Cheryl's 165 Gallon upgrade

[CherylMcKay]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

Is that a correct rough summary?

A couple questions:
1: What is that sleeve pipe on the right with the little grooves cut off the top that the drain runs out the back of?
2: Are you looking to have a full siphon system (herbie)? These do tend to be the quietest because there is no air entering the pipes to make any noise.

Yes, that right.

The returns are 1" PVC. The sleeve I have over the one is only for aesthetics. I have plugs on some of my live rock and I use the 4 " PVC sleeve to hang the rock. There isn't one on the left because I kept knocking it off the glue as I couldn't get the weight balanced.

I want a full Herbie, but with no surface skimming I don't know if that is the best idea. I am looking at figuring out how to fix this plumbing with what I have ( I may change the skimming container no matter what.) and then ordering a custom sump, that will work with this setup anyway.

If I end up having to drain the tank to do any work on these pipes I will have a problem as all I have left in the house is a 20 gallon quarantine tank. I would then also consider doing it properly with an external overflow, if I could find someone local to cut my glass.

[daplatapus]

Hmmmm. I think you're right. The easiest (without draining and re-doing you system) is a hang on overflow. I've heard nasty rumours about them and they appear to have a greater risk of flooding for some reason. I've never used or seen one so not sure.
I'm wondering if there is some way either replace the 4" PVC sleeve with one that has overflow teeth and somehow get it to seal where it meets the bottom of the tank to create a centre style overflow. Then you could just cut that one drain so it's 3"-4" below the water line inside that centre overflow. I think you said you have a gate valve, which you would put on that line to control the flow....
I'm just not entirely sure how you could create that seal between the bottom of that 4" PVC and the tank...
As far as the skimmer tub is concerned, if you didn't want to or can't get a full sump yet, try looking for a deeper tub. One that is the same height as you sump. You may also want to either increase the size of the bulkhead joining the 2 or add another one to allow quicker flow for when power fails on you get a sudden rush of water back into the sump system.

That's all I got
Maybe someone else can chime in about creating a centre style overflow in there without tearing it all apart..