Putting the empty space in an overflow to work

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
DaveB

DaveB

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2008
1,244
14
68
Miami
In an effort to get my 120 up and running quickly, I skipped the plumbing of the sump and just stuck an FX5 in there instead, using it as a closed loop setup whose input was at the very bottom of the overflow in the tank.

Over time I added things to the space in there... I stashed the heater there, I put a powerful air bubbler in, and put some foam in as a mech prefilter over the bulkhead at the bottom. I was thinking maybe I'd put a couple of big sponge filters in there too.

Anyway, I took the tank down for buffing and when I set it back up I'm actually going to plumb the sump. It will be the first sump I've ever set up, and I'll be using a herbie setup. Meaning the water will enter from way up at the top instead of down below.

I've always wondered... does that space below a durso or herbie intake just sort of sit as un-circulated dead water?

That seems like kind of a bad thing. And while I don't need to hide a heater in there anymore since it can go in the sump, I feel like it's still a nice little place to hide equipment... if the water moves. And even if it's empty, it still seems like nothing good can come of having the water just sitting still in there.

Would the air stone be sufficient to keep that water from getting stagnant? Should I run a small powerhead in there? Does anyone do anything clever or creative inside their overflow spaces? Is my mind simply bored and thinking too much about unimportant things?
 
exactly my thought. I know youve seen my thread on my tank, and i have roughly 7" wide x 20" tall x 5" of water that just kinda sits there. i did put a powerhead in there awhile ago, but then kinda just left it so i just took it out. I was actually thinking about putting some pothos plants in there and maybe some ceramic rings?
 
I think without some real movement of water down there the box would get really gunked up quickly, making rings kind of a trap for lots of nitrate production. Seems like a powerhead to keep things moving might negate that, or even if it was empty, keep things cleaner and circulated in there.

I was considering cutting some kind of fitting that I could easily slide in and cover the intake teeth of the box with a coarse foam pre-filter, sort of like how I had it jammed down in the bottom. It'd be super easy to clean every time I did a water change, or really any time I lifted the tank's canopy. In theory that could keep the inside of the overflow mostly clean and thus let you stash some media in it.

I'm still new at dealing with overflows though. I'd really be interested in seeing if anyone else has already done something like this.
 
This is the reason I dislike vertical overflow boxes. But I don't think it will be as bad as you think. On my 57g, there is NO buildup at the bottom. The bottom of the tank is clear. I can see up in the overflow box from the bottom, it's always clear in there.

You could always throw a bunch of snails and shrimp in there. They'd love it in there!
 
I hate them too, especially when they prevent me from being able to put in a nice background and I'm stuck with super bright blue.

So if it does remain clean... how can we best put that space to work? Would sponge filters and that air provide enough movement to ensure that the water doesn't stand there all stale, thus giving us a bit more space for some simple biomedia? Or would it need more flow like from a powerhead?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom