Readingexcalibur
Aquarium Advice Addict
Couldn't you just make an overflow by putting a PVC pipe in the tank, drill a hole an inch under the water line. Use to L adapters and run down to the sump? If not, why wouldn't it work.
You would have to match the flow from the siphon and return perfectly and then any obstructions would clog it and over fill the tank the over flow box keeps the water at a consistent level
if the over flow is rated for 300 gph you would want to get a pump rated for example over 600gph because with the head height of the return it will take away gph while pushing the water up.....also you would want ball valves on the inline and return line to custom tailor the water going down and the water being pump up....you want it to be even 300gph going down and 300gph going up same time.....me personally i bought the rio 1700 for return pump and had to tweet it with the ball valve as it was pushing to much water up
I would drill that tank, however i am in the middle of a cycle i don't want to miss, my friend has fish and is moving, giving me his antenna lion and Fiji puffer for free. got exactly 1 month to cycle this bad boy! but that's a different thread.The gph of the pump will dictate the overflow gph and if the overflow is not built to handle that it will cause problems (flood or running the pump dry) the best way to go is drill the tank.
so i am looking at the DIY PVC Overflow now. Making it 1inch. looks like thats 345gph. I should put a ball valve on that? also, if i get a pump rated in between 600-700gph, can i put a ball valve on the return line? i would think that would back up the pump and put stress on it.
this makes sense! is there a chart that breaks down how much water pressure you loose based on the height of your system? A DIY aquarium overflow system just seems a lot more cost affective to achieve the same results.
Readingexcalibur said:if i decide to do PVC on the overflow. should i use pvc glue or tank silicone to hold it together?
Readingexcalibur said:Sounds good, thanks, I am assuming this is fish safe.