sump than is coming into your tank? Seems like the water level can only go as low as the lowest edge of your overflow. Once it gets below that, flow to the drain should stop. Thus, the amount of water that goes down the drain should be close to what is delivered through the return. Or am I not understanding your setup?
Gary

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

well my setup isnt quit easy to understand ill try one more time to describe it i have 2 overflows on my main dt i have 1 overflow on my pred tank all 3 were plumbed to a commen sump but when i redid everything i redirected one of the drains on the main tank to my back room besdie the 75 for my mangrove fuge my problem is the fuge is overflowing very slowly my sump is fine just my pump isnt keeping up so thats why i was thinking a gate valve would do the trick i just dont know anything else to try

 

[gparr]

Makes more sense now. The principle still holds. A valve anywhere after the pump will work and should give you the control you need. Putting any control in a drain is simply a recipe for trouble.

Can you use a smaller drainline to the mangrove fuge, using some kind of reducer coupling, and just let the DT drains to the main sump take more water? As was described earlier, if you put any kind of valve in a drain, all it takes is one adventerous hermit and you have trouble, not to mention the fact that drain water is dirty water and will carry debris/organics that will build up on a valve opening, unseen to you.
Gary

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

i see what your saying but i dont honestly see how puttin a T on my return line to send some back to the sump would help lol sorry if i seem stuborn this just bothers me because this was the last part of this endover and i cant get it right i have it rigged right now i might just leav it like that and see if i cant get one of the locals by here and they can give me a better idea. so calling any CRC members who r free this afternoon please stop by and help shoot me a pm if you think you can.

 

[Poseidon]

Putting in the T will allow water that would otherwise go into the DT to be directed into the sump. If the water is not added to the DT, it won't need to go down the overflow. Think of it as a loop....

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

i see what your saying i actualy have i spliter i could attemp this with but will this keep my fuge from getting to much water?

 

[Poseidon]

It looks like it. As you describe it, your DT drains to your fuge, and then the fuge to the sump right.

If so, then by putting LESS water in the display, it will keep the fuge from flooding.

 

[Garth Schafluetzel]

sorry its hard to describe but my dt has 2 drains 1 to the sump one to the fuge. the sump is under the tank and the fuge is is in my fishroom on the floor. i also have a predetor tank plumbed to the sump. i have 2 returns that go to the main dt one in the sump and one in the fuge and there is also a mag 7 returning water from the sump into the fishroom for my predetor tank.