Tank drilling question(s)...

[tam]

I've been toying with the idea of plumbing my 6 gallon nanocube with a bean/animalstylefries over flow, should all of the holes I drill be the same size/should the return be smaller? i.e. 3/4 for overflows and 1/2 for the return? I'd like to use loc-line for the return and I'm thinking of using a maxi-jet as the return pump. Just throwing around these ideas in my head. If you've got ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear 'em.

(Just as a FYI I ripped out the false wall years as so the "set her up as she is option is kind of out the window. :bigsmile: ) I'm still trying to decide if I should drill a 3/4 inch return on my 20g, I believe it's drilled for a 1-inch overflow.

 

[rygh]

Return can be smaller, since it is pump driven, not gravity driven.
But don't forget that cross section area is radius squared.
For example, 3/4 -> 1/2 is a 2.25X difference. Big change.
At those small sizes, it would seem best to keep them the same.

I have no idea where you plan to drill, but if low on the tank,
be careful of siphon issues when pump goes off.
Check valves can/will get clogged, so some part of the return needs to be very near surface.

 

[xcaret]

I wonder why for such small tank complicate a drain? IMO a 1" or 3/4" drain and 1/2" return will do the trick.

 

[tam]

Return can be smaller, since it is pump driven, not gravity driven.
But don't forget that cross section area is radius squared.
For example, 3/4 -> 1/2 is a 2.25X difference. Big change.
At those small sizes, it would seem best to keep them the same.

I have no idea where you plan to drill, but if low on the tank,
be careful of siphon issues when pump goes off.
Check valves can/will get clogged, so some part of the return needs to be very near surface.

If I do follow through with drilling the tank it would be across the top back of the tank.

I wonder why for such small tank complicate a drain? IMO a 1" or 3/4" drain and 1/2" return will do the trick.

At first I was thinking about doing a herbie with the extra drain just in case something got caught in inside the main intake, then I saw the bean/animal setups on youtube and the surface skimming (coast to coast?) and ultra low noise of the system intrigued me. Mostly because I'm out of work at the moment and have way too much time on my hands. You know what they say about idle hands. :bigsmile:

I've also been throwing around the idea of building a small canister filter with a small plastic clip jar and a maxi-jet just to see if I can build one similar to the ADA filter they sell. The only problem is that the input/output on the maxi-jets aren't threaded.