Overflow power filter/head

[bortsamson]

You think that instead of having a siphon transfering water between the skimmer box and the overflow box, you had a power filter sucking the water from the skimmer box and then drilling the filter box, which essentialy would act as the overflow box. Or, stick a power head the in the skimmer box and pump the water into the overflow. That way, should the power fail, there would be no worry of flooding.

Ooo, i think I know why that woulndt work, depending on the tank.....you might mince meat any errant fish that end up in there, and i guess the crud buildup would clog the power head/filter, stopping flow DOWN to the sump, but the return motor would keep pumping....and still flood...
but, do you think it could work, besides said issue above?

[OrionGirl]

I have this setup already, though right now I don't have the power turned on, and probably never will. There's a u-tube that goes into an overflow box, pulling water from the tank. I drilled a hole in the side of an AC300 (the bottom has little steps to prevent the normal filter media from packing down on the bottom) that drains to the sump. The problem with running the power filter, other than establishing the siphon, is that you have to have the return pump running at the exact same capacity as the out flow--and even if you purchase two identical pumps and set them up identically, they won't run at exactly the same rate all the time. Eventually, you end up either flooding or running one dry.

[bortsamson]

right, the light bulb just turned on. The siphon will constantly try and keep the water levels the same, depending on the initial flow, whereas the power filter and head would just flow no matter how much/little was in the skimmer, I was just thinkin I might be innovative or something, lol