quite tank with no drilling idea

[ReeferOnBudget]

Guys,

I need an experts advice on the method I am planning to do on my future tank for overflow. I am a newbie and need guidance:

I am planning to go with herbie method, I have a tank that I dont want to drill, I am planning to have a tube going from main tank (placed high) to the sump with full siphon (manually started). I will have a pump in sump a bit high (at first quarter of sump's water level). I will have a DIY float switch at the same level on that sump.

Now once water is balanced out, i feel i am safe. if power goes down then the siphon will stop when water level reaches below the tube depth (which the sump can handle) and if the overflow tube gets clogged or siphon breaks then the float switch will turn off the pump. worst case if the float switch fails then the 20$ pump burns out. at the end i feel it is very safe way. am i missing something?

 

[Daddy-o]

Ever think of just using a premade overflow box? Like this:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...MItO37uOHP1QIVCIR-Ch30ggH5EAQYASABEgJ1xfD_BwE

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Now once water is balanced out, i feel i am safe

This is the flaw in your plan. Siphon and pump return will not equalize. You will constantly be adjusting the siphon on the drain.

 

[ReeferOnBudget]

am not aware of this, is it good to know that it exists, but why would i pay extra for that overflow system if it doesnt add any benefit to my proposed solution, is there something that I am missing?

another point, lets say it is the way to go in my situation, does it run as silent? and what about my return pump fail safe method, will it work as how i describe it?

 

[ReeferOnBudget]

LobsterOfJustice, thanks for your input but if balancing is not feasible then how does the overflow system daddy-o sent in his link tackle it?

 

[Daddy-o]

LobsterOfJustice, thanks for your input but if balancing is not feasible then how does the overflow system daddy-o sent in his link tackle it?

Basically once you have water in your sump and the overflow in place, you turn on your return pump and the amount of overflow is controlled by the amount of water pumped up into the D/T. there is a nipple on the top that you can hook into a powerhead to purge air constantly. here is a video:

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

LobsterOfJustice, thanks for your input but if balancing is not feasible then how does the overflow system daddy-o sent in his link tackle it?

An overflow box is more complicated than just a siphon from the tank. They use a u-tube to move water (essentially a siphon) from a box inside the tank to a box outside the tank, and then the water gravity drains from there.

 

[ReeferOnBudget]

oh ya, i was reading about that, sorry for my ignorance. i thought they do the same thing. However, I noticed that it is not as silent as siphon. LobsterOfJustice, you said my plan has a flow which is not being able to balance the water coming and leaving the tank which i think you are right. However, you might forgot that the float switch at the sump will turn off the pump if water was level was low. In that way the only thing I have to do is to have the siphon at the tank draws a tiny bit more water than the pump and with the float switch things should work dead silent, am i right?

 

[DanP-SD]

I don't think it'll work, but if you try it your way, be sure to put a ball valve (or better yet a gate valve) on the siphon tube so you can adjust its rate of flow to match as closely as possible the rate of your pump. I think the problem you'll still have is they won't actually match and, as a result, your pump will be switching on and off frequently and you'll constantly have a high probability of the water level in the tank dropping low enough to break the siphon. If the siphon breaks when you're away, that means you won't have flow through your sump until you return and re-start it.

In my estimation, this approach is a very low-reliability set up. I've had lots of tanks and would rank them on reliability as follows: 1) Bean Animal overflow (requires drilling); 2 Herbie (requires drilling); 3) durso or any single pipe overflow (requires drilling); 4) external overflows with a built in mechanism to restart siphon after power outage (no drilling); 5) external overflow without a mechanism to restart siphons after power outage; 6) manually-started siphon without an overflow box (ie, your plan). The reason 6 is not as reliable as 5 and 4 is that the overflow boxes like the one linked above by Daddy-o maintain a constant water level in the tank and are capable of maintaining their siphon at a wider range of flows than a simple tube over the top.

If I had an undrilled tank and was looking to add a sump, I would get it drilled and add one of these: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-shadow-overflow/. It'll be dead quiet, foolproof and reliable with next to nothing visible in the tank. If that was out of the question, I'd use one of the overflows like the one Daddy-o posted. With the latter, I'd still put a float and kill switch in the sump to deactivate the return pump if the water level gets too low (or better yet, a discrete float in the tank to turn off the return if the tank water level gets to high).

 

[ReeferOnBudget]

great and comprehensive answer DanP-SD, I got your point. Just a final question with regards to your comment. from you experience which of these methods is the most silent (removing all other factors like drilling and reliability)? is it the link you provided at the end the most silent?

 

[DanP-SD]

great and comprehensive answer DanP-SD, I got your point. Just a final question with regards to your comment. from you experience which of these methods is the most silent (removing all other factors like drilling and reliability)?

The bean animal system is the quietest. Note that the Synergy Reef overflow I linked can be set up as a bean animal system. I would highly recommend reading the original bean animal write up that kicked off this system. http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

I've run this system on my tanks for years and if you properly tune it, it can be made dead silent. You can also buy sumps designed to work with this configuration, like the Trigger Systems Tideline series.