Project External Glass Overflow

[flaunt]

tunjee,
Thanks for pointing that out about the TOTM. I decided to do mine that way cutting 2-5" long pieces out on each side of my 20L. I'm wondering about the dimensions on the overflow boxes now... You made yours 6" high right? I wanted to go with maybe a 4" height instead. I'm wondering though if I'll be able to get away with just having the drain holes without all that extra U-tube stuff inside the box, or will it make noise without it? If the extra PVC is required, will 4" be enough height to make it fit?

Thanks a lot.

 

[flaunt]

I just cracked my 7gallon bow front trying to cut slots into it =( I drilled two easy as butter then when I drilled the pilot hole in the 3rd it cracked

Not a happy camper

That sucks cheeto... Did you use a lot of water while you were doing it? I did mine outside with a garden hose and didn't have any problems. I got wet doing it, but I was paranoid about having enough water.

 

[qwuintus]

You dont need that much water. I drill my stuff outside as well and I only let it drip. As long as the glass doesnt form up and starts stacking up its alright. A slow steady drip is what I use.

 

[tadkins411]

i am looking at doing this to a 200 gal tank that is not rr what suggestions can i get from you guys that might help me in this large endeavor? tia

 

[qwuintus]

if you need suggestions just pm me.

 

[flaunt]

Wow! I just built one of the overflow boxes for my 20L, what a pain in the arse! It helps to dremel out the hole the right size the first time, cause going back in and trying to rout it out to make it bigger sucks and makes a very non-circular hole.

Tunjee, where did you get those rubber washers? I looked for them at both Lowes and Home Depot but I couldn't find any with a 1" inner diameter.

Wish me luck as I continue...

 

[qwuintus]

I found some at homedepot, just ask for rubber washers, usually near sinks and faucets.

 

[flaunt]

Yeah, I looked around in that area, and in the hardware area where they also have rubber washers. I'll go back and look again. Man I waste hours at HD & Lowe's when I get into DIY mode!

 

[qwuintus]

Same. I found that my local plumbing shop had better thicker washers. But I use a combo of the HD ones as well.

 

[Tunjee]

Flaunt:

You can make your own if you cant find them at the local plumbing supply house like i did. They sell red gasket material at Lowes, it was in the same isle as the supply lines.

 

[flaunt]

Thanks, I ended up finding them at the local "ghetto" Ace Hardware store of all places Maybe I found it because it was a smaller store and thus there were fewer things to search through to find what I was looking for. I got both the overflow boxes constructed and siliconed onto the tank... Now I need a PVC part for one of the drains.

 

[qwuintus]

make sure you remember to reinforce the tank by bracing it!

 

[dave2184]

I ended up finding them at the local "ghetto" Ace Hardware store of all places

Not hard to belive it's the only place around here that carrys ball valves, unions, and 1/4" acrillic. The HD and Lowes don't have crap in the way of plumbing. With one on one end of town and the other on the opposit side of town travilling back and forth between the two to get 10% of your stuff from one and 15% from the other and neither one having a good bit of what you need is a pain in the butt. One stop and im done, besides it's closer than either of the other two. A little more expensive but worth the extra 10% or so.

 

[RJSorensen]

This is the way the powers that be would do at tank, if he did not already have the ocean. I am just on the floor here in awe . . . . hats off to you and I bow in what ever direction you are from me. Major, major change in thinking for a lot of people here. Never as easy as it looks . . . but worth a try anyway. Very, very nice.

 

[cheeto]

Yeah I used plenty of water when drilling. My problem occurred as soon as I get through the 3rd hole the dremel kinda jumped and thats what cracked the tank. I went and got a 5.5 gallon to try and drill again, not as cool looking as the 7 gallon bow but it will work.

 

[flaunt]

Well, mine's only been running a few days and I already got sick of niagara falls... So I built a couple small dursos similar to Tunjee's and they seem to be working ok. The only potential problem is the height. The water line in the overflow boxes is pretty high due to all the plumbing, so once I get a more powerful pump I hope the plumbing can keep up! On Durso's site he said to use 1 1/4" PVC for a 1" drain, but man that wouldn't have fit at all inside my overflow boxes, so I went with 1" PVC, and I managed to find some type of PVC (not sure what schedule) that had a thinner wall than schedule 40, so I'm sure that helps some. I suppose I should have built my overflow boxes just an inch or so taller and so the dursos would fit better.

 

[Tunjee]

Tanks been running now for 24hrs. I think it will cycle fast with cured live rock and live sand, we shall see.

 

[Tunjee]

Gulf View live rock. Cant praise them enough. Loaded with life, shipped to my door overnight air DHL, 30lbs of half deco half coraline rock, 10lbs of live sand $180. Very impressed.

 

[Tunjee]

 

[Tunjee]

I might need to turn the room AC on. Skimmer's pump adds unwanted heat to the system.