my diy overflow plus my diy w/d sump filter--load warning!

here it is
been in my mind for a long time
finally built it


i want to thank rally and chomps for all the help and tricks
plus everyone else that helped with these projects


here is a pic of the overflow



heres how i made the separator
the wood was tuff to get out cus i didnt think ahead
its 2 pieces cus i just used old glass



the pvc i used as a temp heater lol



next was the drip plate
the stuff i used didnt stick so im going to try silicone next
it worked on my big tank but not this time
odd
still works tho





next i used the light fixture stuff,pvc,and zipties
the first shelf and pvc are ziptied solid
i also ziptied the shelf over the heater
this shelf will hold up the scrubbies





here i put zipties at the top of the first shelf so the second shelf can sit ontop of these zipties





heres a pic of how i ziptied the pvc to lighting stuff
i drilled a hole through the pvc for the ziptie to go through



here is the second shelf
it will hold 2 sheets of felt and maybe some filter floss one day







next is the 3rd shelf
it will hold up the drip plate





this 3rd shelf the legs are attached



heres the drip plate installed







here you can see i made everything low so if it overflows it overflows over to the pump side





heres the lid i made for it





heres my pump and return line
i had to make the valve to re route some flow cus i have to much flow
"will fix it sometime"



here is the rest of the return





installing the heater and scrubbies
about 50 scrubies i think





second shelf with the felt installed



3rd shelf and drip plate installed







full shot of filter



some shots of the plumbing
the grey pvc unscrews so i can remove the lid and stuff



here you can see my connector "rallys idea"
i didnt want to drill a big hole in my stand so i made the hole as big as the pvc
then i glued about an inch stub of pvc to the bottom half
drop the top half through the hole
then slipped a tube over the 2 pvcs and clamped it
now i can remove it easy



heres some pics of my overflow and duel inlet
i cut half the 90's down so the space between them was less also
also added some galvanized mesh





heres pix of a mod i did
i dont like anything sloppy so i made all these spacers
it is all tight,bottom and top
they are pvc glued on









more pix of the overflow
the coupling going down,i put it there to stop the pvc from moving





full tank shot and full tank shot of filter






things i need to do

im going to make another diy overflow
this one is 3/4" and cant handle the flow
im going to make one exactly like this one but 1"

im going to try to fix the drip plate

and i have the black paint to paint the overflow "someday"

thats it
let me know what ya think

Bosa;1775835; said:

WOW...yours came out awesome, much attention to detail, I'm in the process of finishing my overflow, same style, i just finished my sump, my tanks smaller, 10gal sump for a 29gal tank. here's my sump you can check out http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139986 I noticed in one of your pics that there is water in the part that is suppose to be just air, the piece above the "tee", is that why it is suppose to be just as long as the "U" that goes into the tank? This is the first time building a sump and an overflow!

Awesome setup!great job

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thanks
and yours is nice also
and what pic are you talking about? im lost lol
the vent? dont think theres water in it over the t
but i made it taller then the u's just incase

pounder808;1775852; said:

where did you get the acrylic and how did you cut it?
here's my cheapo 20minute filters I made for a friend

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i had it but you can get it at lowes/depot/hardware stores
i cut it with a jig saw and drilled the holes with a cordless drill
and nice fast filter lol

japes;1775914; said:

Very tidy mate, great work. Great job plumbing it.

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thanks
its my first diy overflow like this
ive had this thing made for almost a year it just scared me
my 90g overflow messed up so i was forced to glue this one and use it
and after i seen it worked great i put it on the 55g

fishdance;1776382; said:

For your next version, have the excess water from the pump go through the bio-media rather than just back to the sump. Not only will you be utilising the bio-media better but you can also keep your filter alive for extended periods - say if you ever need to isolate the tank for medication.

Are you going to curtain over or hide the sump?

Click to expand...

good idea
but next time the overflow will handle the flow and that part wont be needed
but i could keep it and do your idea for when i shut it off

and funny thing on hiding the sump
i made this stand special to have a 55g ontop and a working 10g underneath
never thought it would end up as a main tank and the 10g as the filter
when the 10g was a show tank it sucked to clean cus it was so low to the ground
yes i plan to hide it
i still have the same stain
im going to make an all wood face that snaps on the front
you will not even notice its a door or that i added it on a year or 2 later
"hopefully"