HOB overflow recommendations

Posted By Rustin14 on 02/06/2009 03:04 PM
I was gonna wait till I got a bigger tank that was drilled to get a sump but, I dont think I can. I have a 100 gal tank and need to get a Sump setup. What HOB overflows work best? Is there a way to rig it so I wont flood my house if I lose power? What flow rate would be best for a 100 gal? I'll be looking for a return pump if anyone has one to sell. Thanks, Austin
Check with Joel he had a return pump at one time that he offered to me.

 

I have a 600 g/h CPR overflow and love it, got it from marine depot. It is kind of expensive. When doing all the plumbing make sure there is an anti siphon whole drilled in the return line to stop your sump from overflowing in a power outage. Also I have a 46 gallon tank, so you would want something bigger then 600 g/h. Hope this helps.

 

1. The cpr overflow was actually the second overflow I used. The first one I bought off eBay and worked fine untill I upgraded my lights and algae started growing inside the overflow to the point it was taking practicly no water from my top tank. The CPRs have some solid black pieces that block all light so you don't even need to worry about the problem. Also I have an aqua lifter constantly sucking out any air/water that goes through the overflow, this works really well. With both overflows it was a little pain to get the right pluming to fit on the bulkheads. I would check out the buying/selling on this site, craigs list, and eBay. You might just come across a really good deal.
2. The antisiphon hole I was talking about will actually be on the other side of the tank from where the overflow is. In the piping that is bringing the water from you sump to the main tank. I just used PVC piping for that. The hole should be right above the water line in the main tank, if power goes out your sump will not suck water from the main tank overflowing the sump. If that dosent make since I can take pics of mine and post them on here. Once you see how everything is done it should all make alot more since. Also once you get the hole drilled i would get everything going and turn off the return pump to see how much water does actually get siphoned back down, there will probably be a little. Just make sure the water level in your sump is low enough so it can handle the amount of water brought back down. Hope this helps.

 

I use an Eshopps overflow and have no problems with it. I accualy have a sump, overflow and return pump that I will be selling. The overflow is rated at 650 gph and even when I turned the power off to the tank it did not flood anything. Basicly a HOB overflow works well if you take care of it just like the rest of your tank. I clean mine once a month and do not have any problems. Shaun

 

Pardon me if I am not understanding, but shouldn't the hole be below the waterline so as not to introduce microbubbles assuming the flow is not high or if the flow is high, wouldn't the water shooting out be an an issue with salt creep, splashing, etc.

 

I will have one for sale this weekend CPR CS90 sell for $55 $7 for the aqualifter

 

Ya sorry about that. After looking at my tank the hole is right below the water level.