Calfo Style Overflow boxes - Page 19

xtm · #**451** 09/18/2007, 01:30 PM

I like your concept.. maybe you should patent it

I am strongly considering it for my eurobraced acrylic tank where a 'traditional' overflow box is not going to work.

My tank has eurobracing all around the rim and if I put the regular overflow box, then I cannot adjust the durso anymore since the eurobrace is blocking it. This is where the Flyyyguy Overflow comes in. I will stretch out a 1" diameter PVC across the 4-FT tank, a cut will be made on top, make some teeth and that will be my overflow! No bulky overflow boxes, no cutting acrylic, and it's less obstrusive and above all - adjustable!

It's also easier to clean.

My biggest concern about the Flyyyguy Overflow is the sloshing effect, since this is very similar to a standpipe. I've used a standpipe before and even with airline tubing it's still difficult to achieve zero noise. It would slosh every hour or so..

I will test one out and let you guys know.

flyyyguy · #**452** 09/18/2007, 01:54 PM

You dont need the teeth......the slot takes care of it......

And the sloshing that concerns you........thats what the backup bulkhead/drain and ball valve on the main drain line takes care of. You control the drain flow perfectly with the valve so you have full dontrol of how the water falls, and the backup drain is for when the inevitablewhatever gets stuck somewhere and throws off the drain/flow sync.

As far as not being able to do a calfo style on your tank because your dursos wont fit........I dont think you want to do it calfo style anyway. You have an acrylic tank, make an external box. While my idea may be simple and easy way to install a pretty efficient overflow...........External overflow boxes asre the best way to do it IMO for many reasons.

Thats how mine is, its a coast to coast overflow for all intensive purposes, but the back wall does connect to the bracing for 6" in the middle, and the box is entirely outside the tank. Nothing in the tank but reef.

xtm · #**453** 09/18/2007, 01:58 PM

external overflow is not an option for me.. the back of my tank is leaning flat against the wall (no space) Everything is drilled on the bottom of the tank.

jfactora · #**454** 09/28/2007, 04:40 PM

ok, this is probably a dumb newbie question, but why not just have the 2 bulkheads drilled to the back, i.e., what purpose does the overflow box serve? is it absolutely necessary? my plan is to have two 1.5" bulkheads about halfway down the center of the tank (220g) for a closed loop and two 1" bulkheads about an inch from the top to connect to the sump. what am I missing on the oveflow box?

xtm · #**455** 09/28/2007, 05:01 PM

The overflow box will skim the surface scum on the water

dtaranath · #**456** 09/28/2007, 08:17 PM

and it will also keep the level of water in the tank close to the top, thus keeping the aesthetic of a full tank of water, and also preventing your sump from overflowing in the case of a power outage.

yardboy · #**457** 09/29/2007, 07:04 AM

And it will increase the surface area of flow into the cls so fish and anemones won't get sucked into your cls pump.

sayn3ver · #**458** 09/29/2007, 09:33 PM

can you make the space between the front of the overflow and the back of the tank narrower than 5inches? I want to do this but having only a 40b and only 18inch of tank width, 5 inches is a chunk. Anyway of making them narrower? I realize the bulkhead is long, but could the threads be trimmed?

xtm · #**459** 09/30/2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sayn3ver
can you make the space between the front of the overflow and the back of the tank narrower than 5inches? I want to do this but having only a 40b and only 18inch of tank width, 5 inches is a chunk. Anyway of making them narrower? I realize the bulkhead is long, but could the threads be trimmed?

Are you talking about an overflow box outside the tank or inside the tank? If inside the tank, yes you can make your box narrower than 5". If you're having trouble fitting a full-size durso in there, you could always do THIS MOD.

sayn3ver · #**460** 10/01/2007, 07:29 AM

i want to do about a 2ft internal horizontal overflow in my 40B. How narrow can i go?

ReeferMonkey · #**461** 10/01/2007, 08:37 AM

Just go for an external durso if you want to go narrow. There are pics posted on the first or second page of my build thread, click my red house. Just make sure you can fit the bulkhead!

Gilprado · #**462** 10/02/2007, 02:11 AM

Hi, I do my external dursos and place some small overflow boxes to feed my deltec from the water surface, they work really good and they cost about 25 each one

Daemonfly · #**463** 10/03/2007, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sayn3ver
i want to do about a 2ft internal horizontal overflow in my 40B. How narrow can i go?

You can go quite narrow, but if it's a permanent setup, you want to allow yourself enough space to get in there with something to clean it out every once in a while. It also depends on how much flow you have going through it.

sayn3ver · #**464** 10/03/2007, 06:30 PM

"You can go narrow, but be able to fit the bulkhead in".

What is the thinnest one can go and still fit a bulkhead in? This is my first reef and my first attempt at a sump so i don't have any bulkheads in my possession right now to play around with myself, but i assume that there is a number out there.

gilprado,

how do you mount those acrylic boxes to the tank? Will silicone hold them to the glass? I was considering an Austin Ocean's overflow box but they want a ridiculous amount of money for an acrylic rectangle.

brackishdude · #**465** 10/03/2007, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sayn3ver
"You can go narrow, but be able to fit the bulkhead in".

What is the thinnest one can go and still fit a bulkhead in? This is my first reef and my first attempt at a sump so i don't have any bulkheads in my possession right now to play around with myself, but i assume that there is a number out there.

gilprado,

how do you mount those acrylic boxes to the tank? Will silicone hold them to the glass? I was considering an Austin Ocean's overflow box but they want a ridiculous amount of money for an acrylic rectangle.

I made mine out of glass and went narrow, about one inch, without bulkheads. See pages 2 and 14 of this thread. I've been real happy.

RENE · #**466** 10/04/2007, 09:23 PM

TAG TAG TAG

RENE · #**467** 10/04/2007, 09:23 PM

TAG TAG TAG

Daemonfly · #**468** 10/04/2007, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by brackishdude
I made mine out of glass and went narrow, about one inch, without bulkheads. See pages 2 and 14 of this thread. I've been real happy.

This is how I'm planning my next tank. I see no need for bulkheads there as I'm going with a permanent internal narrow overflow feeding into an external box for the durso, etc... So the water will just flow over the internal, then through a few drilled holes, into the rear external box.

like so:

Pretty much just like brackishdude has shown in the posts he mentions.

flyyyguy · #**469** 10/05/2007, 12:07 AM

Daemonfly.........out of curiousity, why put a box internal at all if you are going to put one outside, instead of just making the back wall a little shorter to directly skim the surface into the external box????

Daemonfly · #**470** 10/05/2007, 01:35 AM

Easy. Making a long narrow internal overflow, then drilling a few holes, is a hell of a lot easier than making the back wall a little shorter. It's only 2 pieces of glass in my design, and I'm actually considering using just one angled piece to make a wedge shape instead of a box, so the edges aren't as visible.

The narrow internal overflow gives all the benefits mentioned of having a wide weir overflow without it taking up too much in-tank room like you would if you had the "normal" Calfo-recommended overflow.

The rear box wouldn't really take up much more room than the plumbing for any other system, as you can now just bring the plumbing up from the bottom of the rear box, instead of out the back and then down with elbows. It's there because the internal box would be too narrow for bulkhead use if any maintenance would ever be needed. It's not necessarily dead space either, it could be used to hold media, or even a small benthic zone.

Probably comes down to personal preference, really. I hate tanks that are too visually impaired with equipment showing everywhere. Most of the "Calfo-style" internal wide overflows listed in this thread also stick out too far into the tank, imho.

flyyyguy · #**471** 10/05/2007, 01:45 AM

Fair enough...just curious. I have the back wall shorter on mine and a completely external box, wouldnt have it any other way and plan to change my larger tank out to the same thing sometime in the near future......but its a acrylic tank so a shorter back wall isnt much of a problem. I agree with you completely on the intrusiveness of some of the calfo style internal boxes.

GLD · #**472** 10/05/2007, 08:30 AM

Deamonfly,

GREAT IDEA re constructing the wier out of one piece of angled material rather than the traditional two !!

I always am chagrined when I realize how my brain is limited by what it has seen before: I never would have thought of your one-piece solution, but I think it is grand.

woz9683 · #**473** 10/05/2007, 04:48 PM

flyyguy, how is the back wall of your acrylic tank supported. Do you have a full top that covers the overflow as well, or are you just relying on the flange created by the bottom of the external overflow to keep the back wall from bowing. I'd love to see pics if you've got them. I was worried about the back wall bowing so I brought part of it up to meet the eurobrace, easing the strain right in the middle but separating it into two long overflows.

flyyyguy · #**474** 10/05/2007, 05:00 PM

Woz......yeah...it isnt a a TRUE coast to coast as the back wall does meet the bracing for 6" in the center......enough to fit two 1" bulkheads at the top center of the back wall actually.......

A couple inches would have been plenty.

Its more for overall tankintegrity that holding that box on though. I simply have a lid that sits opn top of the box to keep light out for the most part

This is an older pic......I have since incorporated a "herbie" method of sorts on the overflow to quiet it down as my little mini dursos I created werent quite quiet enough......but you can get an idea of what my external overflow box looks like

woz9683 · #**475** 10/05/2007, 05:23 PM

Yeah, I see. Looks very similar to mine actually, I left 6" in the center as well. The only difference is I made my top cover the overflow too.

Is that an OM-8 way? I've never seen one from the top, so I don't know if it's that or something else. That's sweet that you can mount it sideways if it is an OM.