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opps tank flooded

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by seyzar18, Jun 10, 2011.

  1. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

    214
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    So im in the process of doing a 135 inwall tank build, i got the room built and the tank in the wall and all trimmed out around the front all that stuff is done. I put water in the tank a couple days ago and made a diy overflow to overflow to the 50 gallon tank below i put ball valves on both the return pvc and the overflow pvc now i have been beating my head against the wall trying to get this thing dialed in. I ran 1 1/4 inch pvc as the overflow and same with the return i have a 1300 gph pump and i have both valves turned about a 1/3 the way i can get the water to stay level in both main tank and sump for about 30 mins then it will either start raising or lowering i have been messing with this for the past 2 days trying to get it dialed in just right and im starting to get really angry then i walked away for a few mins and opps water all over the floor drained out of the main tank through the trim and down the drywall.. Any one have any better and easier ideas on how to dial these things in? any help would be awesome or even if someone would want to come check it out and see if theres something im missing with the pvc overflow this is my first setup that i did a diy overflow everythings sucking right and the pump is pumping right i just cant get the whole TUNING part down..
     
  2. iaJim

    iaJim Inactive User

    775
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    How about some pics of the setup? Do you have an overflow box or built in overflow?
     
  3. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    its a overflow made out of a pvc pipe ill take some pics of it tomorrow and post them, I googled pvc overflow and came up with some ideas on how to make one and i played around with it till i got it the way i wanted it, ill take some pictures of the setup and post them up tomorrow
     
  4. Armydog

    Armydog Expert Reefkeeper

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    Hey cory give me a call if you need help with anything
     
  5. Andy The Reef Guy

    Andy The Reef Guy Inactive User

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    wait, you don't have a t ball valve on your drain line do you?
     
  6. Andy The Reef Guy

    Andy The Reef Guy Inactive User

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    Yeah sounds like you do, cut that thing out of the line, the overflow must be wide open with no impedences. There should be no "tuning" to it whatsoever. The amount of water the pump is pushing will vary slightly with changes in viscosity, barometric pressure, etc.
     
  7. kgehrke

    kgehrke Inactive User

    236
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    If you only have one overflow you can't tune it, all you can do is use different techniques to lower the sound level of the air its pulling in. If you have 2 or 3 you can do some tuning as long as you have an emergency one that will kick in when the water gets high enough. There are a bunch of threads, mostly on reefcentral about different kinds. Good luck.
     
  8. vikubz Well-Known ReefKeeper

    734
    Cedar Falls
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    +1 on remove ball valve from overflow.
     
  9. Reefman

    Reefman Inactive User

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    Andy
    If you do have a valve on each drain line  but not closed at all, what would this do as far as issues?
     
  10. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    I tried with out the valve on the intake side and I had 2 pumps hooked up on the return one was a 1300 gph and the other was a 700 gph and they couldn't keep up and I didn't want to go buy a bigger pump to hook it all up so I cut the tubes and added the ball valve on both intake and return
     
  11. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    I think I'm going to make a secondary overflow out of 3/4 PVC that just breaks the surface just incase something does happen I always have that back up and I think that should take care of the issue I'm having atleast I hope it'll work I'll post some pics after I get the secondary made up
     
  12. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    Well after playing around with the first over flow I got it figured out... I had the inlet to the over flow to low in the tank so I raised it up to just below the surface and opened both valves the water raised like it was going to flood over then the water dropped and leveled out now the water Is sitting perfect height in both sump and main tank
     
  13. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    Ok I cant figure out how to post pictures on here so im just going to copy and past the url to photobucket and see if that works here it is........................ http://s1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff492/seyzar18/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ20 Theres some pics of the recent project and as you can see in some of the pics the green fans on the ground. Yeah thats from the tank flooding : )
     
  14. Andy The Reef Guy

    Andy The Reef Guy Inactive User

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    Wow, looks like a really nice in wall build......but it looks like you're trying to siphon water out of the tank into the sump? This will never work. You're going to need to drain and drill that tank or get a siphon overflow box. I've got a siphon overflow if you want it for $15. The CPR overflows are much nicer though.
     
  15. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    Hey Andy I'm curious why you say it won't work, iv actually read alot of threads on DIY overflows and read alot of people's thoughts about it and there's alot of people on reef central that has done this setup for many years without any issues, I got it working right and it hasn't had any problems for about 11 hours now, I even simulated a power outage and unplugged all pumps let it drain completely then turned everything back on and the overflow kept it's siphon the whole time and started back up on it's own without me doing anything but turning the power back on..
     
  16. Andy The Reef Guy

    Andy The Reef Guy Inactive User

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    maybe I just don't get it. I've never seen anything like it, do you have a link to another system like this?
     
  17. AJ

    AJ Inactive User

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    Using overflows like that are trouble. I would recommend that you just drill your tank and be done with it. They are known to fail over time...especially restarting a power outage. It's a much safer design to just drill your tank and put in an overflow box or DIY overflow of some sort. I don't know of anyone that has switched away from a HOB overflow to a drilled/reef ready tank and wished that they had not.

    --AJ
     
  18. seyzar18

    seyzar18 Inactive User

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    Just google PVC overflow it will bring up alot of sites and there's some you tube clips of how they work. I had a CPR overflow box on it before and I didn't like it at all. I have done many power outage try's by unplugging the power and every single time it's started right back up on it's own I'm going to stick with this for a while and see how it works it coated me about 14 dollars to make so in time if it doesn't work out it's not a big loss of money or time
     
  19. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    +738 / 5 / -0
    Just have to remember if something can go wrong it eventually will go wrong. If you ever loose siphon on one of those you are going to come home to one big mess. Hope it doesn't come to that, but it is possibility with that setup. Would hate to see all that nice work ruined by a major overflow. Is the smaller tubing in the middle the emergency overflow you added? I just don't see how that's supposed to start a siphon in the event of a problem?
    Any reason you can't just drill the tank for an overflow? i am sure if you needed help someone in the club would be willing to lend a hand.
     
  20. AJ

    AJ Inactive User

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    I'm not disputing the design.  I understand the design and I can see how it works.  While I have no personal experience with it, I'm sure it works just fine.  All I'm saying is that I think that you would be happier with a drilled/reef ready tank. Also, you mention the $14 it cost to make it.  That's really not the cost I would be considering if I were you.  I would be considering the cost to clean up water on the floor and replacing the things the water damages. 
    Others can offer advice/recommendations and it's up to you to listen or ignore.  There's a million ways that you can be successful in this hobby.  Each have their own pros and cons.  Each person has to decide what's right for themselves. 
    --AJ
     

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