To Drill or not To Drill...DIY Overflow

[2quills]

Well the wife and I are moving next month and since I am going to have to break down my tanks anyway I've been kicking around the idea of drilling my SW DT and installing bulkheads for drainage.
I bought this tank from a couple off of craigslist about 2 months ago for a really sweet deal. It' a 125G tall tank (60x18x25). I plan on upgrading everything in the near future, lights, filtration, new stand and canopy...etc.
For filtration I want to build a sump/fuge out of a 50G tank. Initially I was planing on purchasing a CPR overflow to get the water from the tank to the sump. But then I changed my mind and started really thinking about drilling the tank. And then a couple of days ago I started checking out some DIY overflows on the net that other people have been making. So just for kicks I decided to make one for myself and see how well it really works.
So I made this a overflow a couple of nights ago and started testing it out yesterday. If all goes well I may stick with this idea and hold off on drilling for now. I ran it last night for a few hours and it seemed to work pretty well. So I simulated a couple of power outages to see if it would hold a syphon and continue to flow when the power came back on (and it did). I turned it off lastnight because I am still not 100% confident with it yet. Turned it back on first thing this morning and worked like a charm. Shut it off before I went to work and then when I came home, same thing...fired right up.
I'm going to continue running it for a while untill we move and if all goes well I'll probably just use as an alternative to drilling right now. If I do use it then I plan on making a 3 sided DIY Overflow Cover for it out of acrylic which I will cut some teeth into with a router and use to hide the plumbing and keep livestock out.
Has anybody else had experience building their own overflows? And if so what are some of the problems and or successes that you've had with them?
I know it looks kind of big but I'm just testing it out on a little 20G tank that I had laying around. The 2 drain pipes on the inside will be alot taller if and when I put it on the DT.

 

[acrylic51]

I've drilled tons of tanks and built plenty of overflows. I like your setup but having a drilled tank is alot more reliable. I'm at work now, but I'll try to dig up some picks and tools needed. Super easy to do, and less plumbing involved.

 

[2quills]

Cool...yeah it doesn't sound too hard. I know I'll need a diamond tip hole saw bit (not carbide), some plumbers puddy, water, and maybe some tape. I guess if were to drill then I wouldn't have to worry about priming or syphoning the darned thing from time to time.

 

[acrylic51]

True....with a drilled tank you wouldn't have to worry about priming or any of that......Your correct super easy, just alittle patience....If you have a rotozip or dremel you wouldn't need to purchase and expensive diamond hole saw......forget the plumbers putty. If you can get your hands on either the Rotozip or dremel I will post some pics of the bits you can get inexpensively at Harbor Freight....If you don't have one local you can order them online. The only other tools you need is a permanent marker and your bulkheads.
You would just need to figure out where you want your bulkheads located and trace them on the outside of the glass. Your technically not "drilling", but "grinding" away the glass, it will form a powdery paste. You can use a spray bottle or hose to keep the area cool that you'll be grinding. I prefer to use a garden hose.
Here are a couple pics of the bits you'd need to do the job.....

 

[acrylic51]

The first pic are more fine needle type bits......You would start with a modest bit in the pack to make your initial hole in the glass and working in a slow circular motion slowly enlarge the hole till you can fit the bits in the second pic into the hole. The bits in the 2nd pic are more a reaming diamond bit, and I use these to slowly enlarge the hole to the mark you traced of the bulkhead.....Why I suggest having the bulkhead on hand is that it gives you a pretty accurate template as far as size, and as you get close to your lines you can start dry fitting the bulkhead. You just keep widening the hole till the bulkhead slips into the hole. I don't make my holes super tight or snug. I like to leave a little wiggle room. HTH a bit!!!!!!!

 

[2quills]

Certainly sounds simple enough. No roto-zip but I do have a dremel with a router gaurd attatchment and or an actual router if need be. Those bits are quite reasonably priced too, just so happens we have a harbor frieght about 15 minutes down the road so I'll call and see if they have em in stock and If not then I'll order.
Yeah, I most definately would like to drill, the more I think about it the more I like the idea.
I'm sure I could get my hands on some scrap pieces of glass that I could practice on in the mean time.
I'm thinking 2 bulkheads to accomidate 1-1/4" pipe, with a mag12 1200gph with 5-6ft of head for a return. Would that be feasible for a 125G tank, in your opinion? I'm trying to plan ahead and right now I only have a few fish in the tank but eventually I want to work my way up to reef once I have made all of the upgrades that I want to make and the tank has had ample time to establish itself.

 

[jchase1970]

diamond holesaws are only like $15. What $15 in this hobby? also very easy to use, just go slow no pushing.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by jchase1970
http:///forum/post/3275346
diamond holesaws are only like $15. What $15 in this hobby? also very easy to use, just go slow no pushing.
I'm not too terribly concerned about the price of the tool. Just want to know what works best.
Hey, does anybody know of any other simple ways to check to see if your glass is tempered or not other than the lcd display test? Just wondering.

 

[acrylic51]

Honestly no idea how to tell, but where are you planning to drill the tank? What size tank again?

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/3275416
Honestly no idea how to tell, but where are you planning to drill the tank? What size tank again?
It's a 125G tank. Glass is 3/8" thick. Planning on drilling the the back of the tank near the top, one on each side.
Yeah I saw this guy on another site demonstrate how to determine the difference bewtween tempered and plate glass using his laptop computer (or any lcd screen so he claims). He had like a 15g cube style tank, the bottom was tempered and the sides were all plate glass. He pulled up a blank white screen on the laptop and set it in the tank (empty ofcorse). When you looked at the screen through the plate glass sides the screen looked normal. Then when he turned the tank on its side and you viewed the screen through the bottom tempered glass the screen was all distorted with lines going through it. I thought it was pretty niffty.

 

[acrylic51]

I would say your good to drill the back or sides.... Bottom I wouldn't unless you can verify. You might be able to call tank manufacturer and find out. Sometimes they'll even tag the bottom o the tank. I drilled my old 125 with 2 2" bulkheads with no issues in the end panel.

 

[socalnano24]

your PVC overflow looks great, I've been looking at the threads on how to make one of these myself, in lieu of a core job for when I finally get around to my 40 gallon upgrade. Can you explain what you have on the end of the clear airhose? Is that a one way valve essentially, like does it release air or suck air?
Also can you explain how it stops syphoning if the power goes out? In order for it to stop syphoning does the water merely drop below the top of the intake pipes? In which case those pipes would need to be about 1/2" from the top of your water in a full tank scenario?
Btw it looks pretty nice; I'm tempted to go get myself some PVC now and tinker

 

[acrylic51]

Another area to consider if you drill your tank is you might want to consider putting an overflow box around the bulkhead. With the overflow box around the bulkhead you will increase your surface skimming area vs. Just the bulkhead by itself.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by SocalNano24
http:///forum/post/3275430
your PVC overflow looks great, I've been looking at the threads on how to make one of these myself, in lieu of a core job for when I finally get around to my 40 gallon upgrade. Can you explain what you have on the end of the clear airhose? Is that a one way valve essentially, like does it release air or suck air?
Also can you explain how it stops syphoning if the power goes out? In order for it to stop syphoning does the water merely drop below the top of the intake pipes? In which case those pipes would need to be about 1/2" from the top of your water in a full tank scenario?
Btw it looks pretty nice; I'm tempted to go get myself some PVC now and tinker
SocalNano,
Yes the things on the ends of the airhose are just a couple of spare one way/checkvalves that I had laying around to help keep an air tight seal. If air gets in then the overflow will start to lose it's syphon and you can flood your tank. I ordered an aqua lifter pump which won't be here till probably next monday which I will hook up to the air lines and use to start and hold a syphon. Since I don't have the pump yet I had to do it the old fashioned way and well...suck the air out of the pipes to start the syphon (this is best done with the checkvalves off). Once you get all the air out and you start sucking water then pinch em off and put the check valves on real quick.
As long as your overflow is air tight then it will hold it's syphon even when the power goes off and comes back on. One way to think about it I guess would be to think about a straw that you put into a glass full of liquid and they you put your finger over the top of the straw, when you pull the straw out it holds the liquid untill you take your finger off of it and let the air get in. It's basically the same principle.
When the power is cut off to the pump then, yes the water simply stops draining once the water line drops below the top of the intake pipes inside the tank. And yes, I left those perticular pipes un-glued because once it's set up for real those pipes would go almost all the way up to the top of the tank in a full tank scenario. I'd probably leave a good 1-1/2" to 2" of play from the top to be safe. A 1/2" may not be very forgiving if something were to happen.
All in all, I only spent about $20 for all of the pipe for this experiment. Not bad!
One word of advice though, if you do make one and don't end up using an aqua lifter pump then you have to be carefull that your not getting air bubble into your overflow because they can build up and cause the overflow to slowly lose syphon. Minimize bubbles as much as possible.

 

[2quills]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/3275427
I would say your good to drill the back or sides.... Bottom I wouldn't unless you can verify. You might be able to call tank manufacturer and find out. Sometimes they'll even tag the bottom o the tank. I drilled my old 125 with 2 2" bulkheads with no issues in the end panel.
Do you remember what size return pump you were using at the time and how much head? And yes I would make an overflow box or boxes for more skimming area as well as to cover the heads.

 

[jchase1970]

The first time I drilled glass was for 1 1/2 bulkheads so the bit was over 2", I wasn't concerned about breaking the glass but was more worried about the bit slipping. I drilled the like the video on glassholes and it was no problem, the bit just grinds the glass away is very smooth and easy to do.

 

[2quills]

cool...
I was originally thinking about getting a whole saw bit but then I thought about it and I kind of liked Acrylics idea of using the rotary bits because I have a few tanks all different sizes and I may want to drill those also. This way with the rotary bits I can pretty much make whatever size whole I want.

 

[bmkj02]

Here is what I did on my 125g:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...ices-will-help
Good luck

 

[socalnano24]

Originally Posted by 2Quills
http:///forum/post/3275643
SocalNano,
Yes the things on the ends of the airhose are just a couple of spare one way/checkvalves that I had laying around to help keep an air tight seal. If air gets in then the overflow will start to lose it's syphon and you can flood your tank. I ordered an aqua lifter pump which won't be here till probably next monday which I will hook up to the air lines and use to start and hold a syphon. Since I don't have the pump yet I had to do it the old fashioned way and well...suck the air out of the pipes to start the syphon (this is best done with the checkvalves off). Once you get all the air out and you start sucking water then pinch em off and put the check valves on real quick.
As long as your overflow is air tight then it will hold it's syphon even when the power goes off and comes back on. One way to think about it I guess would be to think about a straw that you put into a glass full of liquid and they you put your finger over the top of the straw, when you pull the straw out it holds the liquid untill you take your finger off of it and let the air get in. It's basically the same principle.
When the power is cut off to the pump then, yes the water simply stops draining once the water line drops below the top of the intake pipes inside the tank. And yes, I left those perticular pipes un-glued because once it's set up for real those pipes would go almost all the way up to the top of the tank in a full tank scenario. I'd probably leave a good 1-1/2" to 2" of play from the top to be safe. A 1/2" may not be very forgiving if something were to happen.
All in all, I only spent about $20 for all of the pipe for this experiment. Not bad!
One word of advice though, if you do make one and don't end up using an aqua lifter pump then you have to be carefull that your not getting air bubble into your overflow because they can build up and cause the overflow to slowly lose syphon. Minimize bubbles as much as possible.
Awesome, thanks for the very throrough response. I hadn't even considered the fact that bubbles could eventually kill your siphon. I drew up my own version of this the other day, now I just need to build it up

 

[spanko]

Have you seen this? Go to first link.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Hands-on+with+t...reef+aquariums