Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[StrangeDejavu]

Hi all,

Looking to do a Bean overflow on my 40b with 20l sump. Ideally, I want an external box with minimal intrusion inside the tank, similar to this. This is my first salt tank and i've never drilled before, so I don't even know where to begin as far as plans and dimensions go. Anyone ever done this same setup but with 1" PVC instead of 1.5"? If so, I would greatly appreciate pics on where you drilled, how far down, the spacing, etc.

Thanks!

 

[xaflatoonx]

Man - i came to ask exactly the same question.
had a quick discussion with sleepydoc and tidus as well on a separate thread.

I am getting a 6ft tank... 125-150G.

And i was originally planning on getting a 24" reefsavy ghost overflow.
But then in the past 48 hours reading hundreds of posts on this thread by Bean Animal and Uncleof6 - It seems like that would be a BAD BAD idea.

And i need to put a C2C or atleast an elongated overflow box INSIDE the tank
From which the 3 pipes will run directly.

So just like StrangeDejavu - I am trying to see if there is a way to put the overflow box OUTSIDE the tank and have a way of getting the water flow into it. Could the holes I drill into the back of tank just work as a drain into that overflow box outside?

The biggest charm of that 24" ghost overflow from reefsavy - was the clean look of the tank... and having a overflow box inside the tank with pipes sticking out just doesnt look all that great.

I fully understand the function over form discussion - just looking to see if there any options is all.

Thanks again. This thread was crazy informative.

 

[tidus10]

Yes man you can just drill holes that go into an external overflow, I've seen a few. You can silicone a glass box on the outside of your tank. That you can run your plumbing into. Here are some rough pics I found.


It's possible and like I mentioned I bought the synergy ghost overflow and I really like it. I was just giving other solutions for you. [emoji2]

 

[tidus10]

Hi all,



Looking to do a Bean overflow on my 40b with 20l sump. Ideally, I want an external box with minimal intrusion inside the tank, similar to this. This is my first salt tank and i've never drilled before, so I don't even know where to begin as far as plans and dimensions go. Anyone ever done this same setup but with 1" PVC instead of 1.5"? If so, I would greatly appreciate pics on where you drilled, how far down, the spacing, etc.



Thanks!

Even 1" will be A LOT for the 40, you can honestly get away with 3/4" but it's all the same just different sizes. I've heard that when drilling glass its best to give 1 - 1.5 the width of your hole gap between holes. So what I mean is, if you have a 1" hole you're drilling, leave at least 1" to 1.5" gap before you drill the next hole.

With a rimmed tank, remember you want to be able to get your hand into the inside weir box Incase something happens. So I'd say at the bottom of the back trim would be ideal. Just so when you fill it with water you cannot see a gap between the black trim and water.

 

[xaflatoonx]

Thanks Tidus -

You already shared some pics that i really appreciate - do you have the synergy installed already? could i get some pics of it working ? pretty please.

The surface skimming is good?

 

[tidus10]

I have it installed but it's not running. My build is a slow build (planning a wedding too) so it will be a while until it's actually wet

 

[xaflatoonx]

lol - congrats man... good luck on both.

 

[xaflatoonx]

definitely wanna see the installed pics...

the ones you showed me were when you were working on the overflow box uninstalled.
wanna see how it looks installed too

 

[tidus10]

It's pretty slick all together.

 

[smellsfishy90]

Hello

I have designed my Bean Animal and I just wanted to get some clarification if this will work correctly and the measurements are okay.

If every other measurement looks correct I will just need the depth (front to back) and height (top to bottom) that you would recommend the weir box.

I will drill 34mm holes for 1 inch bulk head. Will that fit correctly? and the inlet will also be 1" if that is all good please let me know?

Thanks

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Hi all,

Looking to do a Bean overflow on my 40b with 20l sump. Ideally, I want an external box with minimal intrusion inside the tank, similar to this. This is my first salt tank and i've never drilled before, so I don't even know where to begin as far as plans and dimensions go. Anyone ever done this same setup but with 1" PVC instead of 1.5"? If so, I would greatly appreciate pics on where you drilled, how far down, the spacing, etc.

Thanks!

I'll be doing a 40b in a few weeks and I'm going with 1" pipe. I'd like to know how long are the slots in the overflow and how far apart they are on an internal box? What are the benefits to going box on the outside back of the tank?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Nobody has the measurements for the slots cut into the overflow? I can guess from looking at the pictures of them and get pretty close I suppose.

 

[rickztahone]

Hi all,

Looking to do a Bean overflow on my 40b with 20l sump. Ideally, I want an external box with minimal intrusion inside the tank, similar to this. This is my first salt tank and i've never drilled before, so I don't even know where to begin as far as plans and dimensions go. Anyone ever done this same setup but with 1" PVC instead of 1.5"? If so, I would greatly appreciate pics on where you drilled, how far down, the spacing, etc.

Thanks!

Man - i came to ask exactly the same question.
had a quick discussion with sleepydoc and tidus as well on a separate thread.

I am getting a 6ft tank... 125-150G.

And i was originally planning on getting a 24" reefsavy ghost overflow.
But then in the past 48 hours reading hundreds of posts on this thread by Bean Animal and Uncleof6 - It seems like that would be a BAD BAD idea.

And i need to put a C2C or atleast an elongated overflow box INSIDE the tank
From which the 3 pipes will run directly.

So just like StrangeDejavu - I am trying to see if there is a way to put the overflow box OUTSIDE the tank and have a way of getting the water flow into it. Could the holes I drill into the back of tank just work as a drain into that overflow box outside?

The biggest charm of that 24" ghost overflow from reefsavy - was the clean look of the tank... and having a overflow box inside the tank with pipes sticking out just doesnt look all that great.

I fully understand the function over form discussion - just looking to see if there any options is all.

Thanks again. This thread was crazy informative.

Yes, you can run an external box. My goal was similar to yours, I wanted the internal box to take up as little space as possible. The internal box that I built only protrudes about 2" from the back wall. 3 holes to pass through and the external box is the main drain system. You can find measurements and all in my thread here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2487222

 

[sleepydoc]

I'll be doing a 40b in a few weeks and I'm going with 1" pipe. I'd like to know how long are the slots in the overflow and how far apart they are on an internal box? What are the benefits to going box on the outside back of the tank?

1" pipe will be plenty for a 40b.

You can either do a strictly internal overflow, something like beananimal did in his original design, or do an internal/external style, like rickztahone did in his. Both work. The internal/external minimizes the amount of tank space taken by the box, but is a bit more complex to build.

If you have a glass tank (like I assume you would for a 40b,) you need to be aware that you can't glue/silicone an acrylic box to a glass tank. You would need to have a 5-walled box and use bulkheads with gaskets to hold it in place and keep it sealed. If you try to make it out of glass, you have to make it big enough such that the bottom panel of glass in the external box doesn't crack.

I'm afraid I don't understand your question in regards to the length of the slots in the overflow box.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

1" pipe will be plenty for a 40b.

You can either do a strictly internal overflow, something like beananimal did in his original design, or do an internal/external style, like rickztahone did in his. Both work. The internal/external minimizes the amount of tank space taken by the box, but is a bit more complex to build.

If you have a glass tank (like I assume you would for a 40b,) you need to be aware that you can't glue/silicone an acrylic box to a glass tank. You would need to have a 5-walled box and use bulkheads with gaskets to hold it in place and keep it sealed. If you try to make it out of glass, you have to make it big enough such that the bottom panel of glass in the external box doesn't crack.

I'm afraid I don't understand your question in regards to the length of the slots in the overflow box.

These slots

How long are they from top to bottom of the slot, how wide are they and how much space between them.

I have lots of acrylic and can build my own. Yes I'm a ware that you can't glue or silicone them to the glass. I'm still thinking if I'm going internal of the tank or on the back. If I go on the back there is no need for those slots. Internal is probably how I'll go with it.

 

[sleepydoc]

Oh - the teeth on the overflow.

It depends on your flow and the total length of the weir. There are many people (myself included) that advocate for no teeth. They tend to reduce flow & surface skimming and potentially add bubbles & noise.

If you have your heart set on them there are online calculators that let you calculate the depth of water flowing over a weir. For the length I would take the total length of your overflow and divide it by 2, then double the depth given by the calculator.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Or use this (attached excel file), punch in the total length of the overflow, width of teeth, and it calculates the water height up the teeth at various flow rates. This assumes 1/4" notches and 1/4" teeth so it's not perfect

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Here's a better one. Enter notch width, tooth width, total overflow length, deduction for edges (if you have a section at the face/side junction that is wider than the teeth, for instance), and it calculates the depth of notch needed for given flow (which would go to the top of the overflow box)

So if you have 1" notches but want to only have 0.5" of water up on them, use the 0.5 depth.

Also has a Weir calculator so you can see the difference that not having teeth makes (same as above post, only change the notched weir section on this one)

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Oh - the teeth on the overflow.

It depends on your flow and the total length of the weir. There are many people (myself included) that advocate for no teeth. They tend to reduce flow & surface skimming and potentially add bubbles & noise.

If you have your heart set on them there are online calculators that let you calculate the depth of water flowing over a weir. For the length I would take the total length of your overflow and divide it by 2, then double the depth given by the calculator.

Thank you so much for your reply. No, I'm not set on having them I'd prefer the smooth clean look. This will be on a 40b. ALso thanks for the info on the length, very helpful

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Here's a better one. Enter notch width, tooth width, total overflow length, deduction for edges (if you have a section at the face/side junction that is wider than the teeth, for instance), and it calculates the depth of notch needed for given flow (which would go to the top of the overflow box)

So if you have 1" notches but want to only have 0.5" of water up on them, use the 0.5 depth.

Also has a Weir calculator so you can see the difference that not having teeth makes (same as above post, only change the notched weir section on this one)

That's perfect! :thumbsup: Thanks!!!!!