DIY overflow system

[chuahs]

when you first install this overflow pipe, what is the most convenient way to get the siphoning started?

[rockfish]

hey rockfish ,how are u ,yes you right there a square overflow system at my tank on the back left corner that where i can insert my whole pipe in without the skimmer part .But my concern is that when i off my pump to feed the fish will the water level still able to maintain ans also will it auto-flow again when i switch on my pump again tks bro .Cause i thought once the pump suck finsih the water it be enpty inside and i had to pur in water agaian when i start the pump again.

hey gerald,

if u make the pipe properly, it should maintain the siphon and auto start when u restart ur pump.

[rockfish]

huh??? u mean u do it during office hrs?

ssshhh... hey bro .. dun tell boss okay .. haha...

[rockfish]

when you first install this overflow pipe, what is the most convenient way to get the siphoning started?

wat i did was to close the ball valve at the bottom of the pipe, then suck thru the open end of the top pipe.

thats the fastest and best way i tried so far.

the after u starts to taste salt water liao .. means u can stop ###### and proceed to open the ball valve.. then .. it should work ..

repeat the process if it doesn't work, until u are sick of drink salt water .. haha

[sy8]

Hi Melvin,

Read all the thread and what can I say I take my hat off on your design.

The only thing still bothers me is the Adjustable surface skimmer, how is it made adjustable as I have complete making one but yet to try as the adjustable part is cracking me.

Pls pls advise

and yes it is one awesome DIY

[sy8]

Hi Melvin,

Read all the thread and what can I say I take my hat off on your design.

The only thing still bothers me is the Adjustable surface skimmer, how is it made adjustable as I have complete making one but yet to try as the adjustable part is cracking me.

Pls pls advise

and yes it is one awesome DIY

[rockfish]

Hi Melvin,

Read all the thread and what can I say I take my hat off on your design.

The only thing still bothers me is the Adjustable surface skimmer, how is it made adjustable as I have complete making one but yet to try as the adjustable part is cracking me.

Pls pls advise

and yes it is one awesome DIY

[rockfish]

i woundn't be able to post the pic soon... my pc exploded rite in front of me yesterday .. got smoke coming out from the back somemore ..

[Travy]

i woundn't be able to post the pic soon... my pc exploded rite in front of me yesterday .. got smoke coming out from the back somemore ..

HAHAHA!

So scary!

BTW thanks for the OverFlow rockfish!

[Travy]

i woundn't be able to post the pic soon... my pc exploded rite in front of me yesterday .. got smoke coming out from the back somemore ..

HAHAHA!

So scary!

BTW thanks for the OverFlow rockfish!

[boxfish]

Hi,

As suggested by one of the reefers, if teh portion with the end-cap is higher than the overflow portion, can I just pour water in instead of ######?

Also if I replace the end cap with a ball valve then I can close the valve (not totally) for better flow?

anyone tested?

[rockfish]

hi box fish,

actually the tube with end cap have to be higher than the overflow. and yes, u can top up water there instead of ######. i personally feel that topping up water is messy ..

and yes u can put a ball valve there. closing the ball valve will induce faster flow .. and fully closed will be a full siphon..

[rockfish]

HAHAHA!

So scary!

BTW thanks for the OverFlow rockfish!

hey travy,

hows the overflow flowing .. ?? working fine .. ?? update me ..

[Travy]

hey travy,

hows the overflow flowing .. ?? working fine .. ?? update me ..

Tested it on a pail of water... so far so good.

In the middle of putting up my sump system... (aka sticking glass and all...)

and after that hav to do piping all.... anyone offering free help? HAHAHA!!!

[boxfish]

Tested the overflow without the surface skimming portion just to make sure water flow rate is ok but water flow is very slow if I use ###### for initial start..... why?

Then I remove the U-turn ###### output portion and tried with just the basic siphon and water flow was like a tap....while the water is still flowing, I put back the U portion and waterflow was reduced by 20-30% but at least much better than using ###### method. However this is a very awkward method ... reminds me of the nightmare when I was using Eheim filter...

I suppose the ###### method can't fill the entire tube with water that's why the flow is low?

Also tested initial start with a taller tube for the "end-cap" portion but can't start...

Can the expert enlighten me? is there a better method?

If the ###### method works for you, pls advice what to look out for during the process. Thanks

[rockfish]

Tested the overflow without the surface skimming portion just to make sure water flow rate is ok but water flow is very slow if I use ###### for initial start..... why?

Then I remove the U-turn ###### output portion and tried with just the basic siphon and water flow was like a tap....while the water is still flowing, I put back the U portion and waterflow was reduced by 20-30% but at least much better than using ###### method. However this is a very awkward method ... reminds me of the nightmare when I was using Eheim filter...

I suppose the ###### method can't fill the entire tube with water that's why the flow is low?

Also tested initial start with a taller tube for the "end-cap" portion but can't start...

Can the expert enlighten me? is there a better method?

If the ###### method works for you, pls advice what to look out for during the process. Thanks

if the water din flow as well using the initial start, that mean there is still air trap inside the tube...

of coz a basic siphon will flow faster than this system, becoz it is not control by atm pressure.

atm pressure is a factor that is important in this system as it help maintain the siphon in the tube for ur autostart.

wat i suggest is ..

1. dun stop ###### until u really taste the salt water..( reduce air trap in the pipe)

2. put on a end cap that have not been drill with hole..( to make it a full siphon)

3. open the ball valve to let the system run..( let the water run for some time)

4. u will realised the the speed of the flow increase as it flows.. ( its getting rid of the air trap)

5. after the water reach the full speed, replace the end cap with the one that got a hole drilled in it. ( u will realised the the flow is slower than the full siphon, but thats normal)

this step will be the same as the step that u do ..

"Then I remove the U-turn ###### output portion and tried with just the basic siphon and water flow was like a tap....while the water is still flowing, I put back the U portion and waterflow was reduced by 20-30% but at least much better than using ###### method. However this is a very awkward method ... reminds me of the nightmare when I was using Eheim filter..."

[boxfish]

thanks rockfish.

how many time have you tasted your tank water?

[rockfish]

uncountable times.. a few times a week. will taste it when even i test out my diy stuff..

seems a bit addicting .. haha

[dandelion76]

I have DIYed the same over-flow for my system.

Also tested initial start with a taller tube for the "end-cap" portion but can't start...

You can actually start the siphon by this method.

1. Close the outlet of the overflow with end-cap (or turn off the ball valve if you have one in the outlet).

2. Fill the "taller tube" with water until almost overflow.

3. Cover the "taller tube" with your end cap or something that is airtight (I use a drilled end-cap and cover the drilled hole with my finger ).

4. Turn on your return pump and let the water filled to about 1" - 1.5" above the surface skimmer's opening.

5. Here's the crucial step. Release the end cap at the over flow outlet, water will now flowing out from the over-flow pipe to you sump. DON'T release the "taller tube" end cap yet untill the siphon has established. (usually when the water level has almost reduced to the skimmer's opening the siphon should have well established).

It's better to cover the "taller tube" opening with a drilled end cap for two reasons:

1. Reduce of noise

2. Auto-break (and thus a half siphon is maintained) and Auto-start of siphoning.

In addition, you can't compare the flow rate of this design to that of direct siphoning. The opening at the "taller tube" to atmospheric pressure reduce the siphoning power of the over-flow pipe, but yet it's important to have this opening or else your siphon will break and would not start automatically when your return pump is turned off for feeding/maintanence/power break down OR once the water level in your surface skimmer is lower than the intake opening.

To increase the overflow rate, you can either increase the size of the over-flow pipe or increase the height difference between the tank water level to the siphon break-off point (lower level of the "T" section of the over-flow pipe).

By using a larger overflow pipe, pressure lost along the pipe will be reduced (smaller pipe resulted in larger pressure lost compare to larger pipe for a given length, that's why very large pipes are used in transporting water from JB to Singapore ). By using a larger pipe, the reduction in pressure lost will improve the flow rate.

The increased in the height difference actually increases the "pressure" of the siphoning (it's the same kind of pressure (head) in the pumps we used, so 1 feet difference will translate in the 1 feet of pressure head). The larger the difference in height, the larger the siphoning pressure. So after going through the many twists and turns in your overflow pipe the water would still have more "pressure" left to rush it thru the overflow outlet, and thus the higher flowrate of your over-flow system.

Hope this help.

[rockfish]

Wow bro!!

i admire ur patience man! i write all those in point form already typed until half dead already.. u went further to elaborate so much .. quite detail, i got to admit ..

maybe u can write user manuel for this tubes haha..

way to go bro

[dandelion76]

Ha ha... bro can consider your idea... may be I typed the manual and u print them out for those who needs it?

I have made a new one with sloted PVC pipe as surface skimmer as shown by bro melvin. Will post some photos tomorrow or sunday. I have figure out way to secure the skimmer to the over-flow using PVC reducer (but needs some cutting, tapping work). Will share them later.

[cheese]

Hi Bros,

Finally done! I think it took me almost a year to absorb all the info given by all the helpful & kind bros here, squeeze out a design that IMHO suit the Juwel tank. Here's what I made for my 100cm Juwel tank using 1/2" PVC. The T-joint has yet to attach with the 'taller' pipe for ######.

On the left is the return. Still need to add 1 more valve along the main return line to control the branching flow to the UV.

[cheese]

By using dandelion76's method in starting the flow, here's the how the receiving end like. The flow is really powerful and splashing! And sounds like water fall.

[cheese]

Here's what I do for the overflow. Silicone a black tinted glass box. Ha, ha finally all can see how it looks like inside the overflow box! The water level shown is the stablished situation. It will stay there unless,

1. the pump is off - the water level inside the glass box will go down until the T-joint (till slight below the level of the horizontal pipe behind the tank as shown) then stop.

2. if the output valve of the overflow pipe is shutoff (i.e. stop the output from the overflow) , the water level inside the box will raise till the sump tank empty (worse case, I mean).

For both cases, when the pump is on back/the output is open again, the water level inside the box will raise/drop back to the level as shown again. The output will restore back to as powerful as before. No need to reinitialise the flow.

[cheese]

When water is added to the main tank the water level inside the box will just raise, then it will drop back and stablise to the same level again. The height of that stablised level, I believe, which is also logically, depend on the return pump power.

Well, will let it run for a few days to check for leak, install the additional valve onto the main return line, clean the tank, well, I think that's when my marine hobby should kick off. Unfortunately, my $ dun maintain strong just like that water level inside the box. So, will go real slow at a time.

Till then, once again, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all the bros who have shared their experience & goodies, which are really benefittial and also helps to spread the hobby. THANK YOU ALL!!!

CHEERS!

Here's another picture.