Snail Proof Overflow?
 

Hi All,

this is the second morning I have woke up to water on the floor of my new apartment (brand new carpet and third floor). Never happened at the old place but at this new one the snails (Nerites) just LOVE to get in the overflow and go down the drain pipe. Last time there were 3, this time just one, but it was big enough to block the pipe.

I am looking for a way to block the snails from entering the overflow. I currently have an eggcrate cover on the overflow box but they can lift it up. I'm going to add weight to it today after work to see if that will help.

What have others used to prevent this? any pics or ideas will greatly help. I need to do whatever possible to keep water off the floor...

Thanks!
Curtis

I am guessing that you do not have and overflow with teeth.

what size is your drain pipe?

what configuration of a drain are you using?

what size system?

If this is just a straight pipe, anything you use to wrap around and cover can get clogged. I would suggest a basket style cap. That way, even if a couple of snails get on it there is another side for water to pass through.

I had the same problem. One of my Turbo snails kept getting into my overflow and breaking the siphon. I used the eggcrate solution also... what I did was cut a piece of eggcrate to fit snuggly inside the top (eggcrate flush with the top) of the overflow. I've not had a problem since.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a snail proof overflow. Mine has teeth and I still get snails in it. The most snail resistant setup I've seen is to use gutter guard to screen your intake. It's a plastic mesh that you can usually find at lowes or home depot. I used it on an old setup and it seemed to work really well without restricting water flow. Depending on your setup, it may take some finagling to get the GG to stay in place, but it works pretty well in my experience.

http://www.gutterguardsfaq.com/guard1.jpg

#1 on the gutterguard.

Teeth or not, snails do some weird things. Last week I found a big zebra turbo halfway down the front of one of my frag tanks..........on the OUTSIDE!

+2 on gutterguard

found a snail outside of my tank on the other side of the glass the other day. Looked all dried up so i thought it was dead, put it back in the tank and it started crawling again

Yes the overflow has teeth. The snails get over the teeth without an issue...

It is a single drain pipe 75G system. This was designed by a friend and I bought it used from him when he upgraded. It would have been better to have two drains but that was not thought about when we drilled it.

I tried getting eggcrate in the overflow tight with the top but the overflow box is tight up to the center brace of the tank. I had to build it to go over the brace with another layer of eggrate on the bottom to even fit.

Gutter Guard might be my answer. I'll give that a shot, but keep the ideas coming ;).

thanks!
Curtis

I'm confused.
1 - I have Never found a snail in one of my drain pipes

2 - Eve if a snail WERE to get in, he'd just get flushed down to the sump

Do you have some sort of restriction in the pipe that the snails get caught in?

Stu

I've used these on all my tanks - never had an issue with livstock figuring their way in.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Overflow_...FT8355-vi.html

+3 gutter guard. Cheap and works perfect. Ive not had a snail or fish for that matter end up in my sump since I installed it into my returns!!

I cut a piece of acrlyic to fit on top of my overflow box,mine has the teeth also.

I use this on my return pump suction (in the sump).

I don't have anything present in my tank over the return but I do have a float switch wired to my AC3 that will shut off the pump upd water rises and then it sends an alarm to my phone. :)

If your overflow has teeth, and it's semi-obstructed by the centerbrace, snakemanvet's idea should work perfectly. Something soft like a sponge wedged between the bottom of the brace and the top of the acrylic should keep it in place.

Stu - Yes there is a restriction due to a bad design. I am going to change that next week after the holiday. It is 1.5" pipe to a 1" flex barb adapter and flex into the sump. I am going to switch it to almost all spa-flex and at least 1.5" clear flex if needed as I like to see the flow a bit and change things up if needed.

I am not able to fit a piece of acrylic under the brace as the overflow goes right up to the brace. Great idea though if it would have worked in my situation... So far gutter guard seems to be the best way to go. Keep the ideas coming ;).

Thanks Again
Curtis

You really should sit down and have a discussion with your snails - setting boundaries early on in the relationship is always a good thing - you let them know that you don't feel comfortable with them in your "private area, aka overflow."

Darn things are like kids and cats.

this is how i used the gutter guard on my overflow

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...d/overflow.jpg

custom, how did you attach it to hold on like that?

Yes I did have a talk with the snail that got stuck this time... I told it if he wanted to die so badly, next time I'll help him along...lol. He just had a blank stare so I tossed him back into the tank...

Maybe I'm oversimplifying here, but if the overflow butts right up to the bottom of the brace, that means it bisects it, or close to it. How about two pieces of acrylic? One on each side of the brace.

if the overflow has teeth, a thin piece of styrofoam cut to size and shape would work just fine.

That is unless you don't want styrofoam all over you tank...... Snail problems? Hummmm, larger plumbing.

J

nothing fancy here, teeth weren't doing their job so some cheap light defuser from home depot keeps them out.

i just cut it the right size to fit snug and bent the corners to stay that way....that way i can replace if needed :dance:

I just put my guards over the drain itself... You can buy the outdoor sprinkler drain covers in various sizes for like $4. My snails go through my overflow all day long, keep it clean, and still don't get stuck.
It's a herbie so pretty much safe either way.

delete.delete.i.eat.meat.