Pros and cons of constant drip system

[fishguy1978]

Lots of really useful comments above.
My aquarium isn't drilled and I'm nervous of using a siphon overflow system in case it fails and floods the house.
Are siphon systems reliable, or should I get a drilled tank?

I know a hobbyist and have seen his system that uses a siphon setup. It’s in his living room and has never flooded in the 5-6yrs running. Me on the other hand got the green light for my first internal overflow tank 17yrs ago because my tank flooded the apartment 2-3 times.

 

[Aloginname]

I know a hobbyist and have seen his system that uses a siphon setup. It’s in his living room and has never flooded in the 5-6yrs running. Me on the other hand got the green light for my first internal overflow tank 17yrs ago because my tank flooded the apartment 2-3 times.

On an internal overflow do you need a special type of glass? I mean can you get a tank drilled, or does it come drilled?
Also, is there a constant drip /trickle sound from the water flowing out?

 

[fishguy1978]

On an internal overflow do you need a special type of glass? I mean can you get a tank drilled, or does it come drilled?
Also, is there a constant drip /trickle sound from the water flowing out?

You can purchase pre-drilled or you can drill them yourself. It depends on the type of glass, tempered or non-tempered.
I don’t hear any drip noise but I have 15 aquariums in my fish room.

 

[Aloginname]

You can purchase pre-drilled or you can drill them yourself. It depends on the type of glass, tempered or non-tempered.
I don’t hear any drip noise but I have 15 aquariums in my fish room.

How can I tell if the glass is tempered or not?

 

[jjohnwm]

I bought a few new all-glass tanks recently, and the shop was able to guarantee me that they were non-tempered and thus drillable.

I've read a few tricks on the internet regarding identification of tempered glass, using polarized sunglasses and other methods, but I have no idea if they are trustworthy.

On a used tank...well, if you start to drill it and it shatters into thousands of tiny pieces...it's tempered, so you can stop drilling.

I believe Backfromthedead builds a lot of all-glass tanks? Perhaps he has some tricks of the trade to offer.

 

[fishguy1978]

What jjohnwm said!!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Hehe...I don't know of any tricks besides the polarized glasses. Its kind of a thing you have to know what youre looking for. Some panels will show obvious marks from tempering but some will not, particularly higher quality glass where care is taken not to leave the roller marks on the glass during tempering. You may have to view the glass from different angles and under different light to see the waves. I will say that it is not a "foolproof" method for me as I've had blunders using this method. Felt pretty foolish indeed picking shards of glass out of my leg.

Tbh now I don't even try to cut if I have the least bit of doubt...it's pretty traumatic blowing a big panel of thick glass.

For an existing glass tank best thing to do is find who built it and ask them imo.

 

[twentyleagues]

Drips are great. If you have chlorine use a carbon block. Tempered glass can be seen using polarized sunglasses and a white phone or tablet screen, turn glasses sideways to see tempering lines/spots. Screen on one side of the glass and glasses on other side. I would definitely drill the glass for an overflow.

 

[Aloginname]

Hehe...I don't know of any tricks besides the polarized glasses. Its kind of a thing you have to know what youre looking for. Some panels will show obvious marks from tempering but some will not, particularly higher quality glass where care is taken not to leave the roller marks on the glass during tempering. You may have to view the glass from different angles and under different light to see the waves. I will say that it is not a "foolproof" method for me as I've had blunders using this method. Felt pretty foolish indeed picking shards of glass out of my leg.

Tbh now I don't even try to cut if I have the least bit of doubt...it's pretty traumatic blowing a big panel of thick glass.

For an existing glass tank best thing to do is find who built it and ask them imo.

Is over the side

Drips are great. If you have chlorine use a carbon block. Tempered glass can be seen using polarized sunglasses and a white phone or tablet screen, turn glasses sideways to see tempering lines/spots. Screen on one side of the glass and glasses on other side. I would definitely drill the glass for an overflow.

I'm new to all this, and have found very little online, so please excuse all the questions.
Is an internal overflow more reliable than one that goes over the top? Is it best to drill the side of the tank or the bottom with a tube going up? How do you make it silent/quiet so there isn't a constant dripping sound? How do I regulate the drip?

 

[twentyleagues]

Is over the side

I'm new to all this, and have found very little online, so please excuse all the questions.
Is an internal overflow more reliable than one that goes over the top? Is it best to drill the side of the tank or the bottom with a tube going up? How do you make it silent/quiet so there isn't a constant dripping sound? How do I regulate the drip?

For a drip system I'd drill the side. You regulate the incoming drip with a ball valve and drip emitters, for added safety you can add a pressure reducer inline on the incoming water also to help stabilize pressure to help control drip rate. If this is your only tank you will have sounds maybe you'll be able to hear the drip maybe not. I have many tanks setup in a fish room so I have water movement noise and pump noise I wouldn't even notice a drip noise. At my old house I had my tanks in the living room (2 of them 90 and 180) the filtration and a couple other tanks were in the basement. The living room was pretty much silent very slight water sound from the returns, which I found soothing. The sump system in the basement was louder that was where the drip entered the system and exited even with the system pump off the drip was pretty much silent. Put the emitters near the water line to minimize sound. As for the drain you might hear a trickle every once in a while you may not.