diy overflow

[Euge]

woah seriously that was confusing. i can't find IROMAN's post. again if you drew some pics up or take some it would be easier

 

[CHOMPERS]

It will work, just don't forget to do the math first. Ya know, that 'pie are square' thing. Plumbing is measured in inside diameters so you will have to measure the outside diameter of whatever size pipe you currently are using. Then plug it into the equation. Take your answer, add the area of the inside diameter, and then plug it back into the equation to find the inside diameter of the pipe you need to buy. You will likely get an answer between to pipe sizes, so make sure to round up so that the new add on does not serve as a restriction.

 

[Derpeder]

I know this question has been answered before because I read it somewhere. I just tried to find it but I must have missed it.

What is the water flow, GPH, you need compared to your tank size?

Ex: I have a 100 gallon tank. and I've built an Overflow with 1". The GPH rate according to the calculator is 600. Is that enough for a 100 gallon tank.

Thanks

 

[CHOMPERS]

the tread you are looking for is in the sticky section in Setups and Filtration.

 

[Derpeder]

To see an example of an overflow built incorrectly with the suggested changes click here.

Hopefully it can help you avoid these mistakes.

 

[Derpeder]

Chompers: Here is the new and improved. Tell me what you think.

in the tank

Is this the connection piece you were talking about.....or will this work? Don't worry I didn't glue anything yet.

 

[Derpeder]

Here is the solution that I came up with. My overflows are now painted black so they don't show up in pictures well, so thus the white ones. I glued plastic netting on the open end to keep fish, feeders, etc. out of the pipes. I also made two modifications: I drilled the hole between the fittings to allow air to escape, and then I also added a slot on the netted fitting so that I could have a little bit of surface cleaning.

By allowing the overflow to act entirely on surface skimming, at feeding time nearly all food went straight to the overflow tube. I had underestimated the power of surface tension.

Plus I still don't quite get this yet. Why isn't the water level lower? Like right where the big hole opens. Plus why doesn't the water rise up to high and plug the air hole?

 

[CHOMPERS]

That's the picture that I was looking for. To glue the netting on, assemble the two 90's and then put pvc glue on the edge of one 90. Then set it on the net and let it dry. After an hour or so, you can trim the net with a razor blade.

I already forgot the questions, brb...

 

[CHOMPERS]

Plus I still don't quite get this yet. Why isn't the water level lower? Like right where the big hole opens. Plus why doesn't the water rise up to high and plug the air hole?

Imagine if the parts were clear...The water level is determined by the height of the riser of the overflow plus the height of a portion of the 90's. The water flowing into the tank is much less than the overflow can handle. The rising water is never able to excede the flow of the overflow so it all goes down the pipe (down the overflow). It never has a chance to get up to the hole.

The purpose of the hole is to let air out of the inverted loop after the system is turned off and then back on.







not sure if this helped or made things worse...

 

[CHOMPERS]

Chompers: Here is the new and improved. Tell me what you think.

Is this the connection piece you were talking about.....or will this work? Don't worry I didn't glue anything yet.

Beautiful!

Keep some towels handy when you start it up, just incase the riser in the tank is too tall. I had to do some tweeking to get the surface level where I like it.