Sump return question.

[Latitude_change]

I am in the process of setting up my sump. I have been reading alot and have viewed Melevsreef.com - Welcome! . That is a great site and extremely helpful. My only question involves the return line. He says to avoid overflow he drills 2 small hole in the return line about 1/2 in down from the water line to use as a siphon break. I have also been reading about others who have added Check Valves in the return line to also solve this issue. Any advice between the 2 methods? What do most people do? Drilling 2 holes is easier and less expensive than buying check valves and actually having to do the plumbing. Is it as effective though? Thanks!

[cmor1701d]

My returns are between 1" and 2: below the water level of the tank. No need to drill any holes in the retrun lines as the siphon breaks naturally as the water level falls.

[MarineFlake]

I drilled my returns as you described. Works perfect. Just need to determine how much flow back your sump can handle and drill appropriately.

GL!

[Ziggy953]

If you have a small sump that can't handle that much water flowing back from the return pump then I suggest drilling the holes. A check valve can fail and you will end up with a flood. Make sure to check those holes every once in a while they can get clogged. When I do a water change on my tank I take a tooth pick and clean them out. I have mine above the water level so I have an instant siphon break.

[Latitude_change]

Ziggy, If you have yours above the water line, isn't water pushed through the holes back into the overflow instead of the tank? I am just wondering about the efficiency and gph circulating.

[Ziggy953]

It's a 1/8 hole...there is only a tiny amount of water coming out of that hole...I have 2 return pumps on my system total of about 1100gph so I'm not worried about that tiny bit of water. I am much more concerned with a power outage and flooding my basement.

Oh and the water coming from those holes goes into my tank not the overflow. I don't have an internal overflow.

[pitt420dude]

I don't have holes drilled and get floods ALL THE TIME!!! It's a pain, lol. I know how to prevent it, I just need to lift my spray bar up out of the water to break the siphone but sometimes I try to cut corners and just "be fast!" It's never much water and only ever happens when my sump is particularly full, so I just deal.

[Latitude_change]

I began setting things up this weekend to do a test on the system. I was just going to go with the drilled hole, but as I set up the return piping, I didn't like the way the plumbing was in the sump, so I decided to try my luck at PVC pipes and fittings. It was surprisingly easy. With that, I added a checkvalve and I am happy to report that all it works fine. Thanks for all the advice!