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Thread: ATS Fed From Overflow

  1. #1

    Join Date
    May 2010
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    ATS Fed From Overflow

    Hello All! I have been reading a lot about ATS's & want to incorporated one on my next tank, I currently do not have a tank, but have been into marine hobby for the last 6-7yrs. I have had 3 different tanks all of which used the Berlin style for filtration, my last tank used a canister filter & I have to say I will never use a canister again!
    Any how back to subject at hand I'm thinking of either a 90 or 65 gal display with 30 gal sump, I would like to feed the ATS via the over flow. I've noticed there is a design like that on this site. What I wanted know if there are any insights or gotchas to watch out for?
    BTW I think the ATS is a wonderful idea, but don't really understand why it's not being adopted more widely?

  2. #2
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    Re: ATS Fed From Overflow

    Algae has no marketing budget, so it can't promote itself like skimmer companies do.

    An overflow feed works good; just make sure you have the flow:

    Screen Width-----Gallons Per Hour (GPH)

    1" 35
    2" 70
    3" 105
    4" 140
    5" 175
    6" 210
    7" 245
    8" 280
    9" 315
    10" 350
    11" 385
    12" 420
    13" 455
    14" 490
    15" 525
    16" 560
    17" 595
    18" 630
    19" 665
    20" 700
    21" 735
    22" 770 -- SM 100 size

    If you are doing an overflow feed, the overflow will determine how much flow you have to work with. You have to start from there, and size your screen accordingly. The maximum flow you'll get to the screen will be what's going through your overflow now. This is easy to figure out by counting how many seconds it takes your overflow to fill a one-gallon jug:

    60 seconds = 60 gph
    30 seconds = 120 gph
    15 seconds = 240 gph
    10 seconds = 360 gph
    8 seconds = 450 gph
    5 seconds = 720 gph


    Take this gph number that you end up with, and divide by 35, to get the number of inches wide the screen should be. For example, if your overflow was 240 gph, then divide this by 35 to get 6.8 (or just say 7) inches. So your screen should be 7 inches wide.

    How tall should the screen it be? That is determined by how much screen area you need, which is determined by how many gallons you have. Try to get one square inch of screen (lit both sides) for every gallon. If lit on only one side, double the screen area.

    When finished, this is how you want your flow to look:





  3. #3

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    May 2010
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    Re: ATS Fed From Overflow

    Hello Santa Monica, thank you for the valuable information, I'll definitely incorporate when designing my system.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    276

    Re: ATS Fed From Overflow

    what steps can be taken to prevent the pipe clogging due to things going down the overflow i/e food,algae/sand,fish,ect.? if the over flow can't flow then the return pump will empty the sumps water into the main display causing it to spill over and flood the house.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    20

    Re: ATS Fed From Overflow

    I'd imagine you have a few routes to mitigate that potential:

    1) Position an "emergency" standpipe in the overflow box, with it's opening above the normal operating water level. If the ATS gets clogged, the water will just flow down this other drain
    2) Use some sort of secondary outlet on the ATS's drainpipe with a higher static head than the ATS itself. In other words, put a T in the drain line before/after the ATS and run a pipe straight upwards for some distance, such that under normal operation the water doesn't flow out of it, but low enough that if the ATS itself becomes clogged, water will exit this secondary pipe.

  6. #6
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    Re: ATS Fed From Overflow

    But just so you know, there has never been a report of a clog that overflowed.

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