Glass rimless aquarium overflow design help.

[clownFish1313]

So i just found out one of the guys in my car club works with glass for a living and i started talking about cutting glass for an aquarium and he said he could do it.

My idea is to do a low iron 1/4" 24x24x12 rimless tank.

I would like to do either a dursostyle with an emergency drain or a bean animal. My question is, what exact space is recommended for 2 1" bulkheads and what overflow style do you suggest? Do i need teeth or would having the overflow 1" lower than the top of the tank be okay?

Here are 2 quick models i made visualizing my idea.

Inspiration (i basically want to copy it.)
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/27174...-shallow-tank/

Thanks everyone!

 

[ClownsRCoo]

I would go with your first model and yes you will need teeth otherwise you are going to get all kinds of inverts and even fish in your overflow.

 

[victorvie]

I had the first style over flow and it work just fine for me. I do recommend cutting the teeth and use a lid over the top to prevent fish or inverts to get it side there.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Teeth will not prevent inverts or fish from getting into the overflow box and having them reduces the surface skimming capability of the weir which is the entire point of an overflow in the first place.

Check out Whitesharks 30G Rimless Apartment Build. He did almost the same thing but used a slightly different box design.

My concern with option 1 is the sharp corners as this is where the glass is most likely to break. Personally, I would consider having the entire back glass edge form the weir and then make the external box mount to the back along the entire length of the tank.

 

[CuzzA]

I agree with rocket, just make the back pane shorter and if he's willing and capable to notch glass I'm sure he could also just make the side panes extend as the sides of the overflow box too. This way you'll only have two separate panes for the box. Bottom and back.

Also, I would do some more research on building a rimless tank as not having a rim changes the safety factors of glass, etc. I'm not sure 1/4" glass would be enough. I would triple check.

 

[ClownsRCoo]

Did he not end up putting a mesh netting on his overflow to keep fish out? How would that not make it easier for fish to get back there. Its a big notched section of the back glass that drops the back wall an inch or more. Ive got a corner overflow and removed one of the plastic tabs for the return plumbing that they put in there and had problems with fish going through that small opening every single day. How would a 24 x 1" opening not allow them easy access? The water level will definately be above that.

 

[CuzzA]

I'm pretty sure he put plastic gutter guard in his overflow box. Rocket is correct that adding teeth (which you wouldn't be able to cut on glass without advanced equipment) will basically cut your overflow in half and be counterproductive to surface skimming, as we want the thinnest sheet of water as possible to flow over the weir. Teeth will raise the water level and begin taking water from the column. It's not the end of the world and plenty of people have fine tanks with teeth on their box. Some builders will cut teeth in acrylic and put it behind the glass or some build a slotted tray inside the box slightly submerged to keep anything from getting in.

 

[rwb500]

oh god, how are people still recommending teeth? this is embarrassing. it's 2015!

no teeth + some type of mesh/strainer to keep things out = best method.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Use a shorter false wall for a c2c. Drill and temper the bottom. It's a bit of wasted space but a much sounder design envolving one pane instead of four panes and a cut all of which must stay 100% soundly fixed; a false wall does not need to remain forever perfectly sealed. Forget all the bean do dads, and syphon directly from one of the bulkheads.

 

[clownFish1313]

I sent him the first image and he said he can do it. Teeth are not doable so i will proceed with design 1. I can always add mesh or other solutions to preventing overflow inhabitants. This is going to be a really slow build but my plan is to not spare any expense and get exactly what i want.