Overflow location pros and cons
- Thread starter jefferymoorhead
- Start date
it works great but not so well if you substrate lol
what i did was tile the bottom of the tank and put rocks around the drains.
this way it looks nice and you good gravity siphon drain not to mention with
the tiled bottoms its a whole lot easier to keep the tank pristine crystal clear
clean.
btw when you put the screen on the drains and returns make sure you size em
up with your fish & etc so they cant go through/in it. i used those plastic cylinder/
cone screen cap/nozzle since the its on the back of the tank but seeing yours is on
the bottom center i'd go with one of those flat plastic grey one you can find at most
plumbing stores and use krylon pain to paint it black or w/e color you want to match
the bottom of your tank floor.
make sure you attach a ball valve on all the drains/return to control flow & etc.
if not you might just end up draining your whole tank water on the floor lol
what i did was tile the bottom of the tank and put rocks around the drains.
this way it looks nice and you good gravity siphon drain not to mention with
the tiled bottoms its a whole lot easier to keep the tank pristine crystal clear
clean.
btw when you put the screen on the drains and returns make sure you size em
up with your fish & etc so they cant go through/in it. i used those plastic cylinder/
cone screen cap/nozzle since the its on the back of the tank but seeing yours is on
the bottom center i'd go with one of those flat plastic grey one you can find at most
plumbing stores and use krylon pain to paint it black or w/e color you want to match
the bottom of your tank floor.
make sure you attach a ball valve on all the drains/return to control flow & etc.
if not you might just end up draining your whole tank water on the floor lol
So your just running a drain on the bottom of your tank with no overflow box or standpipe and using a ball valve to match the drain flow with your pump? You do realize if the power goes out or the pump dies that your entire tank is going to drain, unless of course your standing right there and close the valve. or are you using a closed loop type setup in which case that setup would be fine, however I've never seen an overflow used in this way.
I agree, paint the back of the tank black and you will hardly notice the overflow. If crud is settling on the bottom of the tank add some power heads to move it towards the overflow.
ya its a cls setup backed up by a gravity feed system. plus my drilled holes/bulk heads arent on the
bottom/floor like the op its on the back of each side with the returns being on top. but
hey if it does ever drain it still wont matter cause itll only drain about 70-80g of water and thats where
my 120g sump size comes in handy lol
a centered over flow box in a FW monster tank is honestly imo useless. plus it takes up room where it should be opened free.
I put mine about a foot away from each side on my 300. Corner overflows can be seen as well as side overflows. I built mine so I could build wood around them simulating roots. Paint the back black either way.... it helps alot
I agree, a center overflow is useless in a fw system. I am going to take the overflow out and was thinking about getting a electic normally closed valve to put on the drain, if the power goes out it would close the valve.
Iv been doing some at home testing on my acrylic 110 gallon. With a painted bare bottom, it does a great job. My 110 also had a lot of build up in it. I drained the tank leaving the crap in the bottom, drilled and installed a floor drain and refilled. After the water settled i turned on my fx5 and with in 30 min all the crap at the bottom was gone. I also split the return line and ran one to each side of the tank ie forcing all the crap to the middle and down the drain.
Iv been doing some at home testing on my acrylic 110 gallon. With a painted bare bottom, it does a great job. My 110 also had a lot of build up in it. I drained the tank leaving the crap in the bottom, drilled and installed a floor drain and refilled. After the water settled i turned on my fx5 and with in 30 min all the crap at the bottom was gone. I also split the return line and ran one to each side of the tank ie forcing all the crap to the middle and down the drain.
If it was my tank and i was going to go through all of the trouble to patch that hole and move it. I would just take it out completlye and put a couple drains and returns in the back of the tank.
