tank overflows

[jason weber]

I am trying to balance the flow rate of two pumps, one bringing water to my refugium one returning water to my sump, it is not an easy thing to do. my question is, if i were to use an overflow to get water from the refugium back to the sump, which is about 18" lower than the refugium, how far horizontally can i run the overflow return line?

 

[reeflooker]

You don't want to have two pumps!!!! You should pump from the sump to the refug and gravity feed back to the sump with an overflow. How far of a horizonal run do you have from the refug to the sump?

 

[jason weber]

yea i found out that you don't want two pumps! i have a four feet horizontal distance with 16" drop

 

[rangermonroe]

In a house 1/4 inch drop per foot is sufficient. That is 1" over four feet. Make it 2" and put an elbow with a 12" down tube. Drill some holes below the elbow to let air out. I use 1 1/2"PVC but I think 2" would be better. I have a drawing of mine but I do not know hoe to send/attach it.

 

[sal t. nutz]

You shouldn't even need an overflow. As long as you can have the refugium and the sump at the same level, you can just run PVC or hose between the 2. You don't have to plumb it or anything, just run a hose from one to the other. Make sure it is a wide hose, I would recomend PVC so that the flow rate is high. Fill the hose/pvc up with water and put one end in each tank. The water level will remain the same height in both tanks.

 

[jason weber]

the sump is under the tank stand and the refugium is outside the satnd and a little higher. so i think i need an overflow. can you put a pump in line with an overflow box to make sure the water gets back into the sump?

 

[broomer5]

There's really no need to try and pump water draining down from an overflow - just let gravity to it's thing.
If the overflow and water level of the refugium is higher than that of the sump - it will drain fine. Horizontal distance will not affect this too much - at least not in our set ups. As long as the drain line slopes down to the sump - it's fine. Especially with such low flows that we use in refugiums.
Just hang the overflow on the refugium, run the drain down to the sump, get a small return pump or in this case a powerhead would work pretty good, run the return tubing back to the refugium, and attach the end of the tubing to the refugium with a PVC fitting ( like a mini spray nozzle ).
That's the simplest way and most reliable in my opinion.

 

[jason weber]

i hooked up the overflow and it works good, i used a mag 7 for the return because to get it to the sump i have about 10' of head pressure, so i used a ball valve to reduce the flow to match the overflow. it seems to be working fine