Anyone willing to build me 2 internal overflows?

[Shaar]

I need a couple 3 sided internal overflows for the 1" holes on the back wall of my tank. Anyone want to make me a couple or know where i can get one? i know if i make them, they will come out sloppy and i won't be happy with them. I'd prefer them to be professional.

also, can i use glass for these? or would it be better to use plexi.

 

[schrader]

Use what ever you like I have seen people use a plastic mailbox with the bottom flat piece cut off and then cut down to the hight they wanted it at then just siliconed it in place.I would help you out if I was closier.

 

[Medicine Man]

Are you wanting something like a "Calfo Overflow" or are you simply looking for a way to get water from point A to B?

 

[Shaar]

This is a crude example, but this is what i had in mind, but maybe a little more incognito... know what i mean? Or maybe this example sticks out like a sore thumb because its a 10gallon... And I'd probably tint or paint mine black to hide it a little more effectively.

 

[SoupySteve]

I think that with the calfo-style or the mailbox-style (SERIOUSLY) would give you the finshed-look you're looking for. Remember to keep your return pump's flowrate in mind when you are cutting the teeth for whatever overflow you chose.

 

[aquaconnect]

I have a Calfo on my 180, but no pics. You'll just have to come and see it. If you are doing a calfo or something like above, invest in ball valves, otherwise you could have serious problems with sucking sounds, and micro bubbles. I think a slow pump is best. The whole reason for a Calfo, is so that the max about of surface water can be overflowed slowly, then skimmed since the surface is where the crap ends up, like in the ocean where the beach naturally skims. I've had my 5 1/2" Calfo over a year and love it. I'll never have it any other way.

 

[Shaar]

well i have (2) 1" bulkheads and a mag 5, so low flow isn't a problem lol

I want this thing to be silent, so i guess i will pick up some ball valves. I may do the mailbox method, but don't have any clue how low to cut the slots, etc....

 

[aquaconnect]

Here's what I would do. I would get some spare egg crate. Build all three sides the same height. Then mark the front where you would normal cut the slots, 2 egg crate spaces deep. Screw cutting slots. Then cut the 2 egg crate width spacing off the front. Get a piece of egg crate and silicone it to the top where you cut. I do not have slots in my Calfo, it's glass, and when I cut the glass, I made sure it was 2 egg crate spaces short. Water flows threw the egg crate, not over it. Much easier, and much much better looking.

 

[vortex6]

I installed a Calfo in mine. It's really not that hard. Any glass shop can cut the glass to your specifications then it's just a matter of siliconing them together. I posted 2 pics of mine. I have 2 overflows that are 24" long each. I have 2 1" drains on each side. I have slits cut into mine because I made a measurement miscalculation when I installed them but let's not talk about that. It's fine though because it keeps the snails on the correct side. I'd recommend you go the easy route and use egg crate. You will want something though because fish do like to jump over them.

 

[vortex6]

One more thing. I would recommend installing a durso standpipe if you are wanting to keep noise down. I have them on mine and they really do help. This site can give you an idea on how to build them. Look under popular modifications and then external overflow. I actually took that design and modified it further by putting them inside the overflow box.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

 

[Shaar]

good idea! Matt mentioned that to me. I was going to do a 90 elbow pointed down in the tank within the overflow box, through each of the 2 1" bulkheads, then to a pvc T (the top end capped off with a hole drilled with an air valve, and the bottom part of the T obviously going to to the sump.


Last question, is there an optimal size for my overflow? i have a 1" overflow on each end of the tank about 2" down from the top and 2-3" from the sides.

I don't want to make it too shallow or too deep or too skinny or too wide, you get the drift



also, i think i'm going to do glass rather than acrylic, and do eggcrate only on the top front level with the glass sides so water enters only from the front of the overflows.

As if I haven't asked enough questions, whats the best way to silicone everything together, including siliconing the built boxes to the tank? I want a very clean install and don't want teh silicone to look sloppy.

 

[schrader]

I use black electrical tape for my seams.You just put it 1/4 -1/8 inch away from where the glass is to be sealedand go to it as sloppy as you want just remove it before the silicone dries.

 

[Shaar]

good idea!

 

[vortex6]

My overflows are 4" tall, 3" from the side, and 24" long. I don't think there is really any optimal size. They don't really have to be that tall or wide since their purpose is just to scim the surface. I don't think you can ever go too long though since you want as much surface area as possible. Make it too small and it's going to take awhile for your entire surface to get scimmed. The big thing to plan for is really making sure you have enough drain capacity to keep up with your pump. I believe reef central has a caculator to figure what size of drains you need.

I put mine together pretty much like schrader mentioned. I used electrical tape to keep the pieces together. I put the pieces together first and let them dry overnight. My tank is 180 gallon and couldn't exactly turn it on its side unless I got lots of help so to install the pieces on the aquarium I bought a 1x6 piece of wood and cut 2 pieces to the height I needed. I also had some cross braces to hold the 2 pieces together. I then just sat my overflows on the wood and attached them to the glass. Again, I used tape to hold them in place. I installed them on 2 seperate nights using the same stand.

As far as glass and acrylic, the typical rule is attach glass to glass and acrylic to acrylic although some people have had success attaching arcrylic to glass. The problem is silicone doesn't bond as well to acrylic.

 

[Shaar]

ok i went with some black acrylic with a clear bottom, ended up making corner ones (2 sided plus a bottom). 8x6x8 for each corner. All i can say is weld-on 3 is the ****.

as far as bonding the acrylic to glass, i will see how that goes tomorrow lol