Calfo Style Overflow boxes

[drock59]

I thought I should bring this thread back from the dead to ask a pertinent question or two.

1. With this style overflow box and the bean animal style plumbing, what is the recommended depth of the bulkheads below the water line? I am trying to design an overflow which will protrude the least into the tank, but still provide optimal surface skimmer and noise reduction.

Post 54 addressed the question in terms of safely drilling holes. I am interested in the placement for best surface skimming and overflow function.

Quote:
Originally posted by causeofhim
Did anyone ever say, how far from the top of your tank do your drain holes need to be?
I believe the rule of thumb is to be half the diameter of the hole from any edge of the glass.

3" hole? 1.5" From the edge.

2. The last post to this thread was 2.5 years ago. Are people still satisfied with this style?

:beer:

 

[Lincsflier]

Thanks been wondering the same thing over here. I've been looking at using this on a 72" x 24" x 30" setup with two remote sumps.

 

[Dieselfool]

I thought I should bring this thread back from the dead to ask a pertinent question or two. :

Thanks Drock for bringing this back to life. I would never have seen it if you hadn't. I'm just starting to do my 220 build and this answered a whole bunch of questions for me.

 

[biecacka]

I love my c2c!
Corey

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

An oldie!

 

[RedStangGA]

I thought I should bring this thread back from the dead to ask a pertinent question or two.

1. With this style overflow box and the bean animal style plumbing, what is the recommended depth of the bulkheads below the water line? I am trying to design an overflow which will protrude the least into the tank, but still provide optimal surface skimmer and noise reduction.

Post 54 addressed the question in terms of safely drilling holes. I am interested in the placement for best surface skimming and overflow function.


2. The last post to this thread was 2.5 years ago. Are people still satisfied with this style?

:beer:

I have the same question so thanks!

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

If you are using an overflow box, the bulkhead level will not effect the water level. The box will dictate this.

I have been happy with the various overflows of this style I have used.

 

[drock59]

Finally got around to installing my overflow. I love it. Highly recommend to anyone considering the change.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

I've read through this thread and am thinking about setting up a new aquarium with an internal C2C overflow. A few questions for those of you who have had your C2C set up for awhile now...

1) I plan on keeping small fish in a 100+ gallon aquarium (e.g., tailspot blenny, leopard wrasses, gobies, etc.), what has worked best for you all to keep these fish from staying out of the overflow? I've seen several people recommend gutter guard in this thread, but I really don't want to come home to find a tailspot blenny dried up on some gutter guard...

2) Do you recommend using all black or tinted glass for the overflow box? Is this purely for aesthetics? I've read that some people like using tinted glass for the vertical sheet, but clear glass for the horizontal sheet so that light penetrates to the sandbed better for growing corals directly under the box...Is this true?

3) Do you find the C2C overflow unsightly in the aquarium? I'm all for the design of the C2C because of its advantages for the health of your reef system, but at the same time I'm hesitant to utilize a method that takes up a fair portion of the display aquarium... Opinions?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Hampton]

I had my 90 gal built from a 120 size profile. Picture a 120 with the bottom 3/4 of the back glass moved forward about 6". The box is outside the back. I have one piece of glass about 1" tall spanning ctc above the surface of the water. Beneath it is a 1/4" gap through which the water over flows into the box behind. Make sure the water doesn't touch the ctc "horizontal finger." No fish loss in five years. 100% unabated ctc overflow. No unsightly box inside tank. All plumbing is below the overflow including four bulkheads with a rotating flow controller. Bad formatting from phone.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

I never had an issue with small fish and overflows. It seems that issue is usually due to an aggresive fish picking on a smaller one and the smaller one escaping into the overflow.

As for the tinted vs black, I prefer black. I dont want to see pvc in the tank ,and with the tinted you will.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

This thread makes me feel old! I started it in 2004!

 

[uny2bld]

For this style of overflow, why couldn't someone just stick a sponge block inside the overflow canal to stop snails and fish as well as function as a prefilter? This would dampen the sound also...

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

For this style of overflow, why couldn't someone just stick a sponge block inside the overflow canal to stop snails and fish as well as function as a prefilter? This would dampen the sound also...

You would have to clean that sponge daily, otherwise you would likely end up overflowing your tank.

 

[uny2bld]

You would have to clean that sponge daily, otherwise you would likely end up overflowing your tank.

Generally, this is true but i found that if you seed them with micro stars, you don't have to clean them.

My Fluval Spec (2.2 gallons) has about 35 - 40 micro stars in the sponge filter and I only rinse the sponge in the water from water changes 1xmonth then pick up any stars that fell and put them back with teh sponge filter.

I know it sound slike a wild and crazy idea but it works. I have no issues with my params on that tiny tank. My thoughts are to just do the same for the larger c2c overflow...

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Generally, this is true but i found that if you seed them with micro stars, you don't have to clean them.

My Fluval Spec (2.2 gallons) has about 35 - 40 micro stars in the sponge filter and I only rinse the sponge in the water from water changes 1xmonth then pick up any stars that fell and put them back with teh sponge filter.

I know it sound slike a wild and crazy idea but it works. I have no issues with my params on that tiny tank. My thoughts are to just do the same for the larger c2c overflow...

I would still keep an eye on the sponge, it would not take long for a clogged sponge to cause an overflow considering most people uyse a return pump in the 1000gph range.

I have seen too many tanks overflow to rely on stars to keep it clean.

I don't like the ideaa of restricting drains.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Thanks for the responses, guys! I know this thread is kind of old, but there's good stuff and knowledgeable people so I thought it was a good place to ask my questions.

Hampton, was your tank custom built, or did you somehow modify an existing aquarium?

 

[uncleof6]

I've read through this thread and am thinking about setting up a new aquarium with an internal C2C overflow. A few questions for those of you who have had your C2C set up for awhile now...

1) I plan on keeping small fish in a 100+ gallon aquarium (e.g., tailspot blenny, leopard wrasses, gobies, etc.), what has worked best for you all to keep these fish from staying out of the overflow? I've seen several people recommend gutter guard in this thread, but I really don't want to come home to find a tailspot blenny dried up on some gutter guard...

Usually fish getting in the overflow will get an E ticket ride down to the sump, where you will find the swimming happily, unless they get sucked into the skimmer pump. So a screen on your skimmer intake might not be a bad idea. Fish getting in the overflow is not as common a problem as we would be lead to believe. A long C2C has a thin sheet of water going over it, not something that would be inviting for the fish.

2) Do you recommend using all black or tinted glass for the overflow box? Is this purely for aesthetics? I've read that some people like using tinted glass for the vertical sheet, but clear glass for the horizontal sheet so that light penetrates to the sandbed better for growing corals directly under the box...Is this true?[/QUOTE]

I would not put too much stock in that assumption, it is all aesthetics. Light scatters in the water, reflects back off the glass, (an argument for NOT having a black back tank,) etc, generally the assumption is chasing a problem that is not really a problem. Due to angles, (lights being forward of the overflow) the rock work would stop more light from reaching this area, than the overflow. First, there should not be any corals under the overflow, and generally should not be anything from the back of the tank to around 4" from the back of the tank. This is for circulation purposes, and preventing dead spots behind the rock work.

Looking at it from another point of view, "clear" glass, is less expensive than smoked (tinted) or black glass. Perhaps a more compelling reason to use it for the bottom.

3) Do you find the C2C overflow unsightly in the aquarium? I'm all for the design of the C2C because of its advantages for the health of your reef system, but at the same time I'm hesitant to utilize a method that takes up a fair portion of the display aquarium... Opinions?[/QUOTE]

Depends on taste, but a black overflow against a black back tank disappears. Coralline makes all surfaces equal. The C2C is only at the top 5 - 6" inches of the tank, (depends on plumbing arrangement) if it is black, due to "stage effect," the eye is drawn away from the overflow, by the brighter more colorful areas of the tank.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Thanks, Uncle!

I think I'd like the overflow to be black and the back of the tank to be black (probably will paint the outside of the back of the tank). You mentioned that having the back of the tank being black could be an issue? What are the pros and cons of that? Thanks.

 

[uncleof6]

Physics!-- EEEKKKSSS!! lol. Part of the light scattering in the tank, is due to light reflecting off the glass. Testing has shown that clear glass reflects more light than glass that is painted black on the outside of the tank. The reason is that black objects, such as black paint, absorb all wavelengths of light, and reflect none. Now one would think that the light passes through the glass, however, that is not the case, some does yes, but a great deal is reflected back into the tank. It can be proven, and it was, but I would be hard pressed to find the link to it. Is it a big deal? Probably not, since there should not be a need for that much light behind your rock structure.