Overflow Question

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clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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Fargo, ND
Is there a way to get water from an external overflow box to the sump without tons of air bubbles without turning a ball valve down to half? I would like to utilize the full flow of both the overflow and return in my tank but am frustrated with trying to figure out how to eliminate all of those bubbles. Yes the sump has a bubble trap, but the small bubbles still make it past into the return area and back up to the tank.. If I turn down the overflow to half via a ball valve I eliminate those bubbles.
 

NapoliNewJersey

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Mar 14, 2007
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There are a couple of ways...

-Like Grins said you can use a Filter Sock... in my opinion its the best way. You have to change your filter sock every 4 days to a week depending ... but if you have a backup you can change it and just rinse the dirty one and use it as your next back up. So you'll need 2.

-You can also have your pvc go to the bottom of the sump and cut holes/slits in the bottom of the PVC and the water will flow out instead of cascade into the sump causing bubbles.

-You could also just build bubble trapping baffles into your sump and let the bubbles go through them. For added improvment you can put chemipure pouches in the baffles and you can clean your water and get rid of bubbles.
 

clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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I will try the filter sock, but I also think I am going to try some floss between the bubble trap baffles as well.
 

clown-lover

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Ok so here was the ultimate answer. Did a DIY.. Added a tower to the sump to hold LR rubble with teeth at the bottom. I do have a filter sock over the overflow pipe to catch left over food after feeding. (I took tower idea from Melev's site and how he has updated my sump that I have). Then I added a 3/4 u-tube (so I have the 1.25" U-Tube that came with the LifeReef and the new one) to increase the flow from the inner overflow to the outer overflow. I then also stuck the "silencer tube" into the inner overflow box. I can now run the overflow at about 80% of the 1" PVC without getting bubbles and have the return at full bore.. (I am thinking of taking some clear PVC tubing this weekend, filling it with sand, heating it up and bending a 1" U Tube)..

As an additional precaution just in case bubbles do happen during this trial period, I placed a layer of floss between the skimmer section and the return section to hopefully break the bubbles or trap them.

All seems to be working smoothly as of tonight.. (we completed the final installation of the floss)..

Thanks for everyones help..
 

clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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Yep.. Thats why when I bought the setup I didn't hesitate about the price. I am horribly bad working with acrylic and this was part of the deal.. But I have a new friend that builds sumps on the side as well, and he made the piece for me and glued it in.. The painful part was completely breaking down the sump while we did the work..
 

Grins

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May 1, 2007
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I've worked with acrylic before but it has never had to hold water. I'm kinda tempted to chicken out and buy one of those $1 per gallon tanks at the Petco sale and then just do the extras with glass or plexi. Downside being that it won't be the size I really want and if we're doing all this work it seems we should get the max size we can fit under the new stand.

Eh...decisions, I'll deal with that another day.
 

clown-lover

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I can give you all the dimensions of the F series that I have if you want.. Personally I'd go with the plexiglass. However I was talking with a guy from the club we are starting up and he was talking about how he bought some cheap plexi that must have expanded when it was in the water, because it broke the tank sump he made right on the line where he had the divider baffle on both sides (front and back). He even left an eighth of an inch so it wasn't an exact fit... He ended up with 20 gallons on his floor.

If you are questioning your welding skills, use some silicone on the seams like they do tanks. Thats what I did with the tower I put in mine..
 
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