How to prevent buildup in overflow boxes!?

[zheka757]

For the first time since 2017 I took my plumbing from my overflow boxes, and boy was is crazy what and how much gunk was at bottom on overflow boxes. It was like 2" of mud there. Maid me think of ways to prevent. one way is clean them more often like I just did. I copied picture from brs website for display only. But what would happened if this portion of pipe shown in picture would be extended all the way down to the bottom of the tank? So It can siphon waste that falls into overflow. I got total of 4 of these drains 2 per box.

 

[lapin]

Sounds good. I would try with 1 first and see how well it works

 

[zheka757]

can i get more input on this please! i mean is there a reason why this is not popular option to do plumbing this way? is this already known failed option?

 

[Reefering1]

1st thought is that if return pump shuts down, siphon will empty the overflow box, raising water level in sump higher than normal. Try it and let us know.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

can i get more input on this please! i mean is there a reason why this is not popular option to do plumbing this way? is this already known failed option?

With the drain pipe extended lower, it may start to act more like bell siphon. If that happens it may be tough to balance it the drain, or at least start a balanced siphon.

At its most basic, this is a bell siphon

In cases of high fill-rates for the top chamber (this would be the similar to an overflow box) it tends to create a strong vacuum once the siphon begins and quickly empties the chamber. These sort of thing can and are sometimes used in surge devices.

I don't know for sure this would happen here, but I it seems like it might. There's only one way to find out - I say build it an see what happens. It would be easily enough to correct if the result is not what you want.

 

[VintageReefer]

I think it would be too difficult to get a siphon started if it had to travel up that high

Easy way to clean is once every 6-12 months vacuum out the bottom with a shop vac

 

[Cthulukelele]

I've found overflow covers help a lot. I use 2 old cutting boards haha. Also having the siphons be removable helps for me. I just pull it out and pour the detritus right into the sump.

 

[Derrick0580]

I few times a year I just put an extra small sicce pump down into my weir and turn it on and leave it for a few days, moving it a couple times to try and stir everything up and into the drains.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I few times a year I just put an extra small sicce pump down into my weir and turn it on and leave it for a few days, moving it a couple times to try and stir everything up and into the drains.

This. I used to do it with a cheap powerhead.

Now I have various cuc living in the overflow on one of my tanks, they get to live out their days, lol.

 

[zheka757]

I've found overflow covers help a lot. I use 2 old cutting boards haha. Also having the siphons be removable helps for me. I just pull it out and pour the detritus right into the sump.

mine are removable also, but this made such a big mess, im still recovering from it. it all went back from sump into the tank, i have no filter socks

 

[Cthulukelele]

mine are removable also, but this made such a big mess, im still recovering from it. it all went back from sump into the tank, i have no filter socks

Do you have a place you could put some filter floss when you do it that you could immediately remove? That would do a lot

 

[VintageReefer]

Do you not have filter sock holders?

 

[gbroadbridge]

I don't worry about it - like the gunk in the sump, it's all part of the ecosystem and I'm sure lots of beneficial critters live in there.

If it ever starts to restrict flow then I'd probably think of a new tank

 

[zheka757]

Thank you all for your input, but like I said this is first time since 2017 I cleaned my overflow box. For no reason other then just something new to do to the tank maintenance. Next will be cleaning out my sump from all the mess that went into it. And I still want to try my original plan. Just need to by more pipe.

 

[VintageReefer]

Do you not have filter sock holders?

 

[zheka757]

@VintageReefer I did at one point, took them down for more space in sump

 

[zheka757]

BTW this was my overflow box back in December

 

[VintageReefer]

@VintageReefer I did at one point, took them down for more space in sump

You couldn’t hook it up temporarily when you clean the overflow box?

 

[VintageReefer]

BTW this was my overflow box back in December

Holy bejeeebus

Why is there cheato in there

This is my overflow box. I use a lid. It has never been cleaned in 10 years

The lid keeps almost all light out so you don’t get algae and stuff growing inside.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you're not using any mechanical filter to catch particulate, then you should welcome the idea that the overflow is catching the debris.

I'm sure by now what's in there was inorganic. The bad thing about stirring it up is that mulm is super fine and will take a long time to resettle from the water column.

I tend to not use filter socks or rollers either, and every 2 years I pull my sump out to remove all the settled waste, and with the return pump off, I wet vac the overflow.