Can someone please explain this to me?

daj0424

daj0424

Member
I feel dump for asking but I am very curious how do some plumbing work. What I really want it to have a tank that you do not see any filters, power heads, or anything. Is this possible?
I have a 55g FOWLR tank that I have used for two years to learn from. Now that I have learned how to care for the fish and properly maintain the aquarium I am looking at more advanced ways to do things. Right now I have a bak pak 2 protien skimmer, an emperor 400, a uv sterlizer, a heater and a Seio power head on the wall of my display tank. It looks like crap and I would like one day to have my tank viewed on both sides and everything below. I would build my own wet/dry filter with fuge so I know all about that.
Now here is my question. I have seen overflows but I think they look bad too. Either they are built in (reef ready) and take up part of a wall or they are a box that is in the way and I do not want this in my tank. I have heard of people drilling tanks but I am not sure what that is all about. Can someone let me know what this is all about. How would I go about getting the look of no filtration in the display? Will I always need a powerhead? Do you drill on the bottom and use a hose to come up and cover that with rocks? What kind of water pump would I need for this? Anything else I am missing.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
bigtyguyy

bigtyguyy

Member
Hey my friend ok.... I am not a pro like most of the guys here but i can help you with the basic stuff... 1) i think you will always the odd power head for water movement... 2) the deal with drilling your tank and having an overflow is to get rid of all the intakes that go to your filters and so that you can have a sump that houses all your heaters and such... the reason for drilling the tank is because you can't have a sump and have a syphon going to it because once the power fails you loose the syphon and your return pump will pump the water in the sump back to your tank... and the tank will overflow... If you have a built in overflow the water can only go as high as the overflow teeth.. I got someone to drill my tank and i put in my own over flow because i didn't want to use up a whole wall with an overflow.... If i haven't answered you question please tell me!!!! heres what i have done!
i used a 4 inch pipe and cut it to the length i wanted and used a bulkhead to go through the glass... I also built my sump.. i will post pictures off all my stuff if you want more ideas


 
weberian

weberian

Member
Mine is not hidden, but I drilled the back of the tank and put in 1-1/4 inch PVC.
I just bought a diamond coated hole saw from the internet and followed the directions for drilling - slow speed, lubricated/cooled with water. Now that I've done it, I like the idea of a corner in-tank overflow better because the pipe heads straight down through the bottom of the tank, which is the direction you're trying to go. Mine has so many bends in it that it makes it very awkward, and there is cantilevered weight hanging on the back glass now.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
At some point your going to have to have something in the tank be it a bulkhead or overflow box etc......Maybe the overflow boxes you've seen in tanks setup weren't great looking or stood out due to maybe poor choice of aquascaping??? Alot can be hidden with your rockwork and such....I've seen a tank that has the return lines down into the tank along the bottom buried under sand and rock and when the rock is in place you can't even tell they are present....Alot has to do with the planning ahead of time.....
It is possible to drill the tank and not have stuff in the tank. As far as heater and such you should look at getting rid of the emperor filter system and going with a sump under the tank where you could hide such things as UV sterlizer, skimmer. As far as PH's you would need to drill the tank either in the back or sides and utilize a closed loop (CL) for your additional flow inside the tank.....
 
rhomer

rhomer

Member
One issue about overflow boxes. If you use too much rock to hide the overflow your crabs and inverts tend to go over the top of the over flow and get stuck in there.
Rob
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Shouldn't be an issue or affect the flow of your overflows if proper planned and your setup can stop them from blocking things.....
 
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