New tank.. help on overflow

[Cephas27]

Hello everyone,

So basically I think I am losing my mind in the planning of this tank.. As in the pics below the tank is nearly constructed, and don't quite like the internal overflow.. it is taking too much space.. 12 inch wide and 5 inches deep and where my tank is just 36*24deep*20 height. I asked the custom builder and he said he can take out the internal overflow and seal the holes in the bottom with a rectangle glass piece stuck with silicone.. he suggests that wont be a problem in the future.. Also he suggests that he can make a c2c overflow 1.5" thick on the inside with the external overflow box quite thin, a maximum depth of 2.5", as our living room is quite small and I didn't want to lose space at the back of the tank when initially planned. Now following are the questions:

1) what do you guys think on sealing the bottom with a glass slab with Silicone, do you think there could be any issues with that, now or in the future?

2) I had planned a Herbie overflow with the internal box, and the builder had put 2" drain pipes, now with the external overflow a max of 2.5 inches he suggests to put 4 inch drains, what do you guys think of that and if anyone has done something on these lines.. also how will I incorporate Herbie if I go this route?

3) and finally, the tank will be close to the wall and hence I would not be able to make any adjustments easily to the external overflow if necessary. I ll have the valves to control the drains in the cabinet. in this regard any points to keep in mind in designing the external overflow?

Will attach the pics through my phone of how the tank looks currently... Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[Cephas27]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160805/efb9f59d89d5ba288a459fd36b1154e2.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160805/0d3d9ddfa4ab59cdf431d6a10a20cd9f.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160805/73c1d11237684bf4cef43244e02e8c7d.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GimpyFin]

Personally, I think your tank looks good the way it is.

[2_zoa]

First,
You tank looks great.


Second,
4" drains??????
REALLY!!!!!
Shooting from the hip, your close to 65 gallons......there's no way on this green earth that you need 4" drains. Let alone a herbie setup. Good night.......


What kind of flow are you wanting to put through the sump or refiguim?

[Cephas27]

Thanks Guys, yes that is what I do not understand... planning for a 10x turnover, about 3000 ltrs/hr.. with filter sock/skimmer/refugium/return

[THE ROOK]

I'd be interested in hearing from others concerning the use of a glass plate to seal bottom holes. I want to do the same thing in the near future if possible. Hate the large overflow box in my custom 65.

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[NAClFiSHy]

Whats the estimated turnover rate with 4" drains. Also i have a friend who used glass plate to seal holes tanks still running with no ill effects.

[GimpyFin]

I agree 4" drains would be way overkill on this tank. You don't want it to sound like Niagra falls either. I have a single 1" drain on my 110g and I can do between 600-700 gph. (I run it closer to 500, maybe a tad less.) You really only need 3-5x tank volume per hour through the sump, so with this tank being about 75 gallons, somewhere in the 350 gph range through the sump would be more than fine.

[LaOtIn]

Tank looks perfect the way it is!!! Seriously

[Cephas27]

Thanks a lot guys for the responses... after reading all your posts i have decided to go with this one!!!:clown: will see if in the future if i feel i can change the overflow to external... Thanks a lot guys for not letting me wander!! tomorrow tank gets filled in and the inhabitants from the current 50 gallon get transferred to this one.. fingers crossed, i know i have too much on my plate!!

[THE ROOK]

That's too funny as because of this post i can't wait to tear down my tank and rip out the overflow. Mine's much more intrusive than yours though.

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[Cephas27]

@The Rook - LOL..sorry about that.. m sure i will have my 'mmm may be' moments from the overflow eventually... but certainly i am going the external overflow route in any future upgrades..

[thegrun]

1. I did the same thing to my 120 gallon tank. If you use quality structural silicone it will be fine.
2. I use three 1" drains on my 120, 2" drains are way too big for your system and will be difficult to adjust. 1" or even 3/4" would be my choice.
3. Keep the secondary drain line close to a visible side of your overflow, you use a gate valve on the primary drain line to slow the flow so the water backs up to a point where there is just a trickle of water running down the higher secondary drain line, so you want that drain line in a location where you can still view it from the side of the tank to make the proper adjustments.

[Lsufan]

I prefer a c2c internal weir with external overflow box. To me it is by far the best overflow design. The only way it could be better is to have only a exterior overflow with the glass on the tank notched to act as a weir. U will have to decide if it's worth it to customize the tank or leave it how it is.

U can go over the holes with a peice of glass like u mentioned or u can install bulkheads & cap them off. If eighther way starts to leak u will have to drain the tank completely to fix it so I would probably silicone a peice of glass because it seems less likely to leak over time.

If u decide to make changes to the existing overflow I would go ahead and drill 3 holes for drains & use bean animals drain design. Once again, to me it is the best drain design u can have. U would be fine to use 1" bulkheads for your drains. 1.5" drains would be overkill & anything bigger then that would be hard to tune in .

[scubadan206]

Putting glass on the bottom and using silicone is just fine. After that just use one of the premade options like a synergy overflow or similar. Another more complicated project is to build your own and use a retrofit box.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumps-tanks-refugiums/overflows/internal.html
Please do try and stay far away from a HOB syphon style. They WILL fail eventually.

[vipertaj]

Make sure to put the glass plate on the inside of course. I would then go with a low profile overflow box. Can get one custom made. I got one custom made that came with the box, lids for both inside and outside and also the herbie plumbing inside the box. This gives you the most room inside the tank and looks cleanest which is what I like. Different scenario but similar as mine as my tank is acrylic. I got pieces of acrylic cut to cover the holes on the side so I can run everything from the back to look as clean and hidden as possible. It is only taking up 1.5" thick on the inside.

<a href="http://s217.photobucket.com/user/burnham187/media/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/overflow3.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/burnham187/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/overflow3.png" border="0" alt=" photo overflow3.png"/></a>
<a href="http://s217.photobucket.com/user/burnham187/media/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/overflow1.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/burnham187/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/overflow1.png" border="0" alt=" photo overflow1.png"/></a>
<a href="http://s217.photobucket.com/user/burnham187/media/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/IMG_3583.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/burnham187/Manning%20Jersey/Tank/IMG_3583.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3583.jpg"/></a>

[Cephas27]

ok so here's an update on this. the tank is done and did the transfer over the weekend. and finally went with the external overflow.. with the holed for the inside overflow covered with a glass plate and siliconed. i must say i couldnt have been happier with the decision. really.. make a world of a difference IMO. attached a few pics.;)

[Cephas27]

dont know why the iphone pics are showing inverted, looks fine on my mac.. !!