Reef nutrition

For those that run sump with no filter sock

newhobby said:
I only have one drain pipe and would only feel comfortable doing this if I had 2 drains.
Any difference on volume passing through that gate would affect level on DT, which could possibly lead to a flood, doesn't it?

The level in the DT should be determined by the level of the surface overflow unless the drain cannot handle the flow in which case you have a bigger issue. In general, the drain should handle the amount of water that flows over the overflow.

I have a modified "BeanAnimal" setup with a cost-to-coast overflow:

In my setup, 40" of the 48" inch length of the back of my tank is an overflow. It pulls a long thin stream of water. This drops down into a weir with three drains in it. One is a siphon durso that allows no air. The other is an open channel durso (has a hole in the top) that does allow air. The third is just an open tube that is cut so that it can flow the full return volume without overflowing the tank.

By adjusting the gate valve in the siphon durso I can match the return pump.

If the gate is open too much, then the siphon durso draws more water than the overflow feeds into the weir. This causes the water level to oscillate from the durso entry tube to just below this tube. When it goes below, air does get into the siphon durso and it makes considerable noise and bubbles go down to the sump.

If the gate valve is closed too much, then the siphon is not handling all of the overflow so the rest goes down the open channel durso and makes a fair amount of noise.

At the match spot, a little water trickles down the open channel without making any noise. There is a little bit of range on this since there is a range of flows where the open channel's flow is laminar down the sides of the tube.

If both the siphon and open channel durso get clogged, all of the water goes down the emergency open pipe and this makes a honking lot of noise so I know I have an issue.

ANyway, TMI, but that is how I have mine setup. No noise whatsoever, and no bubbles at all. The only noise comes from the slight hum of the pumps and the skimmer. I have to turn off my computer to hear the tank since the computer fan is noisier that the 120G tank.
 
So your ZeroEdge is running a BeanAnimal OF in the drip tray? Coast to coast... aren't all ZeroEdge be definition "coast to coast" and wrap around the entire tank?
 
GreshamH said:
So your ZeroEdge is running a BeanAnimal OF in the drip tray? Coast to coast... aren't all ZeroEdge be definition "coast to coast" and wrap around the entire tank?

ZeroEdge "Get-An-Edge". Different series. My tank is basically a custom tank build by Brett Perry -- the guy who owns and operates ZeroEdge. He took my specs, improvised, and built it using the same basic acylic techniques he uses on all his tanks.
 
magnetar68 said:
This drops down into a weir with three drains in it. One is a siphon durso that allows no air. The other is an open channel durso (has a hole in the top) that does allow air. The third is just an open tube that is cut so that it can flow the full return volume without overflowing the tank.
That's what I saying. I only have one :(
If that one gets clogged slightly on the gate valve, I don't have other drains to rely on to take up the rest of the water that won't go down the drain.
I fully understand the concept and I even thought of doing this when I initially set up the tank, but that would require me to have pipes coming from the back and over the edge of the tank or drill the tank for the return nozzles.
I didn't want to drill and really didn't want the over the edge return nozzle look.
But, I'm not complaining of noise.
My system is pretty quite as it is. You can barely hear the drain noise. My return pump makes way much more noise than my drain.
I just wish to avoid the bubbles burst and I understand this route would give me virtually zero noise and zero bubbles, but unfortunatelly it's a solution that won't work for me.
 
Since part of the issue is the amount of air you are pulling down and hence the number of bubbles, is there a way to reduce the amount of air without effecting the open nature of the drain? Would something like a Hofer Gurgle Buster help? This is not a siphon, so you don't have quite the same clogging issue, although I assume it is more susceptible to clogging than an open pipe.
 
magnetar68 said:
GreshamH said:
So your ZeroEdge is running a BeanAnimal OF in the drip tray? Coast to coast... aren't all ZeroEdge be definition "coast to coast" and wrap around the entire tank?

ZeroEdge "Get-An-Edge". Different series. My tank is basically a custom tank build by Brett Perry -- the guy who owns and operates ZeroEdge. He took my specs, improvised, and built it using the same basic acylic techniques he uses on all his tanks.

:) Yes, I know Brett. Haven't seen him in a while though.

It was unclear in your post that is what you had. Most people when saying ZeroEdge mean just that, actual OG ZeroEdge.
 
I don't think you need a high turnover rate in your return. You shouldn't have to rely on your return pump for flow in your main display, but rather through close loops or powerheads.
 
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