Advice for lowering overflow teeth

Natalie · Feb 17, 2015

I just got a used 125 g acrylic setup with an overflow (standard design with teeth and drilled on the bottom). This setup is for my aquatic turtle and I need to lower the water level by about 4 inches. What would be the best way to cut/extend the overflow teeth down to this level? Can I use a dremel? Saw? The overflow itself is made of acrylic.

As a side note, Ive read about issues with lowering overflows and not getting good enough flow rates. I think Ill still be ok, as this tank is on a 36 tall stand.

DB junkie · Feb 17, 2015

I've done this on most of my tanks..... I use a die grinder with carbide tips (same kind you'd use on metal). A jig saw works too, works even better with a small amount of water ran onto the blade while cutting. Dremel would work too.....

I usually just cut the teeth out and replace with egg grate (suspended ceiling light diffuser) or gutter guard.

You could also drill lots of holes in the overflow then just use the standpipe to dictate water level.....

krichardson · Feb 17, 2015

Why did you do this modification DB?

DB junkie · Feb 17, 2015

krichardson said:
Why did you do this modification DB?

Most of the time the teeth mess up my flow rates. I like turnover - huge fan of it, but the tanks I aquire usually only flow a fraction of what I'm after so after I get bigger bulkhead fittings installed I cut the teeth out. IF that doesn't flow enough I start cutting down. After cutting too much I found the water level drops. I found this to be VERY handy when keeping expensive toothy fish that enjoy trying to jump through the top of the tank...... Now I drop the water level in all my tanks to give them a few inches to breech. The eels get crazy enough at feeding I think I ended up dropping the water level 6 inches to prevent them from hitting the lids.

West1 · Feb 17, 2015

DB junkie said:
Most of the time the teeth mess up my flow rates. I like turnover - huge fan of it, but the tanks I aquire usually only flow a fraction of what I'm after so after I get bigger bulkhead fittings installed I cut the teeth out. IF that doesn't flow enough I start cutting down. After cutting too much I found the water level drops. I found this to be VERY handy when keeping expensive toothy fish that enjoy trying to jump through the top of the tank...... Now I drop the water level in all my tanks to give them a few inches to breech. The eels get crazy enough at feeding I think I ended up dropping the water level 6 inches to prevent them from hitting the lids.

WOW really? I've never seen mine break the water surface.
Interesting about drilling several holes in the overflow...

Oddball · Feb 17, 2015

I do the same. I drill 1/4" holes below the weir to drop the water level. If I reuse the tank where the level needs to be higher, I install 1/4" rubber dowels/plugs into the drilled holes so the installed weir goes back into use.

krichardson · Feb 17, 2015

Very interesting.

DB junkie · Feb 17, 2015

West1 said:
WOW really? I've never seen mine break the water surface.
Interesting about drilling several holes in the overflow...

In regards to the eels - I'm talking my salt monsters, not the lil fw buggers.... Mess with them with food on a stick and it's just like snake charming lol. Wouldn't be surprised if Barney could pop out of the water a foot. Borderline scary..... lol

As far as the lid smacking fish - Dorado, ATF, Wolves, and Odoe are all guilty, but none are as bad as Payara- Rhaphs are by far the worst, but Armatus aren't much better.....

Natalie · Feb 17, 2015

Interesting ideas from everyone-- thanks so much.

Oddball said:
I do the same. I drill 1/4" holes below the weir to drop the water level. If I reuse the tank where the level needs to be higher, I install 1/4" rubber dowels/plugs into the drilled holes so the installed weir goes back into use.

I like this idea in case I decide to use a higher water level in the future. Would you happen to have any pictures of this in action? How did you know how many holes to drill to create adequate flow?

Also, this may be a really dumb question but this is my first overflow system. What is the purpose of a drainage pipe within the overflow box? My tank just drains from the drilled holes in the bottom of the overflow chamber. Is the pipe an extra safety mechanism to prevent over-drainage during a power outage? I do have a check valve in the return line to help prevent this.

Thank you for your help.

Oddball · Feb 17, 2015

Natalie said:
Interesting ideas from everyone-- thanks so much.

I like this idea in case I decide to use a higher water level in the future. Would you happen to have any pictures of this in action? How did you know how many holes to drill to create adequate flow?

Also, this may be a really dumb question but this is my first overflow system. What is the purpose of a drainage pipe within the overflow box? My tank just drains from the drilled holes in the bottom of the overflow chamber. Is the pipe an extra safety mechanism to prevent over-drainage during a power outage? I do have a check valve in the return line to help prevent this.

Thank you for your help.

The extra pipe is so you can run wires, unseen from under the stand, for lights (and anything else powered on top of your tank). It's not meant for liquids. It's a dry pass-tube.


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Advice for lowering overflow teeth

Natalie

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West1

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Natalie

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