i am going to be moving up to a 55 and am probably not going to drill it. how does an overflow work. how would drilling the tank work??? the reason why i didnt pick up als 75 was because i had no clue about a drilled aquarium. how would u match the gph ??? what size pump would i need to use. im going to need alot of help. lOl brett o yah how would i build an over flow???
I have one I can give you for cheap that I got from CD but take it from me and I think craig will tell you a drilled tank is much better and less likely to have your sig. other fussing at you. le-frog
I think for 55gal is better to go with wet/dry and over flow box so you don’t have to do the drilling and all those stuff, here are picture of example to show you how to set it up. But again difference people have difference ideas is best to get a tank that already drill and have overflow inside is the best way to run saltwater hope this help.
im definately going to do a fuge. i know that for soure.
Yeah the one I have worked pretty well. It has a pump too to help keep the tank from overflowing. It only got me one time for about .5 gallons on the floor.
Step 1 - set-up overflow on back of tank per manufactures reccomendation
Step 2 - get everything dialed in perfectly
Step 3 - wake up in the morning and start mopping
HOB overflows are notorious for making a berber (or shag) filter pads. drilling is usually much safer, there has been previous discussions where I believe it was decided that 55s are completely tempered and can not be drilled so if you’re set on a 55 you may not have a choice.
Look on the used equipment boards on some of the other forums and you can probably find another 75 pre-drilled for less then you’d buy a 55 new.
If you decide to go with the HOB overflow the return pump should be rated the same as the overflow, or preferably slightly less. If it’s rated for more GPH then the overflow it will pump out of the sump faster then it can drain from the tank and overflow the tank. If it is rated too much less then the overflow then the tank will drain out to the point where you lose siphon and the overflow stops working, causing the pump to pump out the the sump in to the DT with the same results.
Each overflow box should come with a pump recomendation (at least a GPH recomendation).
I believe (don’t quote me) the overflow rawdawg has is rated for 990gph.
yea, what Cd said… EvIl GrIn
some other notes–
I strongly reccomend people staying away from wet drys in salt water. while they work great for fresh, when having nitrates is more of an annoyance, its a really bad way to go with salt. a refugium is vastly superior way to export nutirents and is personally the only way I will go in the future. if I am ever in a situation wher i couldnt have a fuge I would get out of the hobby untill I could.
HOB overflows do work reasonalby well if you are very carefull and dial them in carefully. Drilling is absolutely better though, and Cd is right that you can get a drilled 75 for cheaper than a new 55. follow Cds reccomendations for setting up. you will also want to add a valve onto the outlet of your pump to dial in your flow.
dont try and build an overflow. it is possible, but for the price its better to save yourself the agony of cleaning up after a DIY on this one.
as far as 55s go, all newer ones are indeed tempered- I found this out hte hard way… that being said the older ones are NOT my 55 is probably 20yrs old and has been drilled. tempered glass is about half as thick as non tempered- i can pick a tempered 55 up by myself, I need two people to pick up my non tempered 55…
heres a few follow up link on refugiums I collected a while back:
Eric
Agreed with everything eric said.
Do everything possible to have a drilled tank. Avoid HOB and Wet/Dry like the plague. A drilled tank with a refugium is not only many times more efficient but also a lot cheaper since it is all pretty much DIY.
HOB overflows are Bad. They are the Devil. The axis of evil. Get the idea. It is no more complicated to match up a drilled overflow with the pump then a HOB overflow. In fact it is easier and there is less chance of a spill.
I have a HOB on my 125, works great. Had one on my 65, and my 55 before that. Holds and restarts after power outages, never loses siphon.
have used a hob overflow on my tank for 2 yrs and never a problem. but you need to use black air line on aqua lifter pump if you want to keep it from plugging up. icy> the black air line is called stealth tubing and that pet place has it.
building an overflow is too easy…and i dont consider myself a pro…and i didnt have to drill my tank…
theres a DIY overflow you can build out of PVC, then hang over the tank and run to a 'fuge…this is what i have im my 55…and it cost less than $55
as to power faluires…on the top of the overflow you add a $20 airlifter that will keep the siphon 100% of the time…my power has went out countless times and ive never lost siphon once…no drip drops…
if ur interested i can post the specs, and maybe get a picture of mine, but its hidden behind my rock…ill try to find the original thread somewhere…
i also have to say the one disadvantage to my setup is that its not gravity fed…
so a high percentage of my 'pods could be getting chopped up on the way to the tank…
[quote=“bz350, post:1, topic:733”]
i am going to be moving up to a 55 and am probably not going to drill it. how does an overflow work. how would drilling the tank work??? the reason why i didnt pick up als 75 was because i had no clue about a drilled aquarium. how would u match the gph ??? what size pump would i need to use. im going to need alot of help. lOl brett o yah how would i build an over flow???[/quote]
I would also reccomend a drilled tank, but since I belive that you said you already had the 55g I’ll try to give some advice on how to set that up. Do you want the overflow to run to a sump for equipment, or are you more looking to set up a refugium for macro algae? If it is more for a refugium, have you considered having the refugium drain back into the tank? You could put a 10g or a 20l in a cabinet or shelf of some sort. You could pump the water out of the 55 up into the fuge, and then drill the fuge so that it overflows into your tank. That way you dont have to worry about any kind of DIY overflow not working if the power goes out or someting, and you arent buying another tank (If you already have the 55g that is, otherwise get one that is RR or drilled.)
[quote=“icy1155, post:14, topic:733”]
I would also reccomend a drilled tank, but since I belive that you said you already had the 55g I’ll try to give some advice on how to set that up. Do you want the overflow to run to a sump for equipment, or are you more looking to set up a refugium for macro algae? If it is more for a refugium, have you considered having the refugium drain back into the tank? You could put a 10g or a 20l in a cabinet or shelf of some sort. You could pump the water out of the 55 up into the fuge, and then drill the fuge so that it overflows into your tank. That way you dont have to worry about any kind of DIY overflow not working if the power goes out or someting, and you arent buying another tank (If you already have the 55g that is, otherwise get one that is RR or drilled.)[/quote]
Now that is an excellent idea.
i have considered that but i dont think parents would agree. it would be a fuge. i would put my heater,skimmer,sock(carbon) down there. also i would use 2 330 penguin filters.
u should really go on 3reef.com and look at their DIY overflow (no drilling required)… i use it for my 'fuge…i really need to get some pics up…
I made that before. It works but it is huge.
you think so? i dunno, i guess its all relative…the one i made is about 16’’ tall, by 7’’ wide, my hang on filter sticks out further…have u used the weir (?) style overflow box also??
in your opinion, is there a difference between the PVC set up and the more traditional weir set up??
I prefer the look inside the tank of a weir. I will say I was extremely happy once I went drilled.
There is another way to have a sump without a overflow on the main tank; have the sump above the main tank. Use a pump to move water up then gravity to return,