How to clean between overflow layers? Please help, Thank You

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I'm finally into the new place and am getting ready to get this tank setup. I guess I will try the Flex Tape and fill just the over flows with vinegar and I also have a gallon of Muratic acid I could use. Can anyone recommend a dilution rate for either or both of these? With a tank this large the option of taking it outside to clean is totally gone, lol!!!! I had a custom $700 background made that I will silicone in place but would really prefer to get this crap out of there before I do this. Again this is going to be a planted freshwater tank for either community fish or a discus tank. Any help on this is greatly appreciated. Hopefully I can have some more time to be on the forum more that life is calming down, lol!!! Thanks
NCH
 
I'm still trying to figure out how to resolve this issue. Then once this buildup is cleaned up as good as possible from the saltwater usage how to keep this area clean during freshwater use? For those who aren't familiar with this type of overflow chamber, the water enters the overflow through the weir slots on the outer layer of the overflow box at the bottom, middle and top of this panel. The inner panel of the overflow has no weir slots anywhere on it. The water from the tank enters the gap between the inner and outer panels and then this gap fills to the top where the inner panel is shorter then the outer and this allows the water to flow into the main area of the overflow chamber. This just seems like a terrible design especially for saltwater as over time the area between the panels would end up being a solid mass of the calcium scale deposits that happen in saltwater. Then you would be left with the water only entering from the top of the overflow box and this would do nothing to help filtrate the lower 85% portion of the tank.
The background that I had made for the tank has cutouts where the weir slots are located. I think I will silicone some black screen to the backside before gluing the background in place to help keep as much solid waste such as plant matter from entering this area. At least with a planted freshwater tank there isn't a solid rock like build up of material as there is in a reef tank. I'm arranging to get some help to get the tank setup on the stand so then I can try to seal off the weir slots with flex tape, then plug the holes at the bottom of the overflows so I can attempt to fill the gap with straight vinegar to try and dissolve this build up before gluing my background in place. I do appreciate any helpful advice with this. Thanks
NCHornet
 
Run the tank with a gallon of white vinegar and water. Nothing else. Do this for a couple days. Then take the overflow covers off and scrub with a tooth brush. Scrub any other areas and rinse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr exum
I like the idea of the overflow drawing a large proportion of its water from the bottom, but this set-up does indeed seem like one that is intended to look impressive and high-tech, at the expense of actual utility. I can't help but wonder if, in a planted freshwater tank, there won't be a considerable amount of vegetable matter tending to get caught in that awkwardly placed gap and causing clogs.

Since the end product will be nicely concealed behind your internal background, how about this: Remove and ditch both inner and outer weirs, and instead simply install a vertical standpipe into the bottom bulkhead. Extend the pipe to the surface, and at the top install a 180-degree U, then another vertical pipe reaching back down to near the bottom. Drilling a single small hole in the top of the U, above the waterline, will allow this arrangement to function as a simple overflow rather than a siphon. In this configuration, the overflow will be drawing entirely from the bottom; the end of the pipe will of course be fitted with a screen or sieve to prevent the entry of fish and large plant fragments. An enhancement would be the addition of a water-level intake at the top near the U, ideally set up in a manner that would allow you to change or adjust the size of the upper intake hole to therefore control how much of the water is drawn from the top, with the remainder coming from the bottom of the tank. Ideally, you would install a shut-off valve just below the bottom of the tank, so that if for some reason you need to remove the entire gizmo for service or alterations you can ...you know...not drain the whole dang tank. :)

Speaking as a cheapskate DIY-er, I can tell you that I have used this set-up on numerous homemade and commercial tanks of all sizes, and it works wonderfully. It is butt-ugly if left visible, but it matches or exceeds the functionality of commercial look-cool weirs and is easily changed or modified to achieve the balance required. It can also be adapted to use with top-drilled tanks simply by attaching a 90-degree elbow at the side bulkhead, and then extending a vertical pipe to the bottom, with all other details the same as the bottom-bulkhead type. If used with a top-drilled set-up, it really calls for a U-shaped extension on the outside of the bulkhead, installed with a union that allows you to rotate the external U to fine-tune the water level in the tank.

Yeah, I know...I'm cheap...:)
 
twentyleagues said:
Run the tank with a gallon of white vinegar and water. Nothing else. Do this for a couple days. Then take the overflow covers off and scrub with a tooth brush. Scrub any other areas and rinse.
Click to expand...
I guess I replied to this before with about the same reply....lol
Your covers don't come off but setting the tank up and running it will be the best way to clean it. As for plant matter getting stuck I really don't think that will be to big of an issue. It will get stuck to the grate first. My 180 is the newer corner flow style never had issues with the plant matter inside the weir, stuck to the grate yes. I had some algae on the top two or three inches growing but that's because light was hitting that area and I didn't clean it off. Kind of like an algae scrubber. If you are putting through enough flow not much will get stuck inside the weir. That calcium build up has "grown" there like my algae did. Like I said in my earlier post that tank ran much longer then a couple months.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr exum
Thanks for the replies and advice. It had been awhile and I just wanted to see if anyone else had an idea that I hadn't thought of. John, now that's an idea that I hadn't thought of. Universal made the background to fit around the overflows and it's made of some very rigid material so it would maintain some clearance around the plumbing. I think first is to try soaking with straight vinegar or next best if I can't seal off the weirs would be to fill the entire tank as 20 leagues mentioned. As a last resort do away with the boxes entirely. Thanks again for your help, I won't post to this again unless it's to show how it all turned out in the end, lol!!!! Hope y'all have a great weekend and stay safe. God Bless
NCHornet
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr exum, twentyleagues and jjohnwm
Might be a little late but I just saw this thread...I have a 210 Aqueon, they come from the factory with those overflows, they call them the MegFlows. I like them personally, I have watched the lower and middle slits suck up floating debris in the water, proving it is cleaning from the entire water column. I am keeping Cichlids but the tank was used for Saltwater for around 2 years before I got it. I had the same gunk between the walls as you do. I took an aquarium vinyl tube pipe cleaner (scraper) tied to a fiberglass wire fishing rod and just scrubbed up and down. I then took a tiny hose and "vacuumed" the floor between the walls. I did this with the tank running so any small debris should get caught in the current and go into the mechanical filter sock I have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deeda
I have the same overflows on my aqueon that I converted from a reef to fresh. The gap in between was full of stuff. I didn’t worry about it and after a few months it kind of just dissolved by itself. If you are worried about it then tape off the lower and mid intake slots and fill the gap with vinegar for a while but it likely won’t be terribly effective. I wouldn’t stress about it and just run your tank.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm currently on hold until I save a few bucks to finish buying the rest of the plumbing supplies. This is my first sump but have kept fish for years. I would love some pics or links to how you plumbed and set your dumps up. I have a couple large acrylic dumps and a 75 gal tank I can use for a custom sump if that's better. The overflows have just 2 holes instead of 3. I'm also planning on using an FX6 as well for a back up. I've considered using the sump for much of the mechanical and keeping the FX6 filled with Bio Home ultimate. I have seen where people have placed the intake line in the sump after the mechanical filtration and plumbed the return back into the tank and others that went right back into the sump. Your opinions would help a lot. Maybe I should start a new thread?
Thanks
NCH
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom