splitting drains

[technomex]

Has anyone who has multiple overflows ever have one drain into a sump and the other drain into a secondary sump or fuge?

[ratboy]

I split part of 1 return into my fuge which then drained into the sump. I split it so the flow through the fuge was nice and slow.....

[5.0Stang]

my 55 that was drilled in the bottom i had one drain going to the sump (20 gal long) and the other to the fuge (20 high) then the fuge to the sump. Now that i have a 100 that i dont wanna drill has 1 overflow box teed off to the same sump and fuge. I do want to get another overflow box and bigger pump

[ackelley]

i have a 55 gal tank with a overflow that i built. I put 2 bulkheads on the overflow one goes to my 10 gal fuge with a slow flow. That along with the other flow into my 30 gal long wet dry.

[Jeff]

this is my tank, you can barely se it but there is a second drain behind the skimmer.
http://www.maast.org/modules.php?set_albumName=album11&id=filtration&op =modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_phot o.php

[hobogato]

if you do that, it would be wise to have both (all) drains from the tank join in a common large pipe, and then split off after that and control the flow to your fuge with a ball valve or gate valve. this will help prevent floods if one of your drains from your tank gets blocked by a snail or something.

[Bill S]

I have 2 drains from my calfo on my 215 (sized so that if one blocks, the other can still handle the volume). One of the drains has a split on it that has a smaller line going to my 'fuge, for a nice, slow flow. I bought a valve for it, but don't need it.

[hobogato]

sized so that if one blocks, the other can still handle the volume

that is the key that will (hopefully) keep water off of your floor ;)

if you ran all of the flow from one drain to the fuge and the other to your sump, you just have to make sure the fuge can handle all of the flow of the return pumps without overflowing - the way bill did it will prevent all of the flow from the tank ever from getting to the fuge. if you run one drain to the sump and one to the fuge with a ball valve, you will be setting yourself up for a mess if the drain to the sump gets blocked, and you have the drain to the fuge cut back to restrict the amount of flow.

everyone sufficiently confused now :wacko :lol

[hobogato]

i guess wha i am trying to say is make sure you plan for a blockage of either drain - make sure however you plum it, the plumbing for either drain and subsequent sump/fuge is able to handle ALL of the flow of your return pump - worst case, a drain block and dumps a bunch of water in the middle of the night, and your return pump burns up when it is left running dry. could be pretty costly.

[Bill S]

My calfo also has a piece of egg crate diagonally on it - helps keep the snails IN the tank and out of the sump. I had some huge snails that would block the drains. Moved to the 55, but that was before I did the egg crate thing.