DIY Overflow construction

[FranklinP]

I am planning on sectioning off the corners of a 250G acrylic tank to create two overflows. I was going to seal them in with silicon sealant for aquariums. My other thought was just to have a 1.5" PVC SCH 40 stand pipe with a foam on the top. The pipe would be simpler but I have only seen this set up on bait tanks. Any thoughts would be apreciated. I bought the hole saw today, Made my own bulk head fittings from M/F adapters and a flat rubber gasket. Thanks. Frank

Ps: I posted in Newbee forum all tank info.

 

[taikonaut]

You can use stand pipe as overflow, but for a large tank, it is better if you use acrylic panel to make overflow by sectioning part of the corners due to cosmetic reason (and nothing else). Silicon does not work well for acrylic/glass, so you may want to use acrylic cement instead. This is not the easiest DIY project, but it is not very difficult.

Find a good source of acrylic in your local area with the same thickness as your tank's and in color that you want (black/blue/clear). Cut it off and make sure the edge matches well with each others as well as the tank. Router off the top like professional overflow, and use cement to glue it to your tank.

If you do use the stand pipe method, I think you need something larger than 1.5in. You can also drill holes on the back panel, and install bulkheads on it as overflow... imagination is your limit.

 

[Anonymous]

Hang out and don't do anything until James (aka Acrylics) chimes in with his 2 cents worth. He is the acrylic expert of this bunch and will most likely give you the best direction.

Good luck!

Louey

 

[FranklinP]

Silicone is like duct tape, it will hold anything. I planned on lightly sanding the bonding area first. I was also thinking instead of using a flat piece of acrylic I am consider a half piece of 6" or 4" PVC pipe. This would give a larger surface area to the top of the "strainer". So it would make a round corner box. Bet no one thought of that yet. 8O I shall sit and wait for the acrylic god though. Thanks.

 

[taikonaut]

Hey, Louey, I am a bit offended by your comment since you said it after I replied! I am myself an acrylic pseudo-god, if not a full god! I am sure James won't admit that he is better than me publically

Seriously, I would like to comment FranklinP's last reply.
1, silicone is like duct tape, but it also hold the overflow like a duct tape. For sure, secure way for a overflow, esp. if you anticipate the fact that the overflow is holding 24 inch+ of water on one side, and nothing on the other side (pump off, for example), you may want to think about it more before using the "duct tape."

2, If you want an arched overflow by cutting a cylinder lengthwise, that is a neat idea. However,
(a), it will minimize the length of the strainer, not maximize it.
(b) you may want to consider using a quarter of the cyliner instead of a half-cylinder if you want to mount it on the corner. But you will need a 8-12inch diameter pipe to give you enough cross-section for the interior of the overflow.

 

[FranklinP]

Well the reason all this started was because the "reef expert" at the pet store told me that the overflow boxes are old school and will fail if the power goes out. I have two overflow boxes with the tank I could use instead of drilling. If the DIY corner overflow seal fails my living room becomes a large tidal pool I take it. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Anonymous]

If the 'reef expert' is talking about hang on overflows, they're blowing smoke up your arse. Lots of people around here use them. If you've got the overflows, and the room, go for it.

However, drill your tank if you can. you'll like it better later.

If you get a piece of flat acrylic and a heat gun, you can bend it into any shape you want.

HTH
B

 

[Acrylics]

I am planning on sectioning off the corners of a 250G acrylic tank to create two overflows. I was going to seal them in with silicon sealant for aquariums. My other thought was just to have a 1.5" PVC SCH 40 stand pipe with a foam on the top. The pipe would be simpler but I have only seen this set up on bait tanks. Any thoughts would be apreciated. I bought the hole saw today, Made my own bulk head fittings from M/F adapters and a flat rubber gasket. Thanks. Frank

Ps: I posted in Newbee forum all tank info.

IMO the best "retro" overflow is based on both the standpipe and overflow principles.
Make a 5-sided overflow box out of whatever color you choose. Imagine an "island" type overflow (4 sides, fins on each) but this one has a bottom as well. Drill your bulkhead holes on the bottom of the tank and the bottom of the overflow box. Use a standpipe to connect the bulkead from the bottom tank to bulkhead on the bottom of overflow. If you locate the bulkhead holes correctly, you can snug it up to any tank wall you desire and seal with silicone if you wish.
Hope this makes sense, this type of box has a few things going for it.
* You can make the overflow box itself as tall as you'd like or as short as you like. Meaning if you want it to run the full height of the tank, you can, if you want to be small and in the corner, no sweat.
* You are not making any permanent changes to the tank so if it doesn't handle the flow you want, you can remove & replace it easily.
* Since you're not gluing anything to the tank, you can change it's location easily by simply plugging the bottom hole and drilling a new one someplace else.
* You can make it as big as needed to handle Durso type setups
* You do not have to worry about getting a water tight seal to the tank.
* If the tank has previously been filled, you don't have to worry about gluing to any warped tank walls.
* You get the convenience of standpipes with the saftety and flow rate of traditional overflow.
* If you want to drill in the back of the tank instead, just use the bulkhead with an ell.
* If you want to get creative with the overflow shape, fine, use tube if you wish, makes no difference.
The biggest advantage though IMO is that you don't *have* to rely on silicone at all for sealing anything. Though many folks have glued acrylic overflows to tanks, I rcommend against relying on it for structural purposes when sealing acrylic as most silicones don't stick to acrylic *that* well.

BTW, you guys are hysterical :lol:

HTH,
James

 

[FranklinP]

Well I ran into another problem. I was going about building the island as stated above but the top of the tank has a cover cemented to the top. It extends over the corners and prohibits any access to the corner boxes if they were to be built. I made two stand pipes 1" in diameter. They stop about 1 1/2" down for the top. The bottom was drilled 1 1/2" and a 1 1/4 M/F adapter was used as a bulkhead fitting. I then used a fitting reducer to take it to 1". This would allow me to go upto 1 1/4 later if I have problems getting flow down to pumps. I am still trying to find two pumps for the wet dry's that work out of all this stuff. I am using my post in the newbee area as a central update post. Thanks for all the help so far. Frank.