Overflow box design/dimesnions

[1guydude]

So i need to drill my 20L and i need some ideas or suggestions on the dimensions for the overflow box...
I was thinking 6"x 2"x 6 1/4".
On my 75gal i was thinking 15"x 2"x 10".
A fellow hobbyist said that the overflow box on my 75gal should be all the way along the glass (penninsula tank) and at least 6" off the tank and at least 6" deep.
Any truth to this? Why would i need it to be 6" wide?
Another question is that do i put elbows facing up on the inside of my overflow or is a strainer or nothing okay?...
The holes on my 75gal are 1 3/4" and the bulkheads would need to be 1" than.
On my 20L can i just have one drain and one return or wat would u do? My 75gal has 3 drains and 2 returns.....

 

[2quills]

Got a shot of your 75g? If there are 3 drain holes already you may be able to go with the bean animal set up. Often times the bean animal set up is done with a coast to coast style overflow box. Basically what your buddy described by having one long overflow box on the back of the tank that runs the width of the tank.
I'd probably do a single 1" drain and a 3/4" or 1/2" return on the 20L.

 

[1guydude]

Ya the bean-animal is wat its called! LOL thxs
I was just looking at that site yesterday! I can dig up an older pic later when i get home from work.
Is their any way to silence a single drain though?

 

[acrylic51]

Using the BeanAnimal style drain you won't have the normal noise associated with the other traditional overflow systems......That is 1 of the advantages of his design......

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/388830/overflow-box-design-dimesnions#post_3431813
Ya the bean-animal is wat its called! LOL thxs
I was just looking at that site yesterday! I can dig up an older pic later when i get home from work.
Is their any way to silence a single drain though?
No way that I know of to silence one completely. Venting helps with the gurgling noises but you're probably always going to hear a little bit of drain. I guess you could always try a smaller version of the bean animal design (mini-bean).

 

[acrylic51]

My last setup I used the Durso's with adjustable air valves to tune, them and it was a PITA.....

 

[snakeblitz33]

I use an external overflow with the Eshopps way of getting rid of the noise...
You stick a semi-rigid plastic air tube down the drain hole and you'll hit the sweet spot when it stops making noise. You just keep it right there, and twirl the tubing around underneath the lip of the overflow and you're good. There's a video of it somewhere...
I don't know if you know of a product called a "Maggie-Muffler" but it also works pretty well...

 

[snakeblitz33]

I'm pretty sure this is not a competitor link: http://maggiemuffler.com/ take a look at the pics. Cool, eh?

 

[2quills]

Yep, that's essentially the same thing as a gurgle buster (diy version).

 

[1guydude]

mini bean sounds good to me! So do my overflow boxs have to be completely inclosed boxs or can i just attach em to the glass and use the glass for part of the box? Im going to use E6000 and maybe some weld on for the acrylic on acrylic.

 

[1guydude]

mini bean sounds good to me! So do my overflow boxs have to be completely inclosed boxs or can i just attach em to the glass and use the glass for part of the box? Im going to use E6000 and maybe some weld on for the acrylic on acrylic.

 

[1guydude]

So the bean animal has 3 drains but do they connect to one piece of drain towards the bottom? I still have some pieces of plumbing from the sump section...it looks like it all flows into one.

 

[acrylic51]

Nope.....On the Bean system you'd run 3 separate lines.....They do not join at all.

 

[acrylic51]

1Guy sent you some info!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/388830/overflow-box-design-dimesnions#post_3432252
mini bean sounds good to me! So do my overflow boxs have to be completely inclosed boxs or can i just attach em to the glass and use the glass for part of the box? Im going to use E6000 and maybe some weld on for the acrylic on acrylic.
No, they do not have to be 4 sided. You can do a 3 sided box with a bottom piece attached. The E6000 will probably work fine for a box. I wouldn't build a tank out of it, but for a box it should give you a good enough bond on it's own.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/388830/overflow-box-design-dimesnions#post_3432253
So the bean animal has 3 drains but do they connect to one piece of drain towards the bottom? I still have some pieces of plumbing from the sump section...it looks like it all flows into one.
To my knowledge the original design had the lines kept separate. I suppose you could tie the Siphon drain line with the Open Chanel drain line if you increased the size of pipe from the joint going to the sump for safety. I would keep the emergency drain kept separate from the others though since that's the Fail Safe part of the system.

 

[al&burke]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/388830/overflow-box-design-dimesnions#post_3432440
1Guy sent you some info!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!
Sorry 1Guy - could you send that to me as well Shawn

 

[al&burke]

IGuy - if you need some drawings I would be happy to put something together for you this weekend, just give me the inside dimensions of your tank, I have a pretty good idea how the bean system is set up - it might help you when you get your pieces cut or when you cut them.

 

[1guydude]

Well the 75gal is in storage right now till my gf and I move in....
The 20L i can give u the dimensions of though....

thxs man im no good with those kind of programs!
I was told that acrylic will expand any truth to this?
@quills
ya in the 75gal though i was thinkin of just using the bottom and front and E6000ing it to the end of the tank....the holes are on the side walls of the tank so it can come off my wall and be seen from both sides. We are thinking of using it as a room seperater in the front way of the house! Still need equipment but i think the plumbing and such can be sorted out...so i can at least get water in it!

They have something at this place called weld-on and its for bonding acrylic...the E6000 was reccomended for attaching the acrylic to glass...
going to go watch Hannah...
....

 

[al&burke]

No problem Dude when ever you get the dimensions we can help you out - the E6000 where do you get that stuff, and are you going to watch Hanah Montana LOL

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/388830/overflow-box-design-dimesnions#post_3432502
Well the 75gal is in storage right now till my gf and I move in....
The 20L i can give u the dimensions of though....

thxs man im no good with those kind of programs!
I was told that acrylic will expand any truth to this?
@quills
ya in the 75gal though i was thinkin of just using the bottom and front and E6000ing it to the end of the tank....the holes are on the side walls of the tank so it can come off my wall and be seen from both sides. We are thinking of using it as a room seperater in the front way of the house! Still need equipment but i think the plumbing and such can be sorted out...so i can at least get water in it!

They have something at this place called weld-on and its for bonding acrylic...the E6000 was reccomended for attaching the acrylic to glass...
going to go watch Hannah...
....
Gotcha! By all means, if you can get Weld-On locally then go for it. I don't live near any suppliers that carry it locally so I have to order it. You going with Weld-On 16, 4 or both? I would prefer to use silicon to bond a box to my tank simply in case I ever wanted to remove for some reason or another down the line. Yeah I wish I had known about that system before I drilled my tank. I'm thinking about modifying my drains a little bit and possibly make some new boxes. I wasn't crazy with the amount of sound that I heard when I was testing the system.