Can I do an overflow like this, or am I missing something?

[TheOddCouple]

I see those bulky internal overflow boxes in aquariums, and I'm not sure why they have to be so big..

Couldn't something simple like this do the exact same thing? What's the point of all that open space in the box?

When the pump puts enough water in the tank to raise the level above the tube, the water will just flow down the tube. A mesh can be put on top so fish won't get sucked in.

On another note, is the intake (Hole for pump from sump) usually below the water line?

 

[ChrisKirkland]

That will work but it can be very noisy. You will likely hear a constant gurgling noise.

 

[evsalty]

That works just fine. The difference between that style and the ones that go to the bottom of the tank is water weight on the bulkhead. Water weight plays a big part in how much water will flow thru a given size opening.

 

[TheOddCouple]

Okay, I wasn't sure if I was missing some kind of fail-safe that's built into the large boxes.

The tank is small, 45 gallons, so I shouldn't need as much flow? (I'm new to this)

I have been reading a bit since posting, and it seems that it's hard to bond acrylic to glass? I can do plastic, but not glass. I also saw that skimming works better with a larger box.. how much better?

Anyway, here's what I was mocking up when I realized I could probably just use some tube. I really want this to be as quiet as possible, so I will probably not do the tube, if it'll be loud.

 

[BuffaloReef]

Like ChrisKirkland said, that would be noisy. It would also be a little dangerous since the opening will be exposed to the tank. I can easily see a small fish shooting down that pipe. Worse, snails would be certain to follow the pipe to the opening. If they're smaller than the pipe they'd get shot down it but if they're bigger they'll get stuck causing a flood.

 

[TheOddCouple]

I put a little blurb about putting a mesh on the pipe, for safety under the picture, but no one ever notices text under the picture. I think the noise is going to be enough to keep me from doing the simple pipe.

Also, Frank's Hot Sauce Beef on weck Frank's hot sauce roast beef on weck. I want some BBQ chargrilled Zip's Wiseguys wings now.. Thanks.

 

[cjk76]

Use a weir. This is a very small and proven way to get your water out. It is basically what you have in the above picture, but parallel to the back of the tank. There needs to be an opening between the wall and the weir, but this can be minimal. You would use bulkheads, like in the above image, to drain the water into pipes.

 

[BuffaloReef]

I did miss the language at the bottom of the picture! I may have to get some wings tonight...

 

[reefermad619]

Look up the bean overflow. Pretty much half way there. The longer the weir the better the surface skimming. Teeth in the weir will hinder skimming ability. Wires with NO teeth function much better. I would Defintily do the bean since it seems you're starting from scratch. GL.

 

[TheOddCouple]

I think what I have in the second picture is a weir. I think the picture might not be translating well. Space between the back wall and the weir? Here's a better picture of my mock up.

 

[TheOddCouple]

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

Pretty sure this is the system you're talking about. Looks pretty good to me! I skimmed/read the page, but I didn't see how the water gets into the box... guessing it just comes over the front wall, with no teeth?

 

[mfinn]

You can do a upturned 90 on the inside of your tank. I had several tanks ranging back to the middle 90's.
To keep fish and snails and anything else going in, you can use some rolled up gutter guard as a strainer.
Also instead of a 90 on the outside, use a pvc tee. On the top part of the tee run a piece of pvc pipe a inch or two past the water line in the tank and put a pvc cap on it and drill a small hole in the cap.
It can be very quiet.
I had a 135 directly behind my living room couch and a 180 6 feet to the right of the couch never really heard any gurgling. Both tanks had dual pvc 90's on them.

 

[pstank1]

I have been running this overflow for about 4 years now, and it is dead silent (and yes, overkill but what isn't in this hobby). Please excuse the algae, a newborn cuts into tank maintenance for the first few months..

The overflow is about 2.5 x 2.5 x 30 and doesn't really block any light at the bottom of the tank. There's a shaded area about half way down the back wall, but none in the sand.




edit: Forgot to add, the middle drain is where a vast majority of the water flows through (i have the valve closed about 1/4 of the way to reduce the flow because it was draining the overflow and breaking the vacuum/gurgling). The far left drain handles the excess that doesn't go down the main drain, the upturned drain is for when my daughters are old enough to drop junk in the tank and clog the other two

 

[Waggs]

I did mine like this. No drilling needed and works like a charm.

 

[reefermad619]

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

Pretty sure this is the system you're talking about. Looks pretty good to me! I skimmed/read the page, but I didn't see how the water gets into the box... guessing it just comes over the front wall, with no teeth?

Water flows over the weir and exits thru your drains. No teeth on the weir will yield best surface skimming results. The oils you want to skim, and the various other stuff that floats on the surface will go over the weir. But if you have teeth the water will flow thru the teeth,meaning the surface doesn't get skimmed as well because most of the water entering thru the teeth is below the water surface.

If you do the bean, do yourself a favor and don't skim the thread. READ the whole thing. Lots of people have tried different variations of it and post of it worked or failed. Plus the pics of peoples' setups might help you to design a system that might work out better for you than the original design.

 

[pstank1]

I should have also mentioned in my post, that overflow is feeding a vanilla beananimal drain.

 

[TheOddCouple]

@mfinn; Thanks for the input, I tend to over-engineer everything... mostly just for fun. The 3-tube solution just seems to fun to not do. At some point I'll be doing a smaller tank, and I might try it out then.

@Waggs; Looks good. I really like my glass canopy though, and wanted to keep the outside of the tank looking as sleek as possible. Thanks!

@Reefer; Oh, I'll be reading the thread. Probably 3 or 4 times. It's gonna be a while before this all goes down. Have to find my Oscars (who are getting too big for the tank) a new home before I can even think about getting started. Thanks for explaining the teeth.

@pstank(what?); Thanks for the picture. Do your outlets terminate below the water line in the sump (probably a noob question)? Is that black tube where the water comes into the tank? Any reason it comes over the edge instead of through a hole in the tank?

Thanks a ton everyone!

 

[pstank1]

Yes, all three drains terminate below the waterline in the sump. This helps with the silent operation.

The black tube is the return. I had purchased the tank used, and it already had the overflow and three holes drilled. I had nightmares about flooding my house with a clogged overflow, so i decided to use all three holes as drains instead of using one as a return.
I didn't trust my skills, or more appropriately, I trusted my lack of skills in working with glass and decided not to drill a fourth somewhere else for the return. My next tank will handle the return differently.

 

[TheOddCouple]

Alrighty, looks like I'll be drilling 4 holes then... or not. Seems like my plans change on an hourly basis.