Sump.

[Ziggy953]

Interesting solution to a noisy problem. I may have to give the up thing a try. And you are right you would need to make a "U" 2 90s but by adding a single 90 you can reduce the sound. Most overflow boxes just dont have the room for it. I have a dual overflow (2 drain lines 1200gph) and I can't use the elbows, not enough room. The cup idea is pretty interesting.

[pitt420dude]

FWIW, I ran a siphon fed overflow on my 55 gal FW for 5 years and it never failed once.

It was a pain to get started though, I'd have to hold plastic over both ends, fill the U tube with water, and then (holding the plastic) flip it upside down and into the skimmerbox/overflow box. If enough water spilled out during the flip, I'd have to re-fill it with water adn try again.

Sometimes a bubble would form in the U-Tube b/c some water spille dout

Also, If I turned the pump off, but forgot to break the siphon, my sump would gradually fill up and overflow if I forgot. It didn't take long for me to learn.

I miss being able to dump buckets for PWC into the sump tank, but other than that I don't miss the siphon/overflow/sump at all.

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by pitt420dude

It was a pain to get started though, I'd have to hold plastic over both ends, fill the U tube with water, and then (holding the plastic) flip it upside down and into the skimmerbox/overflow box. If enough water spilled out during the flip, I'd have to re-fill it with water adn try again.
.

I put airline tubing inside the U-tube and sucked out the air started right up

[Ziggy953]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the filling it with water and flipping it over...Air line and a couple of seconds to suck the air out and you are in business.

BTW, I have to check mine every couple of days to make sure they don't have too much air in them. I restart my overflow at least once a week. I've never had both of them fail but I have certainly had one of the "U" tubes break siphon. My next tank will have built in overflows with a drilled bottom.

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

Yeah, I'm not sure about the filling it with water and flipping it over...Air line and a couple of seconds to suck the air out and you are in business.

BTW, I have to check mine every couple of days to make sure they don't have too much air in them. I restart my overflow at least once a week. I've never had both of them fail but I have certainly had one of the "U" tubes break siphon. My next tank will have built in overflows with a drilled bottom.

My U-tube I only started once and it still has no air at all in it after several months. I have always wondered about drilled tanks the bulkheads are in the bottom of the tank? wouldn't the sand etc.. get sucked into it. Taking water from the surface makes sense but water from the bottom of the tank I don't quite understand how that works.

[Ziggy953]

You probably don't have as much flow going through your overflow as I do mine. As the water pours into the overflow it makes bubbles and they get sucked up into the U tube and eventually enough builds up and I have to restart it. I do have 2 U tubes and 2 drain lines so I've not had a total failure but I do have to keep an eye on it. When I moved my tank a year ago I wish now that I had gone on and drilled it and done away with the overflow box.

[pitt420dude]

Wow, I sure wish I learned about that airline suck trick (sounds dirty doesn't it?) a few years ago.

Ziggy I had enough disturbance in the skimmer box that it would create bubbles; still, the bubbles would get sucked up and right through the U-tube. Maybe because the flow was so fast, and yours is slower? They never collected, they'd just zip right on through.

[Ziggy953]

I have a little over 1200gph going through my return. I'm maxed out so there is a lot of flow. The problem with my overflow box is the part that is inside the tank is not very deep and the bubbles that are created go into the U tubes and collect. I'm not talking about little bubbles I mean large bubbles. I've not had a problem other then having to check it every couple of days to make sure they are running at full capacity.

[cmor1701d]

The cup trick almost works for me on my 125 with 2 corner overflows. I only have the cup on 1 side, and that has quieted it 90%. It still fills then dumps on the other side on occasion, but not nearly as much. When I tried adding a cup to the 2nd overflow it actually got worse.

[austinsdad]

Here's the durso. Somebody asked a few posts ago. It's for the overflow box.

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