So I got tired of having to start the siphon on my eshopps overflow after tank maintenance and feeding, and thought it would be a good time to try something different. I decided on the CPR-100 overflow and Tom's aqualifter pump as I've heard great things about them. I was a little unsure if I'd like the CPR and Aqualifter combo, it just seemed like more things that could go wrong.
My specific requirements were that I wanted something that would stop the overflow when I activated a feed timer and would start again after the cycle was ended. Also it needed to restore the circulation through my sump after a power-outage. Secondary considerations were better skimming, better build quality, quieter, etc.
Starting with the Tom's aqualifter pump I was expecting something kind of hollow feeling and cheap because that's honestly how it looks in the images I've seen of it. Also 90% of aquarium specific gear wind up being made with the least possible amount of materials and in the cheapest manner possible (Coralife are you listening?) The pump is surprisingly hefty and chunky feeling, which in itself doesn't mean quality but is a pretty good start. I plugged the pump in the wall and set it on my floor and it was very loud... Fortunately that's because there wasn't any water moving through it just yet and as soon as it was actually siphoning water it went nearly silent. I am very happy with this unit and I'm a little sorry I haven't had a use for one before now. One of the hangers for the back of the overflow or to hang it to my stand would keep it off the floor which would be pretty handy for cleaning up around the tank.
Moving on to the CPR overflow itself I was a little startled at how much wider it is than the Eshopps model. It is easily twice as wide as the Eshopps and is made of heavier acrylic, with a much wider overflow comb. It is wider at the back and has a slightly different drain that my Eshopps 1" hose wouldn't fit quite snug enough without PVC glue. The good news is that they are very common schedule 80 fittings. The strainer inside the overflow box is a common slip fit strainer with a hole drilled through the top for a vent tube. I'd like to tell a story about how easy it was to set up and level, etc. but the whole truth is that I didn't do squat. I didn't need to. I set it on the back of my aquarium and the water level was perfect without so much as turning a single adjustment screw. Same with leveling it against the back of the tank, I had nothing to do. Once the glue had cured I plugged the Aqualifter into the nipple at the top of the overflow and poured enough water into the back to complete the seal and boom it was running.
The overflow and my pump must have been very well matched because I didn't need to adjust *anything* and the water in the sump and the tank stayed exactly as it was. I was extremely pleased while slightly disappointed at not having to do anything short of lifting the appropriate hoses etc. into place. It is clearly skimming MUCH more surface water due to the increased area of the comb and it is also much quieter than my Eshopps overflow.
So far it's a 10/10 and I still need to try out the feed cycle and see if it works like I am hoping. Also I should point out that the air-line the aqualifter uses should be a pretty heavy gauge, like the ozone resistant kind so that it won't kink quite as easily. The thin stuff I'm using now is pretty weak so it looks like it will easily kink up after a while.
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