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Jacob Morgan

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
208
Location
Sweden
I plan on building one. I am fairly certain I understand the concept of them after lookin at numerous models. I was wondering if any1 had some overall dimensions of these things? its for my 15 gallon tank. I plan on using a 1" Diameter Utube so I can get bout 600gph....


Jacob
 
The inside box is usually about 2"W X 5"-6"L X 4"-5"T Outside box is approx. 4"W X 5"-6"L X 6"-8"T, these measurements are approximate, I don't have one, so I can't measure it for you. Here is a link to a document about working with acrylic that may help you... Working With Acrylic I know Kevin C. from the yahoo club, built a couple and you may want to post on his sight to get some first hand advice on building an overflow. http://www.myreefs.com or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saltwateraquariums
 
Yea I know Kevin. Already been talkin to him..


I plan on makin a 600 ovrflow wiht a prolly bout a 400gph pump (0 head) so it gives me 200-250 at the tank.. also plan on makin the 29 hte sump.. since lightingi can't have a 29 display I can make it asump to my 15 gal display. should make for a nice setup..



by outside box u mean the one on the outside of hte tank adn then inside is inside the tank.. i gather this instead of inside dimension of hte box to the side cause then tat make teh thickness of the acrylic huge!



Jacob
 
over flow box..

u put it on teh back of ure tank.. it makes the water go from your main tank to ure sump wher it is pumped back up to ure main tank.. ther not cheap so i plan tooo make one..


They are a nmust is cause.. if the water level drops then it stops and will auto stops when it raises.. umm sorry for the breifness but i am rushed for timei have to go NOW!!..


i will exlpain later if no oneelse does..


Jacob
 
Yes jacob kevin is refering to the outside half of the overflow and the inside half of the overflow. The reason the outside half is deeper than the inside half is to enhance the syphon of the U tube.

Grant,

An overflow box is used as jacob said when you need to get water that is in the tank out of the tank. Overflows are usually assocated with wet/dry filter or sumps. If you have a canister filter or a hang on filter you dont need or want an overflow.

Some tanks are "reef ready" and they have overflows built into the tank it self. These tanks are also sometimes refered to as "drilled" tanks. An add on overflow is something that hangs on the back of the tank. There are two box's that make the overflow up. The inside oveflow box has slits cut in to the top to allow water to flow into it. The outside box has atleast 1 drain hole in it aswell as its usually split up into two sections. 1 section is where the drain hole is and the other section is where a "U" tube is placed. The U tube by the action of a syphon will pull water out of the inside box and put it into the outside box. The water will then flow over the division and into the drain section of the outside box. It will then flow down to the sump or wet/dry filter. A pump will then return the water back up into the tank.

In theory the sump pump is always overfilling the tank and the overflow is what allows the tank to drain in a controlled manor back into the sump.

If you size you return pump larger than the overflow can process then you have a problem as the tank WILL overfill. That is why knowing the headheight pump capacity and the overflow capacity is important.
 
What he said hehee..


I have been workin on getting cars runnin all day.. sorry and at that time i had to go right then.



Jacob
 
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