Marineland 60 gallon cube plumbing questions

HEy everyone, just purchased a lightly used marineland 60 gallon cube with a centre overflow and a custom stand and canopy. It was a price i just couldnt refuse. Not setting it up for another few months but want to knock out a few things so that when i do its good to go. First off plumbing.
Now ive read with this particualr tank, plumbing it can be quite the PITA and since ive never ran a sump before your expertise and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. THe centre overflow is extremly narrow, which is bittersweet imo. Good that it allows more of a footprint in the tank to work with, but bad that if anything goes in the overflow no tiny hand could fit in there. Anyways ive been researching how to plumb these since noise is an issue. Heres a few pics i found online
heres how narrow it is

THe return line and the other line are mounted vertically on the back one on top of the other, not very ideal. Here is a few pics of others plumbing

Now im guessing the line that flows into the sump is extended up and over the waterline with a hole drilled in the top? Is this a normal way to reduce noise (like i said i have no experience with plumbing sumps) also what are the two valves side by side above the sump for?and is it only needed to have one valve for the return and not the other line? where as this pic of another setup has both

Im looking for any help with this type of setup , id prefer to only do it once thats why im asking you guys for any tweaks, suggestions ,options i may have. Hope someone can help! thanks :)

You are correct. The bottom picture I am referring to.
The right side is the return with the 90 and the vent dome. There should be a little hole in it allowing air into the pipe.This is the picture of my down pipe. I drilled a hole and used some hard line on an on ring to get the silence. It is really quite and no issues.

Thanks Mario, so would I need to have the shut off valves for both the return and the main line? Or just the return or is it really just a matter of opinion.

You should have both.

On the pump side, it will be there idle down flow just in case you have to much flow. It helps when you are maintaining your pump too.


On the return side, this is where you adjust so you don't get the siphon sound throughout the return pipe. If you don't have it in place and adjusted correctly, this is where you will hear the running water sound.


The way it is set up right now is the way I would run it personally.

I would install a check valve too on the pump side. When you shut down your system to maintain, that water will run back possibly causing overflow. If you need pictures I can assist you that way too.

Ya for sure don't go moving your tabk or anything for pics but if you can without messing stuff up that would be awesome Mario. Any fail safes I can learn beforehand would be awesome.

This is the over flow box where the water returns to the sump. Your set up should be easier because it's drilled and returns to your sump under the tank. Mine is in the basement.

And now the rest of the pictures won't load.... I'll post again.

This is a picture illustrating the ball valve on the return. It is about 50% shut with 700gph. Sorry, picture is sideways.

The pipe in the center is the return pipe. This is an external pump setup with the manifold feeding my dt, fuge, and I also installed a blow off to return to sump. The pump is a snapper pump rated for approximately 2300gph.

Awesome, all good info for my first time doing this. Now are there any other failsafe options I can do in case of a power outage to prevent overflow in my sump? The way I see it is though that if power goes out no more water will be going to my tank so it will siphon only so much out before it won't overflow anymore. Is that right? Or am I missing something. Also how did you determine you needed a 2300 gph return pump? Are most return pumps adjustable? How do I know how much return I will need before actually running it.

These 2 pictures illustrate the amount of water difference when the pump is running and shut off. Look at the baffles, rough estimate of 3 gallons difference.

I recommend drawing a line on the side of the sump for a "maximum run line" so when you top off ( typically when running) that you Don't put to much in and shut down causing an overflow.

I have 20 ft of head pressure. If you go on reeflo website, they have a calculator for reference. This is why you install valves on the pump (valving down) the flow.

Some folks drill 2 return holes for an 'emergency overflow', I recommend installing a cover screen on the overflow to not allow a snail to plug the pipe.

That's exactly what I was planning, a cover for it. Thanks for all the info I really appreciate it. If more questions/ideas come to me and I'm sure they will. I'll be sure to post them on this thread. Or if anyone can think of anything else we might be missing or issues they had run into at one point please feel free to post. I may be over thinking this way too much. Better safe then sorry