DIY OVERFLOW QUESTION>>>YES OR NO<<<

[Jordan8008]

Well heres what I was thinking, with all the various different ways to direct water from the main tank into a sump, its kinda hard to choose exactly whats right, anyways I was thinking about useing a Aqua clear HOB, inserting a baffle, just like a fuge would, but then drilling a hole in the bottom and plumbing that to the sump. The benifits that I see are that in the event of a power failure, my "overflow" of sorts wont rely on a sipon, but rather the motor, thus no tank spilliage lol.....well I am pretty shure that this has been done or has been talked about in some capcity, its just that I couldent find any threads about it, my question to all you reefers out there is, 1) will it work and 2) does anyone actully have somthing similar to what I am talking about becasue if I am going to do this its always kinda nice to work off some visuals.

Thanks

Jordan :stonight

 

[Jordan8008]

So i guess no thoughts on this?

 

[reefman23]

i wouldnt do it...you never want to rely on two pumps...if you fails, you will either have a flooded fuge or a flooded tank. also this would probably lead to the other pump failing. The best way to do this is to drill your tank....VERY easy, please try it. I was nervous before i drilled my tank, but found it so easy to do that i dont know why more people dont do it. the only other safe way of doing it is to use a dual syphon tube overflow like the lifereef...they are a little more expensive, but i have heard much better things about them than the CPR.

HTH,

jesse

 

[TimSchmidt]

I agree, this is a bad idea IMO. Even if the two pumps never fail then you have the problem of trying to match your intake output exactly...which is nigh impossible. For a trick I recommend go get two same pumps, put them in two almost full 5 gallon buckets, then put the pumps in the buckets and watch them. One will overflow eventually. With the surface skimming overflows (durso, hang on back overflows, etc.) gravity is pulling the water back down that your return pump is pushing up. So you don't really have to worry about too much. Simply place a small hole on your return plumbing that normally is just under the water level, this way in the event of a power failure when the water level drops down to that hole air is sucked in and breaks the siphon effect. Just test your setup and make sure to leave enough "empty" room in your sump. ( I would start with 5 gallons and modify from there) Just simulate power outages and you can tweak from there. Sorry for the long thread, It's just I asked this same question and got all this great advise from others, just spreading the love :langle

Tim

 

[Jordan8008]

Ok those are all things to think about, drilling the tank sounds like the way to go about things, but my tank is already up and going so i think it's outa the question now.....thats why the overlow seemed like my only option left.....well I am gonna have to put some more thought into this one,,, ,,thanks for the tips

Jordan :stonight

 

[reefman23]

Ok those are all things to think about, drilling the tank sounds like the way to go about things, but my tank is already up and going so i think it's outa the question now.....thats why the overlow seemed like my only option left.....well I am gonna have to put some more thought into this one,,, ,,thanks for the tips

Jordan :stonight

Well, all it would take is a couple 5 gallon buckets to move things into, put your heater in the bucket, then just drill the tank. people wit larger tanks...55 gallon+...sometimes even just drop the water level a little and do it fully stocked.

Jesse

 

[reefman23]

Ok those are all things to think about, drilling the tank sounds like the way to go about things, but my tank is already up and going so i think it's outa the question now.....thats why the overlow seemed like my only option left.....well I am gonna have to put some more thought into this one,,, ,,thanks for the tips

Jordan :stonight

Well, all it would take is a couple 5 gallon buckets to move things into, put your heater in the bucket, then just drill the tank. people wit larger tanks...55 gallon+...sometimes even just drop the water level a little and do it fully stocked.

Jesse

 

[Jordan8008]

Thats true, I guess I just have to stop being such a chicken and drill my tank....................LOL

:thanks

 

[skipm]

You don't have to completely empty your tank if you drill the back, there are a couple of different options for overflows exiting through the back of the tank. I would empty the tank at least halfway even for drilling the back just to take stress off the glass.