Shadow overflow and return placement

[krkosiba]

Hello, I recently purchased a Planted Aquarium 65 gallon custom. It was none reef ready. Thus being said, I plan on trying to drill it. I purchased a synergy reef 16" shadow overflow rated for 1600GPM. However, after thinking about it that is way overkill for the tank. Granted I can dial it down with a valve but is there other ghost overflow options out there that I am unaware of? Or will this be ok?

Also, in relation to drilling I will be doing a 3/4 return. I thought of piping it over the tank since drilling is a duanting task but I want it to look clean. With that being said, at what level should I drill the return hole? As close to where the water level will be? An inch under? Keep it inline with the overflow holes? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

That overflow box will be just fine.. The rating is the "maximum" flow rate it was designed for.. It can do less and you can use smaller plumbing,etc...

When planning for the return you need to think about what happens when power goes out.. Water will siphon back into the sump until the return piping is exposed to air and the siphon stops.. So you usually want the return pipe to be just under water level so that it only drains a small amount back into the sump before stopping the siphon.
People will also drill anti-siphon holes near the top of the water level if you have the return further down under the water..

 

[krkosiba]

Thanks a lot for the input. I am putting check valves in on the return lines. Though, not 100% fail safe making a siphon stopper on the line loc is a good idea. Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

Your choice.. Check valves/loc line isn't something I'd ever use..
check valves are unreliable and locline is typically quite a restriction

 

[October Sky]

I can't answer the height question, as I don't have that overflow box and each is different, but look around for where to mount it. I will note that you should seriously plan out the position of the box. I just figured I'd put mine as far to one side as possible, with the plumbed return as far to the other side as possible. Looks great, and will function perfectly, but now I have a problem mounting my lights. The box is in the way for the clamp. I now have the lights mounted on the sides, but I would have preferred to have them each on the back.