Plumbing/Noise Question

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Reef23

Thanks. I have the sump o the ground with my current 75G setup. I was looking to raise the sump but wasn't sure if it mattered how much the plumbing dropped before the vertical run going thru the wall. So it won't matter if I drop say 4" out of the external overflow, then a 90 and a 12"vertical run thru the wall and another 90 with a short piece of pipe so it's submerged under the water in the sump ?

I assume you mean horizontal not vertical? No it wouldn't matter you don't need much drop at all. In a typical setup (non-herbie) the drain is limited to the small amount of pressure that builds up above the standpipe which is less than an inch so realistically you're not limiting your flow as long as the sump water level at least a couple inches below the water level in the overflow. Same rule actually applies to a herbie as you want the emergency drain capable of handling the full flow.

In fact if you can plan it out so the top of the sump is level (or just slightly below) with the top of the tank you have zero chance of a sump overflow. This would allow you to run returns lower in the tank without the concern of back flow siphon and you could run the water level in the sump much higher. Then to boot you're look at reducing your head pressure by at least half so now you only need half the pump.