# dual overflow question



## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

So I made a over flow im my tank a while ago and it works great but I havnt seen many other peoples setups so I wanted to get some other experiences. I made my dual overflow so than one was a bit lower and served as the main overflow and basically tbe other was primed ready to go if the primary got plugged which it did once and my sytem worked great. So my question is do tanks with dual overflows use both at the same time? Or is one the main and one a back up like mine I made any help would be great


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

On my 300g tank I have 4 2" drains, two in each box at either end of the tank

1 in each box has a valve on it and is significantly lower than the second in the box, it is always submerged

The secondaries act as emergencies










I run the same setup on all my salt tanks although usually only one pair of drains as its dead quiet and no sump bubbles

Here's the same setup on a smaller scale on my half finished 33g


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Where did u get theblack acrylics!! D:

I running a bean animal style. The main full siphon takes the majority of the flow. Depends on the height of ur intakes. The one lower and closer to the water.will.take.most of thenflow. 

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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

AdobeOtoCat said:


> Where did u get theblack acrylics!! D:
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


Made it myself out of some scrap


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Aw man. I need some scraps. Was at.king eds in their storage warehouse looking for scraps haha

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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Plastic works


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

When you say dual overflow..you mean 2 independent system right? The best method would probably be that the main overflow be positioned lower than the secondary overflow so as to handle most if not all of the draining. The secondary is mostly backup and you can set it up so that it handles a bit of the draining as well which may be a good idea to keep it primed. The primary overflow can be more like a siphon drain in that it will be silent and mostly submerged but you will need a valve on the other end to control the flow. The water level in the main tank will find its own natural water level depending on the flow of the return pump and the adjustment of the gate valve on the drain side. If there is any slight water level creep up effect over time, it will be taken care of by the secondary overflow until you make adjustment on your primary overflow if you wish. For additional safety, you can also setup a float valve connected to a relay valve to shut off the pump should the water level rise past the maximum level before overflowing onto your floor (pump stopper kit).


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

Ya thanks guys I do run independent pipes and thats exactly what mine does one is the main and one is mostly just a backup. Spitfire you also have plumbing inside the box correct?


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)




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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

Cool and its silent? No slurping or suction sounds


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Perfectly silent

All I can hear on my tanks is the pumps humming and the skimmer


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