live sand and live rock questions.

trreherd

Your still not getting y you need a overflow. Im realy not sure how to explain it. So im just gunna give you the facts. your idea wont work you need a overflow.

i like fishes

a over flow is pretty much the same thing.
it works by syphoning water down to your sump.
look at a pic

the way it works is water "overflows" in to it then it syphons water down to your sump

what i want to do is....
make a J tube that sits in the tank about 2" so it's taking water from the tank and syphoning to the sump.
it's the same thing but with out the overflow box.
unless you can tell me why it won't work, please don't say it won't.

it's gonna work the same way that gravel vac work. you syphon water out of the tank in to a bucket. you don't need an over flow for your gravel vac do you?

trreherd

Could you please paint me up a diagram of what you gunna do? Sure you dont need a overflow on your gravel vac but your gravel vac is uncontrolable and it will suck every thing out of your tank if you leave it in too long.
Tell me if this is what your imagining. The water gets siphoned down to the sump and gets pumped back up. Somehow you get the pump and the siphon to moove exactaly the same amount of water. But what if your pump slows down a little and your siphon starts putting more water into the sump than the pump can pump back up? Than your sump overflows.

i like fishes

imagine you have a gravel vac....
it's only in the tank 2 inches. not down to the gravel. if the pump from the sump back to the tank stops working the syphon will stop when the water gets below 2inches.

now i only plan on having it in 1 - 1.5" but it will work the same.
now you put the return pump high in the sump so it won't over flow the tank.
if the syphon stops working then the sump stops filling. the pump in the sump will run out of water before it over flows the tank.

the problem with my set up is that if for some reason the syphon stops then my water pump will burnout if i don't notice it.
so after searching online i've found a few plans for diy over flows. i could probably make one for 5-10 dollars.

so i'm going to go with an overflow, but i'll make it my way and send you a video of it working before i hook up the overflow.

it'll probably be a month or 2 till i even get the tank set up, so the video will take a while

usmc121581

I know what you plan on doing and believe me you will run int flooding problems or it wont work. I have heard of this method. It runs from the water pressure in the tank. The problem is there might not be enough pressure from the water at 2" below the water line. So people that wuld do it will put the intake deeper int there tank. Problem with this is that when the pump fails for whatever reason the tank will drain until it reaches the opening.

i like fishes

ok so the water pressure would cause a problem.

usmc121581

Yes thats why many if not all dont use that method. They would play it safer and either get a reef ready tank, and a over flow box. A reef ready system will never over flow, vise a over flow box can over flow. Just remember that if you try to take the cheap way out in the saltwater hoppy it will come back on you and will end up costing more in the long run.

trreherd

I have a new 600 gph crp overflow box(only ran a few times) that i would be willling to sell to you for 35 bucks.