# overflow question



## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

Alright some of you may have read before I am going to be starting my very first SW aquarium, due to a shortage of LFS in my area I was forced to buy a tank from Petco and unfortunately its not predrilled or anything. I did make sure that the bottom was not tempered glass(will shatter if drilled) However Im not sure if i want to take the route of drilling it or getting it drilled through the bottom. Is there another way of getting the water down to my sump without a hole in the bottom? I did see some of the hang on the back siphon type overflows which from reading i see they can and will lose siphon once in awhile. So I guess my question is can I drill the back of the tank for an overflow without the overflow? 2 holes one for a drain and one for a return? If so what are the pros and cons here.

Thanks,

Anthony


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## orion (May 31, 2009)

have you in chat sendin you info


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## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

yah thats a nice siphon system.. does anyone have some photos of a drilled back system? and maybe some comments with the pros/cons of: bottom drilled, back drilled, or siphon systems?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

I prefer to drill the bottom when given the option. I have a brand spanking new 120 sitting here in my garage that's got a tempered bottom and I'm really not looking forward to drilling the back and setting it up that way. So it just sits there while I decide what to do with it... and I have all the glass bits one would ever need, got a complete set of them from Taiwan a couple years ago. 
Subscribing to thread, heh..


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## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

MediaHound said:


> I prefer to drill the bottom when given the option. I have a brand spanking new 120 sitting here in my garage that's got a tempered bottom and I'm really not looking forward to drilling the back and setting it up that way. So it just sits there while I decide what to do with it... and I have all the glass bits one would ever need, got a complete set of them from Taiwan a couple years ago.
> Subscribing to thread, heh..


That is awesome... Have you ever had a back drilled tank? And how do you distinguish a tempered bottom? My neighbor said my new tank has a tempered bottom but I'm not so sure he ever knows what hes talking about(with anything, not just aquariums) So I dont want to drill my tank until i know, is there a method to tell if its tempered or not?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

It has a big sticker when you look down into it across the centerbrace down the bottom that reads "Do Not Drill (Tempered)" or something to that affect. Kind of like one of those "Inspected By.." type tags but its orange or red and thats what it says. 
I have never had a tank with a drilled back because I personally do not like them. I have had tanks with overflows that use the siphons and they do work well for the most part. Just keep the siphon clean and the sponge clean as well. The reef-ready tanks nowadays have a really quiet overflow setup the way they do them now with the elbows in the return pipe and such. Have you seen that?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

I'm actually wrong. 
My 10G refugium thats inside the stand on my 180 has a drilled back but that really does not count, haha. I know thats not what you meant.. BTW its the 3rd or 4th one because I sometimes bump the bulkhead that comes out of it and crack the glass of the tank, ha. One of the sumps on my frag system has a drilled back as well. It's an intermediate sump just used as a reservoir for my skimmer which didn't fit in the main sump. Hard to explain. 
And I have an AGA 25 High that I drilled the back as well, how could I forget. It is sitting in my garage as well, not setup at the moment. It used to be a soft coral system. I was totally not thinking a min ago when I made that post... too many tanks.. so little time. 
Be careful of snails and /or a clogged drain screen if you do go that route. The water gets turbulent there and you dont want it backing up.


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## drhank (Aug 3, 2009)

I had my 200 gallon drilled on the back. I have 3 overflows and a single return. The overflows have simple 90 degree elbows and individual strainers. The return is a simple 45 degree elbow. It works fine for me. In this picture you can see the return on top center and an overflow in the right corner.


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)

I driled a 50g breeder in the back wall and it came out nice im going to throw some pictures in here so you can have an idea.It's very easy and simple.And clean and i look's nice.You can drill the box where ever you want in the back wall anyways Jarred im going to load up the pictures


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)




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## drhank (Aug 3, 2009)

Joey, yours looks prettier than mine!


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## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

Joey those pictures are a great help!!! Also what did you paint the back of the tank with? Also what size holes did you drill for all 3 of the holes?

Doc, your tank is so hot, it makes me want to kiss it!


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## drhank (Aug 3, 2009)

Thanks Anth. Take special note of the external standpipe on Joey's overflow. You're going to want one too. I have 3. One for each of my overflows and they quiet things down tremendously.


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## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

Thanks i didnt notice that until i saw the T connector with the air hose in it... Joey did you just cap the end of that T and drill an air hole?


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)

drhank said:


> Joey, yours looks prettier than mine!


thank you


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)

eagleANTH said:


> Joey those pictures are a great help!!! Also what did you paint the back of the tank with? Also what size holes did you drill for all 3 of the holes?
> 
> Doc, your tank is so hot, it makes me want to kiss it!


I went to HD and got some black paint and painted it with a brush couple coats and ur good to go


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)

eagleANTH said:


> Thanks i didnt notice that until i saw the T connector with the air hose in it... Joey did you just cap the end of that T and drill an air hole?


Yea i caped it out and drilled a small hole for the air tube and like DOC said its realy quite


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## Joey (May 27, 2009)

eagleANTH said:


> Joey those pictures are a great help!!! Also what did you paint the back of the tank with? Also what size holes did you drill for all 3 of the holes?
> 
> Doc, your tank is so hot, it makes me want to kiss it!


OOOooOOooOo the down pipe depends on the tank you can use 2"---2 1/2" and for the returns i think i uesd 1 1/2" i dont remember tho lol


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

I may be late here but you can have a hob overflow made from $20 of pvc what works just fine. And does not require drilling the tank in any way.


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## eagleANTH (Jun 26, 2009)

thanks for the info guys.


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## Henry Bowman (May 27, 2009)

lookie here for a diy kit 

Glass-Holes.com dope aquarium stuff : Home


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

and here's a "flat diagram" of a pvc overflow from my gallery

Just to spark some ideas.

Aquarium Gallery - flatdetailedsurfaceskimmer


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