plumbing Q

[Beradd]

I acquired a used 65 gal 4 foot long aquarium that was a whole package lights pumps and all the goodies. One thing has me scratching my head though. the tank Is drilled with a single 2 Inch hole ...the plumbing that goes through the hole is in the pic below.....it has the larger outer overflow...but the return line runs up the center and is pretty much just pressure fit in there when the two pieces are joined.... I was considering doing away with the return line up the center an going with a normal over he side return hose... does anyone here have any experience with this kind of plumbing? should I leave it be or....plug the return hole in the bottom and just remove the top bend and inner pipe? or trust in it and set it up as intended?

 

[Flameback Pair]

strange plumbing

 

[gtbarsi]

No 1st hand experience, but I see how it would work. If engineered right it could be pretty cool.

Looks like it is indented to not be full syphon drain, with a durso at the sump to keep things quiet. The return going back up through the pipe takes advantage of the large 2" pile and the fact that the water is going to naturally go down the sides of the pipe leaving the middle open.

If it is sized correctly for the flow of the return pump it could work nicely given that it is using a singe 2" bulkhead and would not need much space the overflow box could be fairly shallow.

This said I personally would never go for this, I'd rather have a tight cost to cost overflow going to an external overflow box with a bean animal drain system, then 2 returns through the back wall.

I say cycle the tank and see how well it works, if it is noisy, does not handle water evaporation well, and can not move the volume you are looking for then consider replacing it. Keep in mind that unless you have multiple drains you are going to be dealing with issues with at least to of the three items I mentioned earlier...

 

[blurry]

someone spent time thinking of that and putting it together! it's a neat idea and likely works, though the flow rate is probably limited to some extent.

personaly I would be concerned about leaks where the return tube goes through. I prefer to err on the side of paranoi with water leaks and would replace with a regular durso and run the return over the back or drill a hole (checking for tempered glass forst)

 

[Mtwreef]

Wow that's different I would probably run returns over the top and keep drain as open and clear as possible seems more likely to get a clog and have issues down the road but that just my thoughts

 

[Beradd]

i have a bit before this tank gets set up. i need to move to give it a better more stable home. (currently on the second floor condo ...don't trust myself with water splash and catastrophe here) so i could drill it again and do any mods. the pump seems like it would be fine for the opening of the overflow.. i don't know the actual pump name and gph as is running my 20 L atm ..i can look later...So im interested in seeing what its like but not till i can be somewhere safer to test it out.... but in my mind i was thinking of taking the center pipe out and looking into some of the neat return options that can be done while the tank is dry. so if u have any opinions for me please let em fly . i know there is good stuff out there just being away from the hobby so long i don't know specifics. i will probably keep the return pump on the slower end so that my skimmer and in sump fuge get to be utilized more versus water flying by them both.
this tank will be high light high flow mixed reef ...SPS and paly/zoe mostly ...i think i want one of those sexy yellow or rainbow BTA but may set up a separate tank just for a nem and clown pair and hook it into the main sump. thank you guys for your opinions so far..