+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 On the QT system that I'm setting up there is a 90 gallon, 75 gallon, (2) 55 gallon, and a 20 gallon tank, all will be plumbed to a 40 gallon sump. I drilled the overflows for 1" bulkheads and drilled the supply lines for 1/2" bulkheads. I do not have overflow boxes for these tank, I was just going to use a strainer stuck in the bulkhead instead. I installed one of the 55 gallon tanks today and connected the bulkhead to a 1" 90 on the back, then ran a 1" pvc pipe down that 90's over to the sump. When I fill the tank the bulkhead is almost completely submerged, basically flowing at full capacity, with only 2 gpm back to the sump. Doesn't seem right. Is the overflow box important to making the water flow faster through the 1" for some reason? Would a vent pipe do anything for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 My tank is boxless as well. Inside the tank there is a 90 degree elbow pointing straight up then the strainer. I believe the inside of the PVC narrows to 3/4". My water line is about 1" higher than the bottom of the strainer. My flow is about 500 gph taking into account the 2feet of head. I don't know enough about the physics of it all, but maybe that can offer you some info about another similar system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 My bulkhead does not have a 90 on it right now, I'll try that in the morning, maybe that will change something. You are probably flowing about 250 GPH after the restrictions and friction of the plumbing and the lift. You can check by sticking your return line in an empty milk jug and time it to full, with a little math you can figure out your GPH. Does your the water cover your strainer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 you can also place the 90 in the tank pointed up like Kevin said but on the part sticking up cut 1/8-3/16 grooves in it and it will act as a serface skimmer too. but with the bulkhead only 1" from the top you may not have room for the 90. next one you might want to drill lower so you can put a riser on the 90 with the grooves in it and that way you can set the hight of the water in the tank with the lenght of the pc going up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 My bulkhead does not have a 90 on it right now, I'll try that in the morning, maybe that will change something. You are probably flowing about 250 GPH after the restrictions and friction of the plumbing and the lift. You can check by sticking your return line in an empty milk jug and time it to full, with a little math you can figure out your GPH. Does your the water cover your strainer? My pump is 750gph, so it should be higher than 250, but I do need to time it someday. The water just barely reaches the top of the strainer, which is about 3/4" tall. I was getting no surface skimming until I snipped out one small piece of the top ring of the strainer, which has the end cone cut off. Now it skims great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Yeah, you need about an inch or so of water (pressure head) to get good flow. Is drilling another hole at the same level a posibility, split the flow through two drains? The plumpng could be joined a few inches below the water line. Overflow boxes aren't necessary but convienent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Maybe this will help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 ahhhh you have a 750 gph pump, I thought you had a 500 gph pump . Yes you are getting more than 250 for sure. I may have room for a 90, I'll check tomorrow. I drilled all the tanks already so there is no going back on the height. So Timfish you are saying if I turn up my flow to get the inlet underwater at least an inch it will start to flow better? Right now its pulling in lots of air so that would fix that problem as well. Do you see any advantage of having the inlet horizontal or vertical? I can drill another hole but it would be a PITA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 My pipes suck in a little air...it's hard to avoid. But the noise isn't bad as long as the pipe path isn't too turbulent. I use spa flex smooth wall tubing which is quiet. One overflow makes a sucking noise which I solved with a 3/4" x 1/4" x 4" piece of very open and sturdy foam shoved in through the strainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Be careful with the foam getting clogged up. With respect to sucking air through the intake overflow port, I put a tee outside the tank in the place of the 90 elbow going down to sump. Install a short run of same size pipe going up above the level of water in tank. The syphon drainning effect going into the sump creates the suction noise. If you allow it to suck air through this upriser vent, the noise of sucking water will be reduced. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Yeah I have to clean the foam every few days, but it's only on one of my overflows, so there's very little chance of a problem occurring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 I was planning on putting a tee inside the tank though, having the stainer on the part extending straight and have the tee pointing up with no strainer. This way if the strainer clogs and the water level rises it will then drain in to the open port. I'm not sure now if I can run the strainer horizontally or not, I guess I'll play with it tomorrow. What is a 1" overflow supposed to be able to flow? Thanks for the pic BTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I know the strainers create a lot of turbulence. I tried it that way once before and didnt work worth a darn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 I haven't even tried the strainer on it yet, hope that doesn't make it worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 . . . if I turn up my flow to get the inlet underwater at least an inch it will start to flow better? Right now its pulling in lots of air so that would fix that problem as well. Do you see any advantage of having the inlet horizontal or vertical? . . . Yes but you should expect the noise to get worse. With out a strainer or something to break the little whirlpool that will form it will keep sucking air down the drain and it's possible you may get a condition where the air starts "burbing". I was planning on putting a tee inside the tank though, having the stainer on the part extending straight and have the tee pointing up with no strainer. This way if the strainer clogs and the water level rises it will then drain in to the open port. I'm not sure now if I can run the strainer horizontally or not, I guess I'll play with it tomorrow. What is a 1" overflow supposed to be able to flow? I would expect about 1000 GPH with a 1" - 2" pressure head Thanks for the pic BTW I like your idea with the internal pvc tee vertical with a strainer but there won't be any surface skimming unless the flow is going over the top. One way would be to put a slot on the back of the tee at least a 1/4" but 3/8" is probably better. The tee is rigid enough it will still hold the strainer. You could also drill holes but they need to be a 1/2" dia., smaller will clog faster with algea and gunk. A small eggcrate box a couple of inches by several inches long might also work. You definitly have to expect sooner rather than later a fish is going to get up close and personal with the overflow since this is a QT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Thanks Tim, I'm going to experiment with a couple of the ideas given here and see what happens. I'm still waiting on the strainers to arrive but they should be here today. I'm not worried about the noise, its out in the warehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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