Jeremy Blaze
Former Reef Addict
scuglass, I added elbows like you said, and it made it a little quiter. I looked at it and thought it would be more like a durso, so I added them.
Calfo Style Overflow boxes
- Thread starter Jeremy Blaze
- Start date
trmiv
Active member
OK, I got my boxes made. They are 17" long by 4.25" wide by 4.5" tall, and they have a 1/2" lip on the front. So that's 42.5" of overflow space. They take up a lot of room in a 75g tank though.
Someone convince me that the benefit of these type of overflows to my tank's health will outweigh their obtrusiveness. Because after seeng the room they take up, I'm very tempted to replace them with a 6"x3"x5" box.
Someone convince me that the benefit of these type of overflows to my tank's health will outweigh their obtrusiveness. Because after seeng the room they take up, I'm very tempted to replace them with a 6"x3"x5" box.
Jeremy Blaze
Former Reef Addict
I find mine to be much less obtrusive than the All Glass Mega Flow overflows in my other 125.
You get more open bottom area, which allows for much better aquascaping.
You get more open bottom area, which allows for much better aquascaping.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I find my shelf type overflow to be far less obtrusive than a full height of any style.
Bean
Bean
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
you will want the elbows
bean
bean
Jeremy Blaze
Former Reef Addict
pmui, Sounds good, the longer the boxes are the better.
As for updates, mine is still up and running, no problems.
Cgamer, I used 1/4" acrylic for mine.
As for updates, mine is still up and running, no problems.
Cgamer, I used 1/4" acrylic for mine.
causeofhim
New member
Did anyone ever say, how far from the top of your tank do your drain holes need to be?
theres mine; not sure if its a definitive calfo overflow, but thats where the idea came from. the idea of it across the whole back wall didnt work for me because I do have some filters and power heads for circulation that I wanted on the back of the tank. so of the 48" the overflow is 24" the actual dimensions are 4x3x24. 4" tall, 3" out into the tank.
the bulkhead is 1.5" and oddly I dont know if its a good thing but the bulkhead BARELY keeps up with flow(which is a mag 9.5); so much so infact that as you can see the overflow water level is at the top of the drain and there is no gurgle. something Im happy about but it does worry me about long term what if something gets clogged, the slightest backup could be problems. but Ill cross that bridge later I guess. for now its silent and awesome.
as for it looking about 20degrees crooked; I have no clue... in person it doesnt; I think the light is cocked on top and the reflection is throwing it off. not sure.
Bemmer
Premium Member
Areze,
Your overflow trough looks good but I was wondering, are you planning on putting any egg crate or screen on this to keep snails, fish, etc from getting into the bulkhead? Looks pretty open from the picture.
All,
Have any of you used an elbow on your bulkheads? If so, when figuring your width dimension (front to back) on the overflow trough, are you taking into account ever removing the elbow. Meaning are you adding an extra 1" to slip the elbow off the bulkhead nipple, if necessary. I am trying to decide if I need to add the extra inch, thereby having the overflow trough longer front to back into my tank.
Your overflow trough looks good but I was wondering, are you planning on putting any egg crate or screen on this to keep snails, fish, etc from getting into the bulkhead? Looks pretty open from the picture.
All,
Have any of you used an elbow on your bulkheads? If so, when figuring your width dimension (front to back) on the overflow trough, are you taking into account ever removing the elbow. Meaning are you adding an extra 1" to slip the elbow off the bulkhead nipple, if necessary. I am trying to decide if I need to add the extra inch, thereby having the overflow trough longer front to back into my tank.
I need a screen, I lost a fish the other day. 
my fault though, it was a new fish just added, didnt know his habits. I did add a snail gaurd, but they just climb up the side of the tank and go around it, I believe this would still be a problem if it went across the whole tank, just climb up the side, past the gaurd and in. so some kind of mesh or grid is needed to really block it off I think.
as for the other question, no elbow in mine obviously, but no, I could not remove the bulkhead if I wanted to. I put the bulkhead in before I glued in the overflow.
my fault though, it was a new fish just added, didnt know his habits. I did add a snail gaurd, but they just climb up the side of the tank and go around it, I believe this would still be a problem if it went across the whole tank, just climb up the side, past the gaurd and in. so some kind of mesh or grid is needed to really block it off I think.as for the other question, no elbow in mine obviously, but no, I could not remove the bulkhead if I wanted to. I put the bulkhead in before I glued in the overflow.
Bemmer
Premium Member
Areze,
Sorry to hear about your loss. Good thing your tank did not overflow with the fish going down the bulkhead drain. (assuming this otherwise you might have mentioned it). BTW, do you get any gurgling or siphon noise with no elbow attached to the bulkhead inside your tank?
Sorry to hear about your loss. Good thing your tank did not overflow with the fish going down the bulkhead drain. (assuming this otherwise you might have mentioned it). BTW, do you get any gurgling or siphon noise with no elbow attached to the bulkhead inside your tank?
DonBossung
Premium Member
Rebecca/all
The is EXACTLY why I drill more that one drain hole (well, one of the reasons
). Also, it gives me control of where the raw tank water goes. I have 3 1" drains. One goes to the refugium, and the other 2 deliver water to the skimmer.
For those of you making small boxes rather than one long box. You are really defeating one of the features of this style overflow. Surface skimming. A longer box exposes more tank surface to the box and gets more surface water to the skimmer.
Again, if you (over) design the drain holes, the holes will never be under water and you will have no gurgling. So many people use an overly large return pump to supply flow to the tank when really, all you need is 3-5x on the return pump and then closed loop for flow. This way you greatly reduce the flow through the sump and microbubbles become a none issue. Much more affective IMO.
Don
The is EXACTLY why I drill more that one drain hole (well, one of the reasons
). Also, it gives me control of where the raw tank water goes. I have 3 1" drains. One goes to the refugium, and the other 2 deliver water to the skimmer. For those of you making small boxes rather than one long box. You are really defeating one of the features of this style overflow. Surface skimming. A longer box exposes more tank surface to the box and gets more surface water to the skimmer.
Again, if you (over) design the drain holes, the holes will never be under water and you will have no gurgling. So many people use an overly large return pump to supply flow to the tank when really, all you need is 3-5x on the return pump and then closed loop for flow. This way you greatly reduce the flow through the sump and microbubbles become a none issue. Much more affective IMO.
Don
