complete external overflow on 6 foot tank!
- Thread starter sfsuphysics
- Start date
sfsuphysics
Active member
Qwiv doesn't the bottom of the overflow basically act as a brace?
Qwiv
Persistant Perspective
Raceway Overflow = Frag Tank
Raceway Overflow = Frag Tank
OK, Took a few new pics. They are still poor, but enough to get the idea.
Here is a section view of the overflow
You can see that I braced the borrom back to the tank. These braces are spaced every 18" - 24". The acrylic on the bottom is oversized to to accomodate the span.
Here is a pic looking accross the top
You can see how I braced the overflow back to the tank on the top edge, and how I still have a pretty big bow. This is 1/4" material.
Here is one end of the overflow
This is where the water exits the tank, and enters the overflow.
Here is a pic from the inside
The slit is a little over 1/4" and cut with a router.
Last, but not least... here is the other end of the overflow
You can see the second baffle installed to maintain the water level in the overflow. This allows it to be used as a frag tank.
Raceway Overflow = Frag Tank
OK, Took a few new pics. They are still poor, but enough to get the idea.
Here is a section view of the overflow
You can see that I braced the borrom back to the tank. These braces are spaced every 18" - 24". The acrylic on the bottom is oversized to to accomodate the span.
Here is a pic looking accross the top
You can see how I braced the overflow back to the tank on the top edge, and how I still have a pretty big bow. This is 1/4" material.
Here is one end of the overflow
This is where the water exits the tank, and enters the overflow.
Here is a pic from the inside
The slit is a little over 1/4" and cut with a router.
Last, but not least... here is the other end of the overflow
You can see the second baffle installed to maintain the water level in the overflow. This allows it to be used as a frag tank.
sfsuphysics
Active member
Ahh I see you made it almost like a HOB refugium type dealy complete with baffles and everything. Yeah mine is a straight drain so water doesn't have a chance to get that high. I did use the triangle braces under in the same fashion though, I was going to let it just freely stand but figure I'd add that to help make sure things were secure. 4" x 2" x 60" of water might only be about 16 pounds, but still that's a lot of weight when it's only glued in a relatively small area.
Yeah it's a bit tougher with glass... but I did that too... well ok did half of it..
ALthough I did this with the tank empty.. and the reason I only did half? The glass was 1/2" thick! Took me forever to get through that, I went through a few diamond blades. But this was actually easier since I used an acrylic box (actually it was an old overflow that happened to be the right size once I chopped a side off). Simply built a bracket to hold it onto the rim of the tank, then slathered the top with silicone (GE) and to date there's been no leaking
Yeah it's a bit tougher with glass... but I did that too... well ok did half of it..
ALthough I did this with the tank empty.. and the reason I only did half? The glass was 1/2" thick! Took me forever to get through that, I went through a few diamond blades. But this was actually easier since I used an acrylic box (actually it was an old overflow that happened to be the right size once I chopped a side off). Simply built a bracket to hold it onto the rim of the tank, then slathered the top with silicone (GE) and to date there's been no leaking
