joshuapd Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Hi, I'm new to reefing but am already planning on moving up to a 125g tank from my current 55g tank. I'm going to try and build my own PVC overflow and am wondering how much flow (and PVC pipe size) would be appropriate for a tank that size (I'll be using the 55g tank for the sump/refugium). Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Are you talking about just for the drain pipe? I would do at least 2 1" drains IMO. For that size sump I would shoot for about 250-500 gph from your return pump to the tank, and then supplement the rest of the flow with powerheads. How much water movement you need is highly dependent on what you want to keep. The flow needs of some corals and even some species of fish are radically different. You don't want 2000gph from 3 powerheads if your keeping a box fish if ya know what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuapd Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 I have yellow tang, clownfish, coral beauty, fire fish,Royal gramma, assorted shrimp, mushrooms, zoas, xenias, green star polyps. I'd like to try some sps in the new tank. I have 3 koralia powerheads going in the current setup which I'll move to new tank. So you think 2 one inch drains and 250-500 gph returns is sufficient for 125g tank? Seems like it should be more but I don't have any idea[emoji848]. If I made the drains 1.5" just in case does it matter? Will they be noisier? Thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 On my 125 i was close to 500, on my 120 now I am closer to 300. IMO it is more about the sump volume to determine. I have a much smaller sump on my 120 then I had on my 125. You want the water in the sump to spend some time with the filtration. Let the filtration do it's job for awhile and then return the clean water. 3-5x the tank volume through the sump is perfect I find. But you also want the water in the sump to move a bit as well so for me that is kind of the sweet spot. I could easily do more flow through my 120g now, my pump is adjustable and I have it set at 20%. Turning it up is just a button. But I find at 20% I get better operation out of my protein skimmer. On my 120g I have 2 one inch drains and they can handle up to about 1200gph, so I have more then enough. No harm in going bigger, but IME it is really not necessary. IME the noise comes when pushing to much water through a drain as the added water in the pipe closes the air column and leaves that suction sound. Having two little coming through is not a problem. All this said, I do not have a low flow tank. I have 2 WP40's and an Rw 15 in the tank for water movement and my returns have penductors on them. I alternate when each pump is on and off through the day and my return is through a SCWD. SO I like a lot of water flow, more then most. BUT not from the return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcbane200 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 If you want to be safe 2" would be fine and you can just do a gate valve to adjust the flow through your overflow to get rid of the noise. My HoB is ratted at like 1200 gph on a 40B and I just adjusted it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuapd Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 Thanks so much for the info. It is really helpful! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) If you want to be safe 2" would be fine and you can just do a gate valve to adjust the flow through your overflow to get rid of the noise. My HoB is ratted at like 1200 gph on a 40B and I just adjusted it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2" is way overkill. You will need gate valves either way and you'll be closing off 1" overflows as it is. If you use 2" you'll be closing them to smaller than 1", so what's the point? Just use a pair of 1". Edited March 1, 2016 by Higher Thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcbane200 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 My bad I thought he said he wanted to use 2" I read it wrong lol. He wants 2 1" which is fine. Derp on me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 2" is way overkill. You will need gate valves either way and you'll be closing off 1" overflows as it is. If you use 2" you'll be closing them to smaller than 1", so what's the point? Just use a pair of 1". You close off your 1" overflows? Why? I run mine fully open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 My 1 inch on my shallow tank is run wide open. I also have a fairly large return pump so I'm sure that helps, but even on my cube with a bean animal all 3 were 1 inch they were run wide open. 2 inch is probably another story but 1 inch doesn't really move all that much water in the tanks I've had. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 You close off your 1" overflows? Why? I run mine fully open. I adjust them using a Herbie style overflow. That way I have two stand pipes running at full siphon with zero noise. I also keep the water level fairly high to not have any noise from the overflow. Even if your pump is adjustable, fine tuning a gate valve to get the correct water level will be much easier than adjusting your pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I adjust them using a Herbie style overflow. That way I have two stand pipes running at full siphon with zero noise. I also keep the water level fairly high to not have any noise from the overflow. Even if your pump is adjustable, fine tuning a gate valve to get the correct water level will be much easier than adjusting your pump. Really? Crazy man. I have never used a Herbie so I have never really heard of that. I am all old school Duroso up in these parts. (these damm kids and their herbies). I run dual Duroso's and also am dead silent. Good call on mentioning the height for the drains because hearing waterfall into the overflow box is a nuisance in itself. The first one I ever made was an inch to short and I ended up filling the whole compartment with bioballs to get it to shut up one night. Thanks for the knowledge. When do I get to play with Tulip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Really? Crazy man. I have never used a Herbie so I have never really heard of that. I am all old school Duroso up in these parts. (these damm kids and their herbies). I run dual Duroso's and also am dead silent. Good call on mentioning the height for the drains because hearing waterfall into the overflow box is a nuisance in itself. The first one I ever made was an inch to short and I ended up filling the whole compartment with bioballs to get it to shut up one night. Thanks for the knowledge. When do I get to play with Tulip? Whenever man! Let's do it! She's been getting into reefing lately Sorry for the thread hijack I'll hit you up, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuapd Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 So I've decided to build 2 one inch overflows. Next I'm going to build the stand [emoji15] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I would rather go with one of these for surface skimming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuapd Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Is that acrylic? Home made or purchased? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 So I've decided to build 2 one inch overflows. Next I'm going to build the stand [emoji15] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh wow, I seem to have missed your entire point. I thought we were talking about a drilled overflow. I don't know much about water movement with this setup, TBH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuapd Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 I'm very new to saltwater/reef aquariums so I'm just figuring all this out. I'm sure I wasn't explaining very well. Really appreciate all the help from everyone! Thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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