Experiences with homemade overflows

[Quark_VI]

Hi,

I am planning a wet/dry trickle filter for my new freshwater tank, mainly because I can get all the bits free except for the powerhead to return the water.

What concerns me is the reliability of the various DIY overflows on the web. Am I worrying needlessly ? Should I look at buying an overflow and making the rest ?

Having to make five versions and dealing with all the water in the living room etc. is not my idea of fun that is for after I have won the lotto and have a waterproof fish room.

Plan I am thinking of following is here

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html

thanks for the input

[suphew]

check out www.dursostandpipes.com 90% of salties use these for their overflows. They are a little complicated looking when you first see them, but are very safe and pretty quite. The trick to not having spill is having a sump with enough free space to take the water that will drain from your tank if the power goes out. If you put a syphon hole in your return plumbing just below the water level your tank wil only drain this far.

Good luck.

[suphew]

If you ever comming down wellington way PM me and you can have a look at how mine is done.

[Quark_VI]

Hi suphew,

Did you buy your tank with the overflow/bulkhead etc. or did you put your own in ?

Like the idea of the corner overflow as opposed to the hang over the back version but still need to check how much more the shop will charge me to get the tank drilled etc. Also the hangover the back has the advantage of being able to be fitted to a second hand tank easily.

As a matter of interest, any idea how much a new 4ft tank costs in Wellington ?

Cheers

[slappers]

getting a hole put in your tank dosent cost that much 8 to 20$

[Bubbles]

I've done something similar to the DIY link you posted Quark.

I used it on an existing tank that I didn't want to drill, but also as an excuse the get a sump

It works well, but you do need to know the risks involved. Most notibly that the syphon can break, and trust me they do.

I used perspec pamphlet holders to build mine. They already have a nice shape for the drain, are fairly cheap and can easily fit most bulkheads you can buy.

[suphew]

I set up my own over flow, the tank was drilled for me but I have drilled tanks myself before and it is easy, just did one with Pies a couple of weeks ago for his fresh water, 4 holes.

if you contact Pete at port nick glass in petone, he charges around $1 per liter to make a custom tank, he makes stands to but not sure what he charges. i would use a shop as a last resort they will charge 2-3 times as much, Pete supplies most of the shops in the lower north island. he wil deliver to u as well.

once you know what you are doing with the over flow the hardest part to sort out is the over flow box

[Quark_VI]

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

Have now decided to go with the overflow in the tank so that I don't have to worry about the syphon breaking and means less space taken up behind the tank which means I can make the tank bigger (my wife has set the limits for the tanks size so that our couches can still fit in the living room :-)).

Thanks suphew you confirmed my suspicions about setting up the overflow to get the right rate etc. without any fish joining the flow. Currently scheming as to how to do an adjustable grate so that I can get the dimensions correct before building something more permanent.

Was reading another of suphew's post re placement of bulkheads etc. Seeing as this is a freshwater tank I only need one hole for water going out and the return will be up and over. I have notice that most marine tanks seem to have the overflow/s in the corner/s - is there a reason for this as opposed to putting it in the middle of the back of the tank where it is easier to hide with wood etc. and then also not visible from the side of the tank ?

[suphew]

no reason just easier to make and hide in a marine tank. I have seen some cube tanks overseas in the centre of the tank with rock work build round it, that looks amasing but you need a big room to be able to walk right round a tank