DIY Overflow Design Help!!(Coast2coast Beananimal) 3D design pics!

[philg3]

So usually i just lurk on the Forums, but i just picked up a new tank and am looking for some input on my overflow design. I've done a lot of reading and since im going to drill this tank no matter what, I want to try to do it right the first time.

Tank is a 58 gallon Oceanic 36X18X22. I'm already running a 20 gallon 3 chamber Melev style center return sump on my current tank that I plan on transfering over.

My plan is an interior coast to coast weir with Two 1" Diameter Holes in the back glass that channel water into an external C2C with a Beananimal style overflow. Dimensions on the interior weir are 30''X2"X2" and the exterior box is 30"X3"X3". The overflow holes will be 1" diameter as well. The interior Weir is 1/4" from the rim of the tank.

Attachment 7894

Attachment 7895

Attachment 7896

On either side of the overflow boxes will be 2 more 1" holes for the return. I am currently running a Sedra 7000 for return and with around 4ft. of head pressure i think they pump around 500 gph. This may need to be upgraded, if so i may drill the sump as well for an external pump. (might do that anyways)

I feel like the beananimal with an external box is the most failsafe and quiet design out there, and the interior weir I have planned is so i can avoid drilling a long horizontal hole in the top edge of my tank (freaks me out a little, circles are much simpler to drill.)

Attachment 7898

Here is the Beananimal style overflow

Attachment 7899

Here you can see the horizontal drilling i was talking about.

The interior weir is slanted with the bottom only 1/2" from the tank wall. Im hoping this will reduce the footprint inside the tank, and now that i think of it i could probably go shorter at the top of the weir as well (2" to maybe 1.5").

I want to know what people think of this idea, since I feel like i've kind of improvised a little and this is going to be my first drilled tank. I have a good cheap glass shop that i know can build me these two overflows (probably 1/8" thick?), and lots of aquarium silicone from doing the baffles in the sump.

The Sedra should pump 500 gph back up, and even though i drilled 1" holes in the external box, i plan on using 3/4" pipe which i believe runs around 500gph with a full siphon (? dont ask me where i read that, like i said i've been up late cruising forums for the last week, trying to gather as much info as possible.)

So lets hear from some experts,
-Is this totally unnecessary?
-Does anyone have experience with drilling horizontally? (i've provided a pic of another beananimal with an external overflow and the horizontal drilling so people can see what im talking about.)
-What about the math when it comes to dialing in the flow on this bad boy, ie. height of the weir, diameter of the pipes, matching the return etc etc.
My calculations arent really Math, more like educated guesswork, and someone that actually knows would help.


I plan on dropping an vortech MP10 in there as well, so my in tank flow shouldnt be a problem. Mostly softies anyways. I considered doing a closed loop, but that just seems unnecessary.

other equipment is probably gonna be an SWC 120 or 160 cone skimmer to replace the SWC mini hot hang on back skimmer im running now, and two Phosban 150's running Phosban and carbon. LR and Chaeto in the fuge.

Right now the back pane is painted blue, but ill probably scrape it and repaint it black, and ill use black glass on the interior overflow as well.

lol i dont know what else to tell you guys, hopefully somebody has some light to shed on my project. Sorry for the Imperial measurements, I'm a Vancouverite but this hobby seems to function in imperial unless your ordering from europe.


Thanks in advance any input and criticism (more important) is greatly appreciated.

[ScubaSteve]

Hey Dude! Welcome to Canreef.

I've been looking at building up a new tank to do a C2C external beananimal like you with one difference. I don't want the weir inside the tank. I am going to notch the glass and let it flow over the back glass into the external overflow. All things else are pretty much the same.

In terms of your weir height, the amount that you are flowing out of the tank won't really create a very thick film on the top of the weir (like mm thick), so that's not what you need to worry about with the weir height. What you need to take into account is: if all of the back ups fail and that return plugs, how much room do you have for the pump to fill you tank before it overflows. Most people have a 2 gallon buffer tank in their sump that the pump sits in, so you'd need to be able to take 2 extra gallons of water... for you it might be more or less. That math is easy. Weir film thickness are harder to calculate. Make your life easy.

For your tank and flow 3/4" drains will be just dandy, you could go to 1" to be on the safe side. In other set ups having too large of a siphon can cause weird behavior, the beananimal design is able to circumvent this and self-stabilizes (Herbie's do this too). Put a valve on the siphon drain to dial the system in. Personally, I'd just do 1" drains and 3/4" returns.

Is it unnecessary? Heck no, that's a sweet set-up.

Don't drill the overflows AFTER it is on the tank... that's asking for trouble. Drill each piece of glass flat on the ground and lay the tank on it's back to drill it. THEN glue it all together. Super easy.

[philg3]

Cheers Scuba, i like your lazy math style, it suits me perfectly.

So your saying that i should drop the weir down low enough that my pump can run its chamber dry in case of a blockage. im not so worried about the beananimal blocking, the emergency standpipe is never underwater so i dont know how that could get blocked, but crazy things do happen (my second floor sprinkler exploded and rained water from the ceiling all over my tank last month!). Im more worried that the holes from the weir to external box might get blocked. maybe some small holes all along the top would help in an emergency? above the waterline and right into the external box, so if the large holes somehow both get blocked, you have the smaller ones along the top to drain. That is drilling a bunch of tiny holes in my tank though.

I also think that i could make the weir even smaller, maybe lose the whole angle and just do it straight up and down 1/2"? what do you think? just less of an eyesore in my display and less of a shadow from the lights.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by philg3

Cheers Scuba, i like your lazy math style, it suits me perfectly.

So your saying that i should drop the weir down low enough that my pump can run its chamber dry in case of a blockage. im not so worried about the beananimal blocking, the emergency standpipe is never underwater so i dont know how that could get blocked, but crazy things do happen (my second floor sprinkler exploded and rained water from the ceiling all over my tank last month!). Im more worried that the holes from the weir to external box might get blocked. maybe some small holes all along the top would help in an emergency? above the waterline and right into the external box, so if the large holes somehow both get blocked, you have the smaller ones along the top to drain. That is drilling a bunch of tiny holes in my tank though.

I also think that i could make the weir even smaller, maybe lose the whole angle and just do it straight up and down 1/2"? what do you think? just less of an eyesore in my display and less of a shadow from the lights.

Ya, that's the general idea. Personally, I am giving less room at that top than I should because I have a silly amount of confidence in the beananimal design... all depends on how much you trust your system. Don't bother with having to drill a bunch of tiny holes. 2 or 3 big holes will suffice. I recommend making the weir box as small as possible but you want it to be workable in case you need to get your fingers in there for whatever reason. Ultimately, That is why I decided on a rimless, external overflow with a notched back glass... no weir box at all.

[mark]

check out Dez's build, he did the long horizontal cut (between 2 holes) for an external overflow (talks about it page 4 post 34/38, some other pictures pg9 #87).

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by mark

check out Dez's build, he did the long horizontal cut (between 2 holes) for an external overflow (talks about it page 4 post 34/38, some other pictures pg9 #87).

I have to agree with this. You will never regret doing it right the first time. If you are not comfortable breaking the glass, find a glass shop that will do it for you.

Otherwise, I like your design well enough. I think 1/8" is too thin though. On the inside you have to contend with direct water pressure. On the outside you have to support plumbing.

- Brad

[philg3]

Okay, lots of things to think about. I spoke with Paul at Oceanic Corals here in BC, he has been my go 2 guy since he got me started in the hobby, and he really wasnt feeling the internal weir. He's probably right, it is overcomplicating things by trying to simplify the drilling. a horizontal hole like Dez's would function better and look cleaner.

More importantly, I might just lose the Tank and order a new custom one (Check your Email Brad - well timed post). I picked up the Tank with a custom waterproof and soundproof stand for $200. pretty good deal if you ask me. The Tank is in pretty perfect condition right now but it has this big cherry wood lip around it, and like i said it needs to be drilled. Depending on cost, it might be better to bite the bullet and buy a Rimless eurobraced Starphire Front Tank with a built in external overflow box. I've had two tanks since i started this hobby in January (my first tank is my current sump), and have been having a lot of fun experimenting with plumbing and equipment and different setups. But now its ****ing me off that everything is always noisy and half complete, and the roomates are becoming less supportive of the hobby every time they come down to the skimmer cup overflowing onto the floor. I think i've experimented enough and have a pretty clear picture in my head of what i want the tank to look like, not to mention i want to start loading it up with some more livestock. So hopefully i can get a custom tank built for not too much money, and then sell the intact Oceanic Tank (its in really nice shape, i bet if i listed it i could get close to 200$ for it alone.) Cost really is the only thing im unsure of, so if i like the price on a custom tank ill do that, if its outside my reach ill probably drill the oceanic.

@ Scuba -

One quick thing, i noticed in your posts that you are going with notched back glass. If you mean teeth that may not be the best call, they reduce surface skimming and increase noise, kind of the whole point to the coast 2 coast beananimal combo. If i misunderstood notched then nevermind, I feel like we're both headed in the same direction here. Where did you order your tank from?

@ everyone else -

a quick one. What are the baffles inside the external overflow box for? I've seen pictures of them in some of the nicer systems and was wondering what they did. Any help is appreciated as always.



The design i mocked up was as much about me trying out Google Sketchup as it was trying to engineer an overflow design of my own. So for that reason alone I've been really impressed with the civility in this thread, and you may have officially converted a lurker into a poster. Sound advice without any attitude here on CanReef. I've seen other Forums where noob questions will get flamed for not doing research, and that is probably why i've waited so long to post. I just cant be bothered to argue with people on the internet.

I'm guessing its because we're all canadian and have some serious problems being a dick.

So I'm off to source a couple of custom tanks and check with the local glass shop to see what they might charge for the Drilling and overflow box. Hopefully when im back from a trip in mid july ill start a build thread for you guys to follow along.

Thanks again!

[ScubaSteve]

Nope, you and I are talking about the same thing dude. The correct name for what you want to do with the weir is called a notch cut. I'm not planning on teeth, only a small piece of egg crate in the overflow to stop sump riders.

I've had a few quotes, but that C2C overflow notch cut will add at least $100 to the price of the tank. For a rimless 45g square tank with that style overflow I got quotes ranging from $500 to $700... So I'm just gonna build it myself for about $200 in material.

[philg3]

What are the dimensions gonna be like on your square?

[ScubaSteve]

Same as what I got now: 24x24x18