Newbie Plumbing Question

[LarryS]

Hello All:

I had my 45 gal tank drilled - one hole in the back of the glass near the top at each corner. I installed a prefilter box with teeth around the drain bulkhead, mostly to hide the elbow, and because I've seen it that way on predrilled tanks. I have a 1" drain pipe and a Mag 9.5 return pump in the sump. Now, I'm not sure I needed the prefilter box, which has 2 drawbacks, one, it takes up space that can be used for aquascaping, and more importantly, it creates additional noise of waterfall sound from the water entering into the prefilter and hitting the water surface, approx 1 in below. I'm starting to think that if I add a screen to the drain elbow, I will avoid the waterfall sound and increase my room, with no disadvantages.

Am I correct, that if I have a sump which allows gaseous exchange, there is no benefit to the prefilter? Will the water drain as well? All comments welcome.

 

[OrionGirl]

The only possible problem I could see is that you'll need to make sure the drain elbow is close enough to the surface a) to skim the surface and prevent the oily scum build up, and b) that your sump can hold all the water that will drain off in the event of a power failure. The boxes are good for this case, since you can raise them up so a smaller amount of water drains from your tank--once it gets below the lip of the box, no more water comes out.

 

[LarryS]

Thanks for the comments.