Overflow Box

[Jyman]

Has anyone made a Overflow box?
If so where did you get the plans from for a nice looking one?

Because I would like to add a sump to a 35 gal tank with out drilling it.

[bauder1986]

talk to simplycoral about how he set up his show tank with out drilling for a sump. He has some wierd contraption that hangs off of the side of the tank and somehow works!

[Binare]

Originally Posted by Jyman

Has anyone made a Overflow box?
If so where did you get the plans from for a nice looking one?

Because I would like to add a sump to a 35 gal tank with out drilling it.

Google Melevs Reef, if I remember correctly he's got a howto on makin your own.

[Jyman]

Ok thank you

[Ian]

Not trying to hijack this thread but can anyone also point me to a few good sources of acrylic in Alberta. calgary to Edmonton or anywhare in between

[new but handy]

home depot

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Ian

Not trying to hijack this thread but can anyone also point me to a few good sources of acrylic in Alberta. calgary to Edmonton or anywhare in between

Rona sells extruded in more thicknesses than HD. Most retail sigh manufacturers use acrylic and will also typically cut and sell you want you need.


Here's a layout of an overflow I've made before, of course sizes vary and I believe this is kind of as small as you want to go. You can make the siphon tubes from clear PVC and regular elbows or buy acrylic ones from an online store. Be sure to leave space for some kind of standpipe, I usually go with an HGB style.

[mr.wilson]

If you are using a siphon box you should add an airline check valve on the top of the U tube so you can manually remove air bubbles or have it on a constant suction from a venturi on a powerhead or use a Tom Aqua Lifter water pump.

Having a strong flow through the U tube will help minimize bubbles. Limiting the overflow to a maximum of two U tubes will help keep velocity high and discourage the formation of air bubbles.

The outer box should have a standpipe that regulates the water level and keep the siphon primed when the return pump stops.

[sphelps]

be careful with things like airlines for tube bleeding, while the check valve is a good fail safe the line can sometimes become detached causing failure. You can stick airline up the tube to start the siphon and up it out after. Matching the flow properly will insure air bubbles don't build up, most smaller tanks only need one.

Also run the sump and display tank water level such that the pump runs dry before the display tank overflows in case of failure.