Aquarium Science - Water Flow Management

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Most popular comments
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Pondguru - 7 years ago

Inlet flows in under pressure and outlet flows out under gravity so outlet always needs to be larger - good demonstration.

REST IN TINY PIECES!!! - 7 years ago

Listening to this video while hearing comments and can see why people think that this video isnt complete,but to give credit to this man and video its simple really why tha video seems,and is not complete its this....whats tha basics and fastest Route from A to D with out making it complicated for simple minds,or tha beginner,its this video.
I tried to explain to alot of people tha whole A to turn,elbow,up,down,sideways, twists,turns,flow rates,or START A),b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k(FINISH D
and they got lost and could careless cause,They didn't understand and just wanted to know tha fastest and simplest way,and here u have it.And I am tha type of person to tell u tha same thing I just did but change tha wording to help u get it.
No one just starting out wants to get slammed in tha head with everything at once,its to be fun not a pain in tha ass and head trauma lol, Once u got this,then u give them alittle more. only true hobbyist or some one BE ALL U CAN BE IN THA AQUA-ROOM WILL KEEP FOCUS EVEN IF THEY GOT STUCK OR LOST IN A FRACTION OF THA WAY SKIP IT,MOVED ON AND COME BACK TO FIGURED IT OUT LATER. So great video and simple way to start out.
BE EASY ELBERT EINSTEINS AND AQUA-ESPN KILLERS...ALOT OF PEOPLE NEED BABY STEPS,U JUST KICKED THEM OUTTA THA BELLY HITTING THA FLOOR COLD,WET,SCREAMING AND,TELLING THEM TO RUN NOW!!! WHEN THEY DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO WALK,LET ALONE CRAWL!!!
LOL
BLESSED BE...

Frazel Fernandes - 7 years ago

the outlet also depends on the pump thats gona pump the water to the aquraim, if pump flow rate is high then will need to increase the outlet size ....vice versa.

Jay Right - 7 years ago

Hey steelo! Are you still using Fish Town USA? Or have you changed locations for your aquatic needs?

Gene Cundel - 7 years ago

Hi Dennis, I think the biggest problem most everyone has in designing a system is determining what the pump truly puts out. I find that every pump grossly over estimates it's flow rates. Out of curiosity I have placed many submersible pumps into a full sink and just hook up a small discharge tube to collect the outflow into a marked volume container. By doing this I practically eliminate head and friction loss to zero, yet don't get anywhere near what the pump is rated at. So, that being said, how do we proceed/adjust in determining what equipment to use. Please advise.

Mr. Clifford Johnson - 7 years ago

Good stuff, learned something......

Carlos Weinberguer - 7 years ago

what's better bulkhead or universal seal??

tjoslin53 - 7 years ago

Hello, great vid! I have a question that no vid has spoken about but I have seen. If you have a large tank with a bottom drain that takes the fish waist to the filter and then the filter returns clean water back to the tank via another pipe. Question, do you simply try different pipe outlet sizes to find the out and in flow rate that works. I would think that the out flow at the bottom of the tank with all the water pressure above would be a problem. Hope I am being clear in my description. Thanks

Frank Castle - 7 years ago

I'm trying to create water return and over flow for my 150 gallon aquarium. I want to use a hang-on style overflow and pump water from a 55 gallon drum in my basement. The drum is 20' away vert.and hor. collectively. what size piping do I need for the overflow and return? What pump would I need in order to supply water to the aquarium for the distance it will be from the aquarium?

10. comment for Aquarium Science - Water Flow Management

Nuno Ribeiro - 7 years ago

At last....someone straight to the point...Thank You.

Benjamin Martinez - 8 years ago

good info, a lot of beginners miss this one step when setting up thier systems...

sumal sebastian - 8 years ago

Super informative for my DIY project. But does controlling the water inlet cause the pump to work harder n cause heating?
Also, do i need two outlets one for the overflow at slightly higher level as my tank is going to be huge(8'x2')?

Garry Thomas - 8 years ago

what type of drive? Prop? jet drive?

Chad White - 8 years ago

on the outlet do u use a some sort of sreen so small fish dont get in the sump?

Sean Gordon - 8 years ago

This video is fantastic. Thanks much for taking the time to post it.

Rotter Tube Reef - 8 years ago

awesome video thanks for making it!

Nelson Enrique Gonzalez Diaz - 8 years ago

buenas seria interesante , subtitulos en español xfavor

mef1975 - 8 years ago

2:56 1,000 - 1,500 GPH, really? You can't be more specific? Are you sure you aren't running 2,000 GPH? Dude, you needed to tell us the GPH on the system you're showing us so we can figure why it took 2 or 2.5" to output what 1" was inputting, seriously, I want to learn, but from what I understand, the 2" overflow should've been able to handle 1,500 GPH, yet there was still and inch or two of water above it... 4:40, requiring 2.5" to really level out, so what gives?

Joseph D'Bennidetto - 8 years ago

So with a 1" inny, could I get away with two 1.25" outies that merge into a 2.5" pipe somewhere outside the tank? that way I can keep the water level that much closer to the top.

20. comment for Aquarium Science - Water Flow Management

Alan Hester - 8 years ago

Thank you

Aaron Buchanan - 8 years ago

hi there I thought this was the best video ive watched as im currently in process of building my 8x2x2 aquarium. I was just wondering how far down from the top of the tank should I drill for both outlet and return bulkheads? thankyou

Emmanuel Perez - 8 years ago

Great Video. Keep up the great work and keep these coming.

Juice - 8 years ago

Why run it into a filtration system when you could run it into a hydroponic food bed and back into the fish tank? fish poop feeds the plants and the plants return clean water back to the fish. Aquaponics. just a tip.

Mostlyharmless1985 - 7 years ago

You still need the filtration system unless you know any kind of plants that can process NH3 that I'm not aware of. Feces isn't the only waste produced. You have to work some way to fix ammonia and bind it as less harmful compounds. Tossing a tomato plant at a fishtank isn't going to be good for either system. Aquaponics closes the nitrogen cycle, reducing or removing the need to change water. It doesn't replace it.

King Shull - 7 years ago

really

per etz - 8 years ago

beware of backflow, use a check valve or insure that you position the height of the drain leaving enough space to allow for the water to drain into your sump.

Mighty Rock - 9 years ago

I did a similar project and it took me a month to figure out the tricks, I wish I'dve seen this before

Kyle Riedel - 9 years ago

Wonderful video, thanks for sharing with all of us!

Ernie Laguardia - 9 years ago

OKAN KARAGOZ - 9 years ago

What he shows in this video works only with his pump set up (volumetric flow and head loss). There are different types of pumps with different flow and head parameters for 1" pipe. So it doesn't apply to every situation.

M. Peters - 9 years ago

Thanks SO much. I have a 150 gal and am building a sump. The tank does not have easy access and I cannot fool around and experiment. This helped a lot.

30. comment for Aquarium Science - Water Flow Management

Rad Ster - 9 years ago

Well said sir, ignore the ungrateful overtechnical idiots. These are basic ideas that helped me tremendously when building my custom reef tank. I would have had a major headache had I not listened to your video before I finalized ordering my plumbing parts. I now have a successfully piped, and safe tank!

Jake Lim - 9 years ago

Is there any reason that use PVC for output but rubber?silicon hose for input with motor?

pine - 9 years ago

What would happen if your inlet to the pump was on that "bulkhead" wouldn't it suck it out faster?

ToddSails - 9 years ago

Wow, beyond, or should I say- below basic principles.
So much mis-information on this video.

Essentially he's saying, water flows thru holes. The bigger the hole, the more water.

Does this actually apply to a tank, say- a reef tank with fish and corals for instance. It does not

damiansdroid - 10 years ago

Mr matumbo shows classroom simple ways potheads can learn to use bulkheads, problem is they soon forgot

ThinkDeeper - 9 years ago

+damiansdroid Oh thanks, I forgot what this video was about. Good thing I have sheep to guide me.

Señor Cinco - 10 years ago

That is NOT a 1"" reducer. While it does have a 1" PVC line coming in... this guy reduced the outlet down to 1/2"....lol

F. Biff - 10 years ago

Good explanation of drain flow. Simple way to show what is or needs to happen for drainage as opposed to someone just saying use this and this.
On a side note, your missing a fire extinguisher and GFCI protection on the pumps would be a good thing for safety.

Techdude52 - 10 years ago

Great Video!

adrian mcdaid - 10 years ago

great help many thanks

Robyn Nelson - 10 years ago

Thank GOD I stumbled on this. Definitely would have put too small a bulkhead on tank and overflowed :) Thanks for sharing!

Keith Howard - 10 years ago

A simple yet informative explanation on the basic principles of Aquarium to Sump/Refugium plumbing and flow. A hello and thanyou from the Rock of Gibraltar on the other side of the pond.

Linh Nguyen - 10 years ago

This video probably confused more novices than it helped. 1" inlet pvc has VERY LITTLE to do with how much water is actually being pumped in. Same goes for positioning of outlet bulkhead. Pumps that would use 1" pvc can vary from 800gph to 4000gph (Eheims, Mag Drives, Rios, Little Giants, etc...). And then you have to account for head height. Redundancy is ALWAYS better. Drill yourself at least 2 bulkheads for outlet, each capable of handling 1.5X ACTUAL amount of water being pumped in. If your tank has tempered glass on the bottom, then you have to drill the back. Multiple 1" bulkheads + PVC will get you proper outlet and placement.

Ken S - 8 years ago

lol word. i want to know how to have no dead spots in my aquarium. this guy just baffled me...

Minh Son - 10 years ago

i agree!

Part Time Shooter - 10 years ago

This doesn't show anything, it's all depends on how fast you pump the water up.

entuloh - 10 years ago

Mass, Bernoulli and Energy Equation

Jeff Monfils - 10 years ago

Fantastic explanation!

Bob - 10 years ago

One error though is you are using a horizontal bulkhead which does not apply to a floor drain type. Horizontal rates are almost 1/2 lower than vertical flow rates.

ie. A 1.5 inch pipe on the bottom can handle 1800 gph (depends on pipe length and amount of standing water above pipe. That same 1.5 inch pipe mounted on the side like this video probably can handle only 800 gph.

Bob - 10 years ago

Nice video, a video says it all. Very good in a trade where its the blind leading the blind in terms of good information.

umc studio - 11 years ago

I have a 40 gallon breeder andvi wated to drill some holesusing a 700 -800 -pump what hole size should I driil?

Miles Lofgren - 11 years ago

FUCK YOU DENIS GLAZE!!!

The man - 11 years ago

hey Dennis great video loved how knowledgeable you are!

50. comment for Aquarium Science - Water Flow Management

MEATSOMBRERO - 11 years ago

EXCELLENT Video! Thanks.

REEMIKS - 11 years ago

i learned alot thanks

carrie cool j - 11 years ago

Pretty good demonstration.. A+

Charles Ng - 11 years ago

It is great. Very professional and factual.

John Bell - 11 years ago

the air is to quiet it when the flow to the input is much below capactiy, when that occurs it'll try to suck air in with the water which makes it noisy so the addition of air is to quiet it

Voll Blau - 11 years ago

you should try a fluid engineering book, the computations are not that hard

Voll Blau - 11 years ago

You are so mean!

Frank Fullum - 11 years ago

The area of a circle increases as the square of the radius. A 2-inch circle has 4 times the area of a 1-inch circle, so four 1-inch outlets would be required to provide the same flow as one 2-inch outlet. The area of a 1-inch outlet is .0785 sq in, two 1-inch outlets would be 1.57 sq in. The area of a 2-inch outlet is 3.14 sq in.

Frank Fullum - 11 years ago

The surface area of one 10-inch outlet is 78.5 sq in. The surface area of two 10-inch outlets is 157 sq in. The surface area of one 20-inch outlet is 314 sq in.

TheBSideDJ - 11 years ago

last part of video : "the outlet may be not not to low to prevent losing waterspace in top part of tank"... in fact this theory is NOT TRUE because you can always connect a pipe elbow and a vertical placed pipe for the upper part above your outlet. By doing that, you will have your water level as high as you want, without any lost waterspace (sump). Strange that university vid is not more complete

TheBSideDJ - 11 years ago

in other words : basic fluidomechanics (pressure P inlet is - in general - bigger then P outlet because of the pump, so surface (diameter) outlet has to be bigger, since Q outlet has to be minimum >= Q inlet to prevent overflow). Logic.

xhawkusmc - 11 years ago

ive seen a trick a long time ago where the jet in was piped directed to the piping of an under gravel filter. it spreads the current out underneath the gravel keeping it in place for the most part, while pushing waste out. its a thought, but sludge in gravel is a good thing just get some plants. anyways theres one solution for what you were describing, though a powerful pump may be too much for a small undergravel filter system

Captain Anger - 11 years ago

Looks like a large sea creature giving the lecture.

Anthony Reyes - 11 years ago

Look at the gobbler on that guy!

XENONSTORM - 11 years ago

You Sir are GOD ..... lol

gtariman03 - 11 years ago

The surface area of 2inch outlet is bigger than two 1inch outlet. Formula for finding the area of a circle is A=3.14x(radiusxradius).Lets say using 10 as 1inch outlet and 20 as 2inch outlet. The surface area of two 10inch outlet would be 628inches. The surface area of 20inch outlet is 1,256inches. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. It's been a few years since I was in geometry.

AweSomo84 - 11 years ago

the law of suction :)

Rhys Sheppard - 11 years ago

I don't think this would work. If you draw a 2 inch circle and 2 one inch circles on a piece of paper, you will see that the surface area of the 2 inch circle is actually a lot bigger than the 2 one inch circles combined. Therefore, you will still get more water flowing through a 2 inch hole than 2 one inch holes.

Rhys Sheppard - 11 years ago

you could possibly put inlet on bottom of tank, which would stir up crap on the bottom. But then, there would be other considerations to take, such as syphon off during a power cut. Also, if you have substrates, gravel etc, you may end up blowing it down the other end of the tank.

Milos Stevanovic - 11 years ago

I already have that, but still the fact remains that the water circulates manly on the surface of the aquarium. Thanks

Jose Sanchez - 11 years ago

you can increase circulation by adding air pump

Milos Stevanovic - 11 years ago

The thing I don't like about this type of overflow is the water circulation itself. Since the water that comes out/in is on the top I was wondering if there is any circulation on the bottom of the tank?

Jorge Carmona - 11 years ago

looks easy, but in practice is very different

seven seas aquarium pros - 12 years ago

very nice

PaNdeM0niuM - 12 years ago

smart guy

MonopolyBag - 12 years ago

Cuz he doesn't work in Oregon where this guy works.

Steve Degroot - 12 years ago

the best place to find top notch bulkheads of any size is a farming supply store, pool stores are much more delicate

busterbear59 - 12 years ago

These "bulkheads" are cimmonly usef in pools and spas. So the best place to find these are in pool and spa supply stores, or online at pool and spa parts suppliers.

Filo011 - 12 years ago

probably because there 3 people sitting in that class

Chris Milton - 12 years ago

I would say a 2 inch bulkhead, and use reducers like he did in the video to find tune it... Basically just recreate what he did.

SterlingK - 12 years ago

Good to know especially about circulation.

Antony487 - 12 years ago

thanks dennis, this video will stop me from getting my carpet wet, great demo, great help, great presentation, thanks buddy.

kevan barnes - 12 years ago

gr8 video just the way u show the flow of the return and the overflow u rock mate

The-Roost - 12 years ago

Thank you for the video, it was very instructive. I am curious on something you didn't address though and I was wondering if I might get your time to answer this. In your video example you start with a 1" outlet and increase it to 2" (then to 2.5" for your safety factor); would adding another 1" outlet have the same result as a single 2" outlet? So my question is, would dual 1" outlets have the same result as a single 2" outlet? Thank you very much for your time!

mudbert - 12 years ago

I could do a much better job of teaching this class than this guy.

aikobabi - 12 years ago

Wow!! you have mentioned some really important things I never thought of!!! Thank you !!

charmango123 - 12 years ago

thank you for this vid, the info was invaluable. I am currently in the middle of designing/researching my own filtration external sump/filter combo - I have been gearing for watching that the filter not overflow but never even occured to me I could overflow the tank itself so thanks for pointing that out and supplying the info!

TheSlacker64 - 12 years ago

@drychalice If you're lucky enough to find bulk head fittings at a big box store, chances are they will be metal. Best to get bulk head fitting from places lik MarineDepot BulkReefSupplyor aquaticeco just to name a few places.

TheSlacker64 - 12 years ago

@randy12368 Totally makes a differance. You inlet is under presure from the pump, the outlet is only under gavity pressure. Pumping at max cap of a 1" inlet you will overrun the 1" outlet without the same presure.