Ok that helps, thanks. Is your overflow acrylic with black egg crate? That looks like how I might be doing mine.

Another thing Im wondering about, is my skimmer. Its a PM Bullet 2. I would prefer to have it in-line and not in the sump. Is this possible? I feel like an idiot asking but I have no idea??? If I did put it in-line, where "in-line" would you recommend and how is it done?

I know a lot of my questions are pretty basic but you guys are helping so much! I really want to get as much done this weekend as possible but have been really stuck:sad:

Always a good link http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

The standpipe http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

Lots of pictures of plumbing , including CL http://www.oceansmotions.com/forum/v...87fe9e5e1657cf

And for options for standpipe, do a search here for Herbie, haven't actually seen or heard one but understand they're good.

my overflows are glass covered with 1/8" or thinner black acyclic sheet

I think I will go with glass too. Not too sure how acrylic will bond to glass long term...

Thanks for your help Mark.

Everyone here seems to really support the durso idea. I couldn't make a durso run absolutely silently, so I went a different way.

I use the "silent siphon". This method demands that your entire flow can go down one of your drain holes. You can test this by temporarily blocking one of the drain holes to verify the other can take the entire flow.

If that is the case, you put a gate valve on the one overflow and choke back the flow until it just starts to rise in the overflow box. As it rises up, it reaches an equilibrium steady state. You now have 100% of the flow going through that single drain with no air bubbles entering the drain. As there is no air entering, there is no sound. The drain pipe can exit underwater in the sump and there is no bubbling or splashing in the sump.

The 2nd drain is unusued. You put a standpipe on it so that if the 1st drain ever blocks, the 2nd drain will kick in and take the flow. That way, there's no risk of flood.

If you want to see it in operation, come by anytime. It is easier to understand if you see it working.

You and your wacky Ideas. LOL

J

I think I do understand actually. It makes sense. Plus I think that since my drains are both 2" and I do not want that much flow through my refugium and sump anyways, this could work for my set up. I think if my drains were smaller than 2" then it may not work as well. What size are your drains?

Thanks for the idea too.

GSP, the PM bullet 2 can run external, but I'm not sure about inline. I have the bullet 3 for my ceylons' 120g. The guy I purchased it from had the pump fed from a section of his sump that tank water overflowed into. The skimmed water would then drain into the return chamber to be pumped back up into the tank. His overflow gph was higher than the skimmer pump GPH so he did not have to worry about it running dry.

When I eventually hook up my skimmer, it will be in a recirculating fashion. My over flow will be less than half of the GPH of my skimmer pump, so my skimmer will drain into the same chamber as the pump intake.

Not sure if this makes sense. It's a little late and I'm lacked of sleep.

what you got there untamed is described as a Herbie

picture here

and Herbie's 31 page thread on RC

It makes a bit of sense but I still dont really get it:sad:

My overflow will definitely be more GPH than my skimmer pump (mak4). I am really just trying to figure out how to run it externally if not in-line. Basically, I do not want it in my sump.