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I recently put my 300 gallon in service and it is absolutely beautiful and operating wonderfully. It is a room divider that I built into the wall between my breakfast eating area and my family room (I will post pics shortly). The only problem is that I JUST found out that my ProClear 300 wet/dry filter does not hold enough water for a power outage or maintenance event. WHAT DO I DO????
My thoughts...
1. Increase the number of slits in the acrylic divider overflow cover. This would reduce the level in the main tank that would end up in the sump in the event of a power outage. (I really like the level as full as it is now though, plus that would be a big task and I would probably make it look uglier than heck)
2. I'm pretty sure the Durso Standpipes are fully extended, but I can check this. If not, fully extending them will keep a larger volume in the overflow... wait, no it won't. Will it? It shouldn't matter how tall the Dursos are, they are just for lowering the noise level of the water, right???
3. My dad (mechanical engineer) suggested using solenoid valves that shut when the power shuts off. Simple, but not really what I was thinking....
4. Drill a hole in the acrylic sump and route the water to additional capacity (rubbermaid box of some sort).
5. Not much room for it, but I could place the entire sump in a larger rubbermaid box if I could find something with the right dimensions.
QUESTIONS: Do the Dursos, slowly leak at the fitting connections? I'm wondering if I eventually get this corrected and a power outage lasts several hours, would the Durso standpipes slowly leak most of the water down into the sump from the overflow????
ONE MORE: I am also using an Eheim 2260 that returns via reverse flow undergravel filter. I am concerned that there is not enough flowing through this filter due to the pressure drop through the RF UGF. I drilled 1/16" holes every inch all the way through the 3/4" PVC and it came to like over 500 holes and the cross-sectional area of all of these holes combined is much larger than the 1" return line, so I thought this would be plenty. Now that it is in service I am skeptical about the flow rate. I know it's sucking pretty good because I can see the suction screen pulling stuff in, but with the small diameter holes potentially plugging and the gravel on top of the UGF I just need some peace of mind. Any suggestions on how to measure flow here??
THANKS IN ADVANCE!!! I will post pics shortly.
My thoughts...
1. Increase the number of slits in the acrylic divider overflow cover. This would reduce the level in the main tank that would end up in the sump in the event of a power outage. (I really like the level as full as it is now though, plus that would be a big task and I would probably make it look uglier than heck)
2. I'm pretty sure the Durso Standpipes are fully extended, but I can check this. If not, fully extending them will keep a larger volume in the overflow... wait, no it won't. Will it? It shouldn't matter how tall the Dursos are, they are just for lowering the noise level of the water, right???
3. My dad (mechanical engineer) suggested using solenoid valves that shut when the power shuts off. Simple, but not really what I was thinking....
4. Drill a hole in the acrylic sump and route the water to additional capacity (rubbermaid box of some sort).
5. Not much room for it, but I could place the entire sump in a larger rubbermaid box if I could find something with the right dimensions.
QUESTIONS: Do the Dursos, slowly leak at the fitting connections? I'm wondering if I eventually get this corrected and a power outage lasts several hours, would the Durso standpipes slowly leak most of the water down into the sump from the overflow????
ONE MORE: I am also using an Eheim 2260 that returns via reverse flow undergravel filter. I am concerned that there is not enough flowing through this filter due to the pressure drop through the RF UGF. I drilled 1/16" holes every inch all the way through the 3/4" PVC and it came to like over 500 holes and the cross-sectional area of all of these holes combined is much larger than the 1" return line, so I thought this would be plenty. Now that it is in service I am skeptical about the flow rate. I know it's sucking pretty good because I can see the suction screen pulling stuff in, but with the small diameter holes potentially plugging and the gravel on top of the UGF I just need some peace of mind. Any suggestions on how to measure flow here??
THANKS IN ADVANCE!!! I will post pics shortly.
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