internal or external overflow?

[Black71gp]

wondering what you large guys have. I am ordering a 292 gallon this week and have yet to decied which way to go.. it will be three sided viewable.. pennisula like.. so.... i dont know...

 

[jnarowe]

I am really pro-external, but each installation has its own requirements. You have to really look at space, sound and a variety of other factors. I believe that an external coast-to-coast is the best option but it cannot be done in many situations.

 

[tony13]

I'm going with two external boxes on my new 210. One it gives you more room and two the tank looks cleaner without them taking up room inside.

 

[Black71gp]

ya i am goign to do a pennisula style tank so one end that is 36 long by 26 high would be a good canidate for an external overflow... huh.... wonder how much more that will cost

 

[Fade]

On my 450 I went with xternal overflows and it did not raise the cost at all.

As you can tell very clean in the tank proper.

 

[heuerfan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6866333#post6866333 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fade32
On my 450 I went with xternal overflows and it did not raise the cost at all.

As you can tell very clean in the tank proper.

Wow, very nice. That is what i would like to do to my next tank. Did you do this yourself, or was it made by a vendor here on RC?

Thanks,
Steven

 

[Fade]

It was done by art in folton mo it was cheaper than a glass cages tank. I did all the plumbing and the stand.

 

[heuerfan]

Awesome, best of luck with it. Look forward to updates!

 

[Black71gp]

man now all i gotta do is find a place to build my tank...i can do the external overflow just need them to build the box.. there is no one around.. at all that builds them for a good price.... man MI, anyone at all

 

[Qwiv]

I like the external too. I have a 180 with an external overflow the entire length of the back wall. More space inside, it actually makes the tank stronger and I use it as frag tank!! Can't beat it.

 

[jnarowe]

fade32 Wow, that is a wild installation! I thought about doing mine that way but chickened out.

Qwiv I have a similar situation and would like to know more about how you use your external for frags. This is something I had been thinking about from the start. Can you fill us in? How deep is the water? How do you light it? How do you keep algae from taking over in it?

 

[Qwiv]

My overflow is about 6" wide and 8" deep and almost the entire length of the tank. I have a baffle at one end that acts as a second overflow into the drain line, this keeps the level constant in the external overflow. I have about an inch of crushed gravel on the bottm for zoos to spread on and egg crate suspended above for SPS. I light the thing with a single T5 bulb. An ATI Blue Plus. I drop a power head in there if I need more flow for the SPS.

I don't have an algea problem in my tank, so algea isn't a problem for me. If you have algea issues, you need to work on that. The only thing I get is some algea in the teeth of my overflow. I just pull it off every once in a while.
Coraline algea and diatomes on the glass are handled the same way as in the main tank, mag scraper and a credit card. One of these days I need to post a pic as I have never seen anyone do this before.

 

[jnarowe]

That is really an outstanding method! Unfortunately I put my BHs spaced evenly within the overflow, but I could install a baffle to get the same effect. Since my lights are on movers, I could adjust them to travel over the overflow when needed. Thanks for the detailed response!