How does an overflow work

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Awesome news today! I bought a "broken" skimmer for $50, all it needed was a pump, and I thought I could find a replacement pretty easily. Well after I looked at the pump I realized it had an elastic band stuck in it. Pulled it out and now the pump works perfectly! All I'm missing is live rock, salt, sand, a test kit and to figure out this plumbing situation!!!
 
I can't updated my profile off my phone I don't think? And I did mention that I was in Manitoba, I don't want to put the exact location, but if anyone's in the area they can pm me :)
 
I'm sorry for all the newbie questions guys but

1. Does the intake pipe actually go below the water line in the sump? Or above it?

2. I found some connections, and my sump is shorter (length wise) then me tank, so is 2 90 degree turns going to be a problem to line it up to the bulkheads? ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1397662967.762320.jpg

Don't mind the absolutely horrible picture, but I'm hoping it gives you an idea of how I'm planning it, but I don't know if the 90 degree turns will be a problem.
 
Below the water for sure. Otherwise it will be very loud.
I would use flexible pipe...but if not, the elbows won't hurt anything. You are going to want them both at one end, not one on each side.
 
What do you mean both on one side? My tanks drilled with on overflow on each side...
 
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1397692166.930906.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1397692318.980330.jpg

What does everyone think? There not glued into the tank yet, because I'll probably have to adjust it when I get a pump.

Both the drain and return have a ball valve. (I like the convenience of being able to just shut it all off)

Made my very own durso standpipe.

I think for the return I'm going to add some flexible tubing so the water is pushed out more into the tank and not just splashing on the surface, I might add a valve too if I do that (I'm sure my sump could hold the extra water though if there was a power outage)
 
Hey that looks great, hope it works as good as it looks :D

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Yes, that sump isn't making sense. Make both drains enter one side of the sump. Then if you want a refugium compartment, add it, then a bubble trap, then your return pump. It doesn't matter if you have 2 drains. You have 2 drains at opposite sides of the tank so the surface can be skimmed at both sides.
 
I don't think you guys understand.

The left side is my drain, with a durso standpipe.

The right side is my return. That goes up and over the overflow glass.

I don't have two drains, I'm using one as a return instead of going outside the tank.
 
Those partitions that are off of the bottom aren't doing anything. You may have microbubbles in the display because you have no bubble trap. I would have them an inch off of the bottom, so water is forced downward to get to the return area.
You definitely don't need a ball valve on the drain side. This will stop almost immediately when the power goes out.
 
The sump was already designed this way when I bought the tank, so I just worked with what I had. And with all the reading I did, a $5 ball valve just seemed like a good idea, If I want to do anything in the sump, or for some crazy reason have to actually remove the sump, I like the idea of just being able to shut the whole thing down. I know it won't drain if the pump isn't pumping, but I just felt safer having an actual seal to stop it. I also don't think my water flow is going to be significant enough to have to alter the amount of water flow, but since I've never done this before I thought this was another good reason for having one.
 
Well, as long as the flow is slow enough to not get micro bubbles in the DT, it should work ok. No interest in a refugium? You have room if you put the skimmer in the first section.
 
The skimmer doesn't fit in the first section unless I take out one of the panes of glass...
 
I would remove the one that's not touching the bottom then. It's not doing anything anyway. It looks like a nice sized refugium if so.
 
How easy do you think it would be to remove the one pane of glass to accommodate the skimmer an then reseal it lower for a bubble trap? I have aquarium silicone.
 
Just razor blade it out and then silicone it back in where needed. Sort of like reselling an aquarium if you've done that before
 
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