Check Valves Anyone? (1 Viewer)

[zeek]

Hey guys I'm going to be making my return soon My tank is coming along nicely and I will be posting a thread about it soon. I'm mostly researching as of now and I'm wondering if anyone has used check valves and or what are your experiences and or opinions of them.

I am planning on doing a Bean on my new tank and just the way I wanted to really set it up I wanted my returns to be below the bean box and that would mean a LOT of water could backflow if allowed, so should I scrap the idea or are check valves viable? I've heard mixed reviews but they are few, help please, thanks!

 

[Jamie9169]

I put a bean animal on this 35 cube, just to test it out, and I have the return lines about two inches off the floor of the tank. I am using check valves but I noticed that when I put in my sand and it was all stirred up, it got in the check valves and they leaked. I replaced them and have not had any issues since but I have a sump large enough to hold all the water that will drain back into just in case it does fail again.

 

[Ostentum]

I drill a small hole above the water line in the return line. I will try and take a picture later. Much better then a checkvalve that can fail. Your also close enough if you ever want to come by.

 

[DonnieKim]

I drill a small hole above the water line in the return line. I will try and take a picture later. Much better then a checkvalve that can fail. Your also close enough if you ever want to come by.

"above the water line"? This doesn't give micro-bubbles?
I'm trying to determine if I should drill the hole above or just below, the water line.

 

[flexrac]

Like ostentum said, you should drill your returns near the top and then use loc lines to place the outlet at what ever level you want. then drill a hole in the line above the water line. this will cause a siphon break. i do not trust check valves and sleep better knowing that's one thing i don't have to worry about. all of my returns sit right at the waters surface, so as soon as the pump shuts off, i get a siphon break without drilling holes into the line. gives great surface agitation as well. only time i will use a return below the water line is in a closed looped setup. Just my 2 pennies

 

[trb]

Ditto what Felix said. Check valves will more than likely fail when you need them. Eventhough my return is right at the water level, and I have a hole drilled, it still drains down my tank until the water level is at the lowest point of my return line. I'm sure this is because my return plumbing does not go above the water line at all, it is horizontal once in the tank and the top of the locline is about at the water's surface. Not too much drains, maybe 3/4" or about 2 gallons. Best bet is to design the system right and not rely on a check valve for a band aid.

 

[zeek]

Ditto what Felix said. Check valves will more than likely fail when you need them. Eventhough my return is right at the water level, and I have a hole drilled, it still drains down my tank until the water level is at the lowest point of my return line. I'm sure this is because my return plumbing does not go above the water line at all, it is horizontal once in the tank and the top of the locline is about at the water's surface. Not too much drains, maybe 3/4" or about 2 gallons. Best bet is to design the system right and not rely on a check valve for a band aid.

Well thanks for the input thats what I needed wasn't considering as a bandaid I was really wondering how viable they were to be considered as an actual set-up.

I am back to the drawing board anyways because I may have found my dream tank, if the wife allows me to get it lol!