water into overflow ?

[daytonaconnecti]

does it make a difference where the water goes into the overflow, where the teeth on the box are, like at the bottom, or middle of the box teeth...

 

[Myteemouse]

you want it at the top..80% of stufff in the water column is in the top 25% of the tank..
Depending how your stand pipe is really depends on your water coming in!

 

[daytonaconnecti]

right now, their is about a 1/2 of the box out of the water

 

[daytonaconnecti]

right now, their is about a 1/2 of the box out of the water

so is that ok, or do you need the water fallining over and down into the box, right now its just being sucked up into the u tubes,and down to the sump, not much movement on top of the water moving toward the box in the box

 

[ac7av]

You will want to skim the water off the top. If your box is over the top of the water that will work fine to keep critters out of the box. You will want to run your slots down to ½ to ¾ in below the point you want the water level to be. There is no exact measurement to give you it all depends on your water flow and intake area you have but this should give you a good place to start. I have 1 foot wide with 800 gph and the water level is ½ in above the lip of the box. I use a plastic removable screen cover that has ¼ in openings to keep my friends in the tank and out of the box. Hope this helps.

 

[ac7av]

I guess I didn’t read your last post clearly. I am confused, how do you get water into your box to go threw your tubes if the water level is below the top of the box opening??

 

[daytonaconnecti]

I guess I didn’t read your last post clearly. I am confused, how do you get water into your box to go threw your tubes if the water level is below the top of the box opening??

sorry about that, i ment the water level in the box is level with the water in the tank, and 1/2'' of the box teeth are out of the water,should the water in the overflow box be lower

 

[Myteemouse]

no that sounds good as long as your levels are good and constant!
sounds like you've found the perfect balance ...

 

[daytonaconnecti]

here are a few pics View attachment 38105

View attachment 38106 i know dirty tank, ita a mess after taking the heater and the remora out and moving things around

 

[ac7av]

I have a feeling what you are experiencing is a case of the return pump is pumping in more water into your tank then your overflow can normally return to the sump. You are on the edge of overflowing your tank if the capacity of your sump can fill it enough. Say for example I think if you had even one or two more gallons per hour flowing into your tank I think you would be in real danger of overflowing onto the floor. I will bet if you cut back your return to the tank a bit you will get the ripping action on the surface that your looking for to remove the top layer of the water in the tank and give it a good clean water surface look.

 

[ac7av]

You know, the U tubes look pretty good size. What is the rating of that overflow you have? Any chance you have some kind of restriction between the overflow box and sump? Seems like you would still see a lot of water motion into the box and turbulence in the box from the water passing threw the slots with the size of U tubes in that box even of your were exceeding the rated capacity of the box. If your not seeing much movement in the water that seems strange to me. I image that box looks like at least 700 gallon per hour. That would definitely make some ripples threw the slots.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

its a 1200gph and a 1300 pump, i did make 1'' to 3/4 str 90s and stand pipes to make quieter,also did a by pass from my return pump back into the sump to control water, with the box at its upper limit of adjustment, and the water level in the tank is where i want it as well as the water in the sump is where i want it, with the power off,everything is good. if i new what to look for, as water going int toe bax i could make the adjustments, its quiet, water going throgh the sump, iam looking for the best setting

 

[roblou]

Hmm, I think ideally you'd want the water level inside the overflow box lower than the water level in the tank...

 

[daytonaconnecti]

found this, http://www.reeftime.com/reef-articles/how-does-an-overflow-box-work/63.htm

 

[daytonaconnecti]

after cking one of my u tube lost its prime, overflow now going,still the water in the pre box is at the same level as the tank and overflow, with alittle water cascading into the per box...

 

[ac7av]

I think then there are two things that may be going on. Like roblou said the water in the box should be below the tank level to get the ripping action of the top of your tank. Even if its only ½ in below the tank level that’s all it takes. In your efforts to silence the overflow drain you may have caused enough restriction that it is backing up into the box too much, or you have too much bypass going on in your return pump, or maybe a little of both is going on. If the levels are all where you want them, then getting the level down in the overflow box is going to be done by one of two things. One raise the box or two undue some of the restriction you have caused by trying to quiet the drain down.

My real feeling is you need to run your pump full on into your tank. I don’t know what your pump rating is but at 1300gph I think you will be getting some where in the area of 900gph after the head pressure back into the tank. Open up that drain line so it can run freely and watch that water rip of the top of that tank.

It looks like you have things so plugged up and backed off that your just not doing much water movement. It kind of defeats the purpose of the large box and pump. Just my opinion.

 

[ac7av]

Okay so it sounds like you’re on the path. If you’re loosing prime your not letting the water flow threw the drain like it needs to.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

Okay so it sounds like you’re on the path. If you’re loosing prime your not letting the water flow threw the drain like it needs to.

isee how much water need to cascade over the per box

 

[daytonaconnecti]

View attachment 38109the mod i did was the two 1'' pipes in the overflow box i went with two 1'' to 3/4 tees with 3/4 ells down and two 1'' caps with small holes in them,without the foam, without the mod it works great just to darn noisy

 

[daytonaconnecti]

after looking at what i have i found that if you plug both the holes in the stand pipes i can get the levels in the overflow box to go up or down, acording to how much air i let in, or restrict, i wander if i can put small valves in the stand pipe caps to futher fine tune the overflow