The Shadow™ Overflow from Synergy Reef has arrived!

Frank_PR · Oct 9, 2016

I am considering this overflow for my 75 gallon my concern is that at full syphon there will be too much flow for my tank and sump with a 1.5" drain. I will like to have a flow of approximately 1,000 gph or less, any advice. Also the water level will be above or below the rim of the tank.

Thanks

Abusfullofnuns · Oct 9, 2016

Why not install a valve to regulate flow to the sump? Seems like you would want one on all your lines.

Frank_PR · Oct 9, 2016

Yes, have plans to install a valve like a beananimal, this is my first build, the question is if the syphon drain is closed to match 1000 will it cause the water to go to the open channel pipe or it can be regulated by the return pump.

Turbo's Aquatics · Oct 10, 2016

Frank_PR said:
Yes, have plans to install a valve like a beananimal, this is my first build, the question is if the syphon drain is closed to match 1000 will it cause the water to go to the open channel pipe or it can be regulated by the return pump.

That is actually the intention of the tuned siphon. You put a valve on the siphon line (and ONLY the siphon line) and then run up the return pump (you likely will get flow in all 3 pipes at some point, then the siphon will kick in fully and flush the external overflow box, then this will start cycling over and over) and at some point you start closing the siphon valve to balance the siphon drain rate with the return pump flow rate until they are equal.

Then as you start to close the siphon valve further, you will see the water level rise in the external overflow box. At some point, you will get maybe 5% or 10% of the return pump flow going through the open channel. That is what you want - just enough flow through the OC so that the water skins the inside of the pipe, but does not "break away" and start "closing off" the flow inside the pipe (which would entrain air into the water flow and make noise). Now, over time, your system flow will change as pipes slime up and you pump gets dirty. But this extra 5-10% OC flow is your buffer, you won't have to adjust anything for quite a while most likely.

It's nearly impossible (long term) to exactly match your siphon valve setting such that siphon drain rate = return pump rate. So the OC creates a variable buffer (and it allows silent and failsafe operation over quite a wide range of flow)

I run a 3-pipe system (1.5" pipes) in an external box on a 144 with a reeflo dart/snapper hybrid running wide open (2500-3000 GPH) and in ~5 years I have had to touch the siphon valve maybe 10 times. 2 of those were due to snails or fish lodged in the pipes. And let me tell you exactly how glad I am that I had this system installed during those 2 instances. Very glad that's how glad!

mixer911 · Oct 10, 2016

Frank_PR said:
I am considering this overflow for my 75 gallon my concern is that at full syphon there will be too much flow for my tank and sump with a 1.5" drain. I will like to have a flow of approximately 1,000 gph or less, any advice. Also the water level will be above or below the rim of the tank.

Thanks

Yes you can run anything up to 1500 GPH. You can run 100 GPH and it would be perfectly fine. It's all how you adjust the gate valve to regulate it. The 1.5" drains allow for higher flow rates when needed, but do not affect lower flow rates. It actually makes the overflow quieter than one with smaller drains.

Frank_PR said:
Yes, have plans to install a valve like a beananimal, this is my first build, the question is if the syphon drain is closed to match 1000 will it cause the water to go to the open channel pipe or it can be regulated by the return pump.

With a beananimal setup you will have a gate valve on the primary drain. This allows you to "dial in" the flow to balance the 2 pipes and equalize the flow into both. You will have water flowing into both the primary and the secondary siphon pipes. We will be doing some videos to explain in detail how to setup this overflow with various plumbing configurations.

Frank_PR · Oct 10, 2016

Thanks for all the helpful information, question my return line should also be 1 1/2", looking forward to see the videos. The water line will be above or below the rim?

Thanks

mixer911 · Oct 10, 2016

Frank_PR said:
Thanks for all the helpful information, question my return line should also be 1 1/2", looking forward to see the videos. The water line will be above or below the rim?

Thanks

Your Welcome.
No, the return line will be equal to whatever your return pump can handle. More than likely under 1". The overflow is designed to allow the water level to be above the tanks trim on trimmed tanks.

Frank_PR · Oct 12, 2016

Mixer911, Thanks for answering my questions, I just pre orden mine.

mixer911 · Oct 13, 2016

Frank_PR said:
Mixer911, Thanks for answering my questions, I just pre orden mine.

You're welcome Frank. Thanks for the order!

mixer911 · Oct 18, 2016

Update on the overflow shipments. We are almost finished with all of our tooling on the molds. We will receive our final prototype samples by the end of this week. Once tooling is approved we will send the molds to the injection molding facility to have them shot. Production should start early Nov. So as of right now we expect the first shipment of overflows to hit our warehouse on Nov 22. Once we get them in our possession we will get them packaged and shipped out ASAP.

Jstn · Oct 18, 2016

Very cool

ss95003 · Oct 18, 2016

Will you sell just the internal black plumbing? Will they it fit the version you went in on with Reef Savvy?

mixer911 · Oct 18, 2016

ss95003 said:
Will you sell just the internal black plumbing? Will they it fit the version you went in on with Reef Savvy?

We may sell them later as a kit.
If you are talking about the original 24" Ghost overflow, yes they will fit. Not the 16" version, it used 1" fittings.