The Puffer Forum

Hi!

I am quite sure that this method has been used before but what the heck! Its so simple! And its overflow/power outage proof!

I recently upgraded my tank and had the old 4ft as a spare. So decided to try a new project.

Since the new 5ft has a tall metal stand and plently of space below, I decided to create the extra water volume for birdy.

Here it goes...

Equipment needed,

1) Main DT must have a internal overflow system in order to work ( to deal with evaporation )
2) A relatively powerful powerhead to pump water back to DT ( left over from my 4ft )
3) 2 length of rubber hose ( enough to reach DT and sump/refu )
4) different type of clips, cable tie etc or whatever u can find to secure hose in place

Thats all!


Setup,

From DT to refugium,

Run enough hose from DT to Refugium, secure hose in place. From the hose in the DT, make sure to cut a small hole in it just below the waterline. This is to break the siphon suction in case of the powerhead failing. Make sure to secure this part to prevent it from moving up or down.

From refugium back to DT,

I invert the powerhead that have a cone shaped grill. Wahla!! An instant surface skimmer!! position it just high enough to "slurp" in water. Must secure it in place too as u do not want it to slide down. Sliding down could cause your DT to overflow! Attach the hose to the outlet and run it back to your DT. Secure in place. I run it back to my internal again to filter out debris.

Congratulation! Setup completed.


To run it, suck on the hose to start pulling water down to the refugium. (You could run another pump on this end if u want so it can automatically restart itself in event of power outage, I simply, suck...) Then, switch on the powerhead. U may need to adjust the inflow and outflow of water so the the water pumping up is very very slightly faster than it coming into the refugium. I may be lucky, everything just works just at the right rate. Make sure your tank below has enough space to house the extra water before the siphon breaks in case the powerhead fails. If u hear a slurping sound around every 10-15 sec, it working properly.

Have been running it for 3 days now. Simulated power failure and powerhead failure, my parquet floor is still dry.

U may have to use a little imagination for some minor details but this is the general idea.

If anyone is interested, I can post pics.

U could invest in hundreds to get a proper system but for me, though crude, $0.. Lucky me had everything lying around.

Edited: Pic attached

Posting some pics would be wonderful, if you could do so kind sir!

Pic added to first post. The things used can be found with anyone that has maintained this hobby long enough! I just dun have the habit to throw things away.. so all the savaged parts came in handy. Any ideas for improvement is appreciated!

Btw I have made a cheap diy media reactor that works pretty well too..

There are advantages to simple solutions, and the above appears to be that. One thing I do insist on for tamks in living areas is silence - systems which slurp and gurgle are just not allowed. Tanks can be silent, and IMHO are best when silent. Noise implies inefficiency and such I do not want it in m living areas.

Also, many pumps used in tanks are flow pums rather than pressure pumps. Flow pumps are fine when there is no significant change in elevation, such as normal in-tank powerhead use. But when water must be pumped from one level to another, higher, level, the best practice is to use pressure pumps. Flow pumps in such applications are more likely to be noisey and subect to excessively fast wear and require more frequent replacement. Using the proper pump for the application is cheaper in the long run.

The inversion of the powerhead to slurp at the surface of the sump is extremely poor practice to use for return water flow control. That limits the level change in the sump to a fraction of an inch, which is a huge waste of the sump. If you are not available to at least check and adjust daily, pump burn-out is too likely from running dry. NIMFT, thanks anyway.

Just a bit better engineering up front can greatly ease function and provide years of reliable performance. I do not set high-risk tank systems. Tank failures can be massively expensive from collateral damage. Not in my house or tanks if I can possibly avoid it.

RTR wrote: The inversion of the powerhead to slurp at the surface of the sump is extremely poor practice to use for return water flow control. That limits the level change in the sump to a fraction of an inch, which is a huge waste of the sump. If you are not available to at least check and adjust daily, pump burn-out is too likely from running dry. NIMFT, thanks anyway.

hmm.. Will improve on the usage of the pump and better control of the water flow. Let me see what else I can find in my stash to salvage. Thanks for the feedback! I will be back!

Btw the" slurping" rate of this simple system turns over ard 1600l/hr for the powerhead I am using. It is always fully submerged under water other than the cone thingy and there's always water in the motor. So a dry out possibility is quite low considering the amt of water that is going in. But as RTR said, its probably a wrong use for this type of pump.. and the reliablilty in the long run..

Most powerheads for tanks are flow pumps, not pressure pumps. If used as a lift pump at any significant head, the achieved flow will be a tiny fraction of the rated flow. Pressure pumps general provide a flow versus head curve which is based on straight rigid piping from pump to delivery point. Flexible tubing and/or bends or elbows also decrease flow at any given head.

HTH

The 1600l/hr is not the rating on the pump. I measured the flow with a bucket.. Water flowing out from the DT fills up my bucket at ard 28l/min. That makes ard 1680l/hr. And the powerhead can pump the water back slightly faster rate.But I totally understand your point on the incorrect usage of the flow pump. What's HTH btw?

HTH = Hope this helps

Oh. THAL- that helps a lot. I never own a proper sump b4 so a pressure pump has never cross my mind. Nevertheless
I will think of something to improve the system. But the idea is to use what ever I can find in the hse.

There are a couple of brands of flow pumps that seem to do pretty well as lift pumps. I have used Aquaclears in this capacity on several systems (run quietly and do not have upkeep issues) but I can't recall te other brand that worked oK as well. They may not have the lifespan or efficiency of lift pumps, but when you have such on hand it postpones additional capital cost.

Guess I am just lucky! Just realise I am a dwarf puffer now! LOL

I really like the Aquaclear pumps. They are relatively quiet, you can adjust the flow, and reverse the flow. They are solidly built.

The reverse flow function is too weak for me. You only get a small percentage of normal flow in the reverse mode, so it is a too big a waste of the power used.

I've never used the reverse flow, so I wouldn't know. It sounded like a interesting function, but I've never needed anything to reverse lol.