building an overflow box

[Hajra]

tank doesnt have overflow built in. how would i go about building an overflow box that will not cause tank or sump to overflow if power is disrupted??

[Bergy]

i wouldnt build an 'external' overflow..  i dont like overflows to begin with, and to add the diy factor, no way.. at least not for me...

you can buy a used one for as much as biulding one would cost anyways.

look on craigslist for them or ebay...  Im gessing it would be between $25 and $50

you can also drill the tank, if it is acrlic, or maybe if it is glass... (gotta figure out if it is tempered or not, and if you cant figuer it out, then you cant drill it)

but, drilling a tank would like you have an over flow too.

but with both types, you have to figure out how much water will back flow into the sump and make sure the sump has enough room...

with a good external overflow you wont get that much back flow.. with a built in overflow, you might get up to 4 gallons or so...

just gotta make sure your sump has that much extra room and thta is the best safegard

[Hajra]

well make suggestions. i was lookin at something that will get the excess water out of the tank with out using more electricity. i looked on craigs list didnt see any and workin on ebay now. also trying to find a 20-30 gal tank to use as a sump. suggestions from anyone are always welcome

[psykokid]

i think you just missed petco's 1$ a gallon sale. could have gotten a 20 gallon glass for twenty bones. Eshopps and life reef make a good HOB overflow. The CPR ones are ok but you have to thave an aqualifter attached constantly pulling air out to make sure it doesnt break siphon..

[Just_Greg]

if you're going with HOB O/F's, the CPR's are really cr@ppy IMHO.  anything that NEEDS an "aqualifter" pump to maintain siphon is doing it's job.  i recommend the old U-tube type.  as long as the U-tube is clean, and the ends are submerged, they work super reliably.

otherwise, if you want to drill your tank, you can run one or two internal corner O/F's, or a central trapezoidal (or rectangular O/F.

my absolute FAVE is the O/F on our 100 gal, which is externally-attached to the back of the tank, and has a slot in the back of the tank to feed the O/F...definitely the way i'll roll whenever possible.

[Bergy]

the cpr doesnt need the aqualifter to work or maintain syphon...

that is used when the power fails and you lose syphon...

there are some overflows that have a 'baffle' in place to help maintain syphon or rather to keep teh water from flowing back out when there is a power failur or pump failure...

but as you know those u tubes can rise up and or slip to the side or something and lose syphon, and without the aqualifter you will have to manually start the syupon back up

or actually what will happen is the power will come back on, your pump will start pumping water into teh tank, but wihtout the syphon in teh utube working right, the tank will overflow...

the aqualifter is a cheap insurance to prevent that

[Hajra]

tank is tempered glass. and to be honest i am worried about the floor not holding the weight.

[Bergy]

tanks and waterbeds and things like that really dont weigh that much PER SQUARE FOOT

I can assure you that I weigh more per square foot then a properly supported fish tank.

how many gallons is the tank?

water weighs 8 lbs per gallon, (maybe a little more for salt water...)
Add about 100 pounds for the tank and sand and rock
Add about another 50 pounds for sump and equipment.
Add about 50 pounds for a store bought stand, and abotu 75 pounds for a home built stand

(and the store bought stand will support more then the home made stand, on average since home made is not built properly or as good as it should and the strongest point is the weakest link)

The quick reason this is true most of the times is not due to the lumber or the way it is built, directly.. they are usually OVER DESIGNED, but, most folks make a simple mistake... they support lumber  or beams or braces with nails... in other words the wood is not supporting the load/weight, it is the nail...  or screw)

most of teh time, people will put a 2x6 oe 2x8 around the perimeter... and they will lift it up a bit so the tank is resting on it, and not on the 2x4 or 4x4 columns or supports/beams

it that wood around the perimeter is attached to the beams/colums/support with nails or screws, then if those nails bend or break then the perimeter wood will drop, and the tank will eventually rest on the corner supports, and mid supports if they are there.

The reason folks do this it to try to level the stand.. they dont think the uprights are level or perfect to each other (or that the floor isnt level).. so they use the perimeter wood, (lintel for the east coast folks), to create the level surface.. then they might put plywood on top of that for the tank to rest pon.. but that dont help the support problems

the right way would be to put the lintel, or perimeter wood, flat on top of the corner posts or mid span supports..

And yes, you would need to cut the uprights to a tolerance of about 1/4" or level.  the stand would be shimmed or leveled from the bottom

You should actually run a a 2x4 or 2x6 flat on the bottom and let the uprights get mounted to that.. this will keep the studs/uprights from spreading at the bottom and make it easier to shim at different areas, and not just under the colums/studs/uprights

this process/technique is using a top plate and bottom plate/sill  this is how walls are made, and like i said, most home made stands are over built and over designed.. and could hold a tank if built right...



most store bought stands dont hvave uprights or studs or corner colums.. they are made with dado'd corners on plywood or laminated wood...
door hinges come in two styles.. they can mount on plywood/laminated wood end or they can mount opn framed openings...

so when you pick out the doors or hinges you need to know what you have in teh stand


and oh, btw, the weight should not be an issue unless you have a place taht is already damaged or over loaded somehow...

[Hajra]

ok. makes sense. distributed weight isnt the whole weight on one place. i was lookin at it like i live in an upstairs apt and the lady down stairs has already been rained on from my heat and air unit. i doubt they looked to fix everything that got wet but i know they fixed her ceiling. lol. i unfourtunatly have to wait on the owner to approve setting up my tank cause i already asked about it. sould have an answer from him on wed. the cpr overflow is like 100 bucks. i was lookin at one for alike 50 to 60 range that basically done the same thing. dont get me wrong i like top of the line but just cant afford it. thats why i was lookin at building one or find ing one used that someone dont need anymore. oh and the tank is 75 with factory stand. atleast thats what they sold it as. lol. darn outside measurements... lol

[Bergy]

i dont know if cpr is top of the line... there are pros and cons to them as you see in the disciussion here.

try searching for cpr or overflow box or something and i am sure you will find something

[Just_Greg]

the cpr doesnt need the aqualifter to work or maintain syphon...

actually, i know several peeps who will beg to differ on that point, one of whom we know very well.

anywho, i ran the old U-tube type for YEARS before i had a drilled tank, and it worked flawlessly.  CPR makes some nice products, but IMHO their O/F's aren't one of them.

[Bergy]

the hole where the aqualifter would plug into needs to be capped off, and no leak...

and if it is, then it is the same as a regular U tube..
 
it is the aqualifters constant sucking that keeps it under vacuum so it will maintain syphon...

but yea, i hear ya... i have heard of failures of teh cpr and others as well.

in fact i was takin care of a tank for a friend when he went on vacation, and his utube lost syphon, but only one... he had teh 1200 gph overflow

so one was dry, and i had no idea how to start the syphon, and it took me ten to fifteen minutes to figure it out


after that it workded for ever as far as i know


not sure why it went flat

[Hajra]

sheesh this stuff is expensive. more than i thought. they got to get this stuff a lot cheaper than they are selling it for...

[RandyFolds]

Welcome to the world of retail pricing...