Help with design of 450g

[ado124]

I'm about to order a new tank, if all goes well, and wanted some input on the final details.



Are there pros/cons to having corner overflows vs. those trapezoidal overflows?

What size holes should be drilled for the overflow plumbing and how many?



Thanks

 

[Aqua Doctor]

I like corner overflows on opposite corners.

I like to go bigger on the return size diameter; at least 1.5inch

What is the footprint your considering?

 

[ado124]

96x36 but something came up and might have to go smaller =/

 

[aldiaz33]

I've never understood the popularity of internal overflow boxes. They take up space inside the tank and I personally think they are an eyesore. Especially the corner overflow boxes; if your tank is viewable from the side some of the view is obstructed by an ugly overflow box. If I had to choose between the corner overflow box and the trapezoid boxes, I would go with one large trapezoid overflow because they look cleaner when you are viewing the tank from the side (you don't see the durso standpipe and return lines inside the tank).

But IMHO an external overflow box is much more appealing. The back inner wall of the tank would be flat and overflow teeth would be cut into the back sheet of acrylic allowing water to overflow into an external box. Or a less expensive alternative would be to have holes drilled near the surface of the tank and install bulkhead fittings with a screen for your overflow. My 270 has this type of setup and I think it looks much better than an internal overflow box. The only downside I can think of is that the tank can't sit as flush up against the wall...the tank will have to sitter farther away from the wall because of the external overflow box or with the bulkhead overflow. My 240 has back corner overflow boxes. You decide which looks better from the side:



My 240G

 

[gobucks1]

What does your external overflow look like?

Is it quiet?

Sorry for the derail.

 

[tcarswell]

Obviously most would prefer to go without them. Your tank is clear as hell aldiaz that looks straight bank from the side!

 

[ado124]

I agree that the corner overflows aren't as appealing from the side but this tank will be up against a wall and there won't be much viewing from the sides.

 

[aldiaz33]

What does your external overflow look like?

Is it quiet?

Sorry for the derail.

I don't have an external overflow box; it's just a design I saw from a custom tank manufacturer that looked cool (see 4th and 5th pix below). I do have the bulkhead fitting with a plastic guard on the water side. I have dual 1.5" drains. I use a micro fiber cloth to eliminate the noise (see second picture). It's virtually silent.

Pic with "custom" micro fiber cloth silencer.

Overflow guard (excuse the algae mess...I need to clean)

This is the custom external overflow box that I was talking about. The pic was taken looking up from the back side of the tank.

View from the top of the tank with the external overflow box. As you can see in the top left of the pic, the top sheet of acrylic is custom cut to the dimensions of the overflow...pretty slick.

Obviously most would prefer to go without them. Your tank is clear as hell aldiaz that looks straight bank from the side!

Thanks for the compliment. The 270 (the tank with all the fake plants is pretty clear), but if you were talking about the second pic (my 240 with the rear corner overflows), the tank was actually empty. But now that it's set up, I think it's running pretty clear:

I agree that the corner overflows aren't as appealing from the side but this tank will be up against a wall and there won't be much viewing from the sides.

Gotcha. Then I think it's a crap shoot. Not much difference in my opinion. In regards to the size of the overflows, I would go with at least 2 at 1.5".

 

[ado124]

thanks for the input guys. I just got off the phone with the guy and he said the tank will come with two 1" drains on each of the two overflows and two 3/4" supplies. He said these are standard. Are these big enough?

 

[FSM]

so four 1" drains total?