can someone give me advice on setting up a herbie overflow

megs_clark · #1 08-13-2009, 03:13 AM

Thanks Myka, I took your advice and am on that site right now and looks great, they even have overflows lol. I was thinking if i put in a glass overflow i still need to cut the glass for the water to flow through, hmmm, not sure how to do that. Thanks for the tip on not drilling for the returns. Save me a little money that i could put toward a couple powerheads. Im torn now on just buying a bit to drill the glass ourselfs, my husband has never done it before. I thought the bits were expencive but their sure cheap on that site. Got me thinking now, lol, Myka have you ever drilled a whole, is it hard or basic, hes usualy handy like that, lol. Whats your opinion. Crazy how things add up so fast. I just want to make sure i do it right. OH one more thing their were gate valves on the site that come apart for cleaning for $30 or that are one piece ( cant take apart to clean) for $20. Will i need to take it apart to clean.

Myka · #2 08-13-2009, 03:28 AM

Oh, I forgot about your overflow question...for DIY overflows you can get glass cut for it, and then silicone some black acrylic to the tank side of the overflow so you can't see in. You can't just silicone an acrylic overflow in because as you've heard it doesn't work perfectly, and you need that overflow to be 100% water tight or you will have a big flood when the power goes out. If your overflow has a straight top (no teeth) you can use eggcrate siliconed to the top for the water to flow through. If you need some pics of all this my tank is done like this and I could take some pics tomorrow when the lights are on...same with the Herbie.

Holes are easy to drill...you could always practise on a spcrap piece of glass before you try the tank. The biggest challenge is holding the bit in the right spot while you start it. You always have to start on a bit of an angle too, get it going a bit and slowly get it all th way around. I always drill outside and use the hose turned on the bit, you have to drill wet, not dry. Oh, and go slow! A 1" hole will easily take 15 minutes of drilling or more. I have bits from BRS, and they work well, but they are cheap because they are only good for maybe 10 holes or so.

I personally put out the extra few bucks for the Spears gate valve because being able to clean it really helps once the tank has been up and running for a year or more. It's worth the extra bucks.

patpare · #3 08-13-2009, 03:45 AM

And when your drilling your hole make sure to put a piece of masking tape on the inside,so that when you go trough the glass the cut out doesn't fall and smash your front glass(that sucks trust me

).
If you cant run a steady flow of water when cutting,you could build a water dam with playdoo fill half way with water

megs_clark · #4 08-13-2009, 03:49 AM

Awsome. Woohooo, Im excited about getting this done. Sounds like shipping is pritty decent time wise. Totaly excited about us doing the holes. I imagine their will be more tanks to come in the future that ill want drilled, :O) I will definilty go for the valve that comes apart like you said. Probably get alot of salt build up over time. And i had not even thought to add egg crate, great idea. I liked the idea of siliconing the glass in like Mark had said but couldnt think of a easy way of making the teeth so the egg crate will solve that perfect. I also like the idea of doing it all at home and not lugging the tank to the store for drilling. Thanks so much for your all you guys input. will put it to good use!

megs_clark · #5 08-13-2009, 03:52 AM

Ohhh that would suck getting through cutting ok to have it break on the other side of the glass. Will deffinitly do the tape thing, and we always have playdoh kicking around so will do that to! Thanks Swear i speant so long googling all this, should have just asked for advice right way, Hands on advice is always better !

xtreme · #6 08-13-2009, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka

The biggest challenge is holding the bit in the right spot while you start it. You always have to start on a bit of an angle too, get it going a bit and slowly get it all th way around..

Grab a little chunk of styrofoam and use your hole saw to cut through it. Then clamp it onto your tank as a template, it'll keep your bit from skipping around. I've done the angle method as well and the template makes it a lot easier.

fishytime · #7 08-13-2009, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtreme

Grab a little chunk of styrofoam and use your hole saw to cut through it. Then clamp it onto your tank as a template, it'll keep your bit from skipping around. I've done the angle method as well and the template makes it a lot easier.

Thats a great tip Sean....

If you want, have a look at the first couple pages of my tank journal http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=40669 ....theres some fairly detailed pics of my herbie set-up.

mark · #8 08-13-2009, 05:18 AM

also take a look at Dez's build, some good pictures there of working with glass.

megs_clark · #9 08-13-2009, 05:22 AM

Hi sean thanks for the tip. Im thinking im going to get my other half to do the cutting so am making a list of tips for him. I think he will do a few practic runs and will deffinitly get him to try that. It sounds like thats a tricky part. Getting the bit to stay at first. And Fishytime, great tank. Im only half way through your thread and it looks amazing!

xtreme · #10 08-13-2009, 06:20 PM

Another tip is to set the clutch on your drill to a very low setting so if the bit binds up at all the clutch will kick in and hopefully prevent it from cracking. Drilling holes is easy, just take your time and keep the bit wet. Also don't drill to close to the edge, whatever size you are drilling leave at least that much space between the hole and the edge of the glass.