# overflow box DIY



## Joe1985

Was wondering if anyone has made or is currently using a DIY overflow box with the PVC piping, saw a clip on youtube the other day looks fairly simple to make, anyone know much about it?


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## scottydoesntknow00

*DIY overflows*

Joe1985,

There are many good overflow designs that are out there on the web. Youtube is a good place to start. I have been in the progress of modding my filtration system on my 125 gal freshwater tank. I will draw up the designs and post them. One aspect I am still tweaking is the noise level. I have the same design used twice on my tank for redundancy. It does involve PVC pipe/fittings and clear plastic containers I purchased at Walmart. I didn't want to drill my tank so this is the route I took. Also, I make no claims about 100% prevention of tank overflows or any other catastrophes. So, proceed at your own risk and with sound engineering judgement. I'll post designs soon.


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## Tazman

One of the simplest DIY overflows you can ever build. 
This guys really knows his stuff and I have used this design (bigger pipes) on my 75g tank for some time now, it was also on my 180g tank when I had it.


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## Joe1985

Tazman said:


> One of the simplest DIY overflows you can ever build.
> This guys really knows his stuff and I have used this design (bigger pipes) on my 75g tank for some time now, it was also on my 180g tank when I had it.
> HOW TO: DIY Overflow - YouTube



without clicking the play button i know thats the one if watched countless times before, names uarujoe if im not mistaken, looks like an awesome idea and yeah i dont want to drill my tank so this is the better alternative in my opinion, but i hear the noise can be a lil loud? whats the pump like for power consumption??? im keen to give this a try for my 55G


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## Tazman

Correct on the name uarujoey 

The pump you would get yourself rated for the head height you have from the sump to the return pipe outlet in the tank. say for example your overflow does 400gph at 4ft head height. Something like a MagDrive 7 is capable of doing 475gph @ 4' head height.
You control the flow with a ball valve.

As you probably already know but will mention it anyway in case other members decide they want to do something like this. 
DO NOT have the return pump run slower than your overflow, you will flood the sump and your floor! Common sense but people still do it!
The noise issue can be solved by experimenting with the air hole diameter, start small and then increase the size. You can as well build a durso pipe (see here dursostandpipes.com onto the overflow to help reduce the noise issue.


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## scottydoesntknow00

*Uarajoey Overflow*

The only problem that I've found after testing those overflows is that there is not enough skimming of the water to pull all the film off the water into the sump for filtration. Play around with it, that's how I figured out the problem and that problem may not bother you. Joey definitely has some awesome material out there, especially on his custom acrylic tank design and fabrication.


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## Joe1985

Tazman said:


> Correct on the name uarujoey
> 
> The pump you would get yourself rated for the head height you have from the sump to the return pipe outlet in the tank. say for example your overflow does 400gph at 4ft head height. Something like a MagDrive 7 is capable of doing 475gph @ 4' head height.
> You control the flow with a ball valve.
> 
> As you probably already know but will mention it anyway in case other members decide they want to do something like this.
> DO NOT have the return pump run slower than your overflow, you will flood the sump and your floor! Common sense but people still do it!
> The noise issue can be solved by experimenting with the air hole diameter, start small and then increase the size. You can as well build a durso pipe (see here Durso Standpipes onto the overflow to help reduce the noise issue.



not sure if im 100% understanding you mate as im australian n yeah bits n pieces r registering but others arent, the durso pipe looks like its submerged n no splash factor? im keen to try this as i simply cant afford a canister filter but if one came along cheap enough id get one but id like to give this a try, does anyone have any pictures of there pvc overflows??


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## scottydoesntknow00

joe,

I will post those pics tonight of my overflow as promised. I took the pics last night but didn't get a chance to upload them. As far as considering the canister filter, try out the overflow/sump ideas first and then if you don't like the effort, then shift to the canisters.


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## scottydoesntknow00

*Pics of my overflow design*

Here are the pics of my overflow. I made two and they are both setup on the tank for redundancy. Let me know if anyone has any questions or needs more amplifying information. Once again, use your own overflow at your own risk. I hope this gives you a place to start, I have had these operational with no unwanted water in an unwanted location for about 6 months even with loss of power situations. The PVC is 1" diameter and the container is a cereal container from Walmart. The 0.25" acrylic is from Lowes. I used Marineland aquarium safe silicone for the threaded joint through the container. I'm working on the calculations for the volumetric flowrates and I will post those later. Good luck.;-)


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## Joe1985

scottydoesntknow00 said:


> Here are the pics of my overflow. I made two and they are both setup on the tank for redundancy. Let me know if anyone has any questions or needs more amplifying information. Once again, use your own overflow at your own risk. I hope this gives you a place to start, I have had these operational with no unwanted water in an unwanted location for about 6 months even with loss of power situations. The PVC is 1" diameter and the container is a cereal container from Walmart. The 0.25" acrylic is from Lowes. I used Marineland aquarium safe silicone for the threaded joint through the container. I'm working on the calculations for the volumetric flowrates and I will post those later. Good luck.;-)


impressive scotty,very, have a question, so instead of having the tank/tupperware underneath the main tank and pump pumping the water up into the tank you have a box hanging over the back in the true overflow box sense, so the water is going from there to the tank and back? sorry if im confusing you haha just trying to compare it to the uarujoey clip


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## Joe1985

Tazman do you have any pictures ?


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## scottydoesntknow00

Joe,

Are you asking about my setup or are you asking about the possibility of water going from the overflow back into the tank? My setup has a sump in the bottom of the stand. I can send pictures of that if you want. If you asking about the water going into the overflow and then back into tank after some sort of filter, then that changes the overflow into a typical hang on back (HOB) filter. I made the overflow to get the water to the sump for purification and then back into the tank. Let me know if this helps. Cheers.


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## Joe1985

scottydoesntknow00 said:


> Joe,
> 
> Are you asking about my setup or are you asking about the possibility of water going from the overflow back into the tank? My setup has a sump in the bottom of the stand. I can send pictures of that if you want. If you asking about the water going into the overflow and then back into tank after some sort of filter, then that changes the overflow into a typical hang on back (HOB) filter. I made the overflow to get the water to the sump for purification and then back into the tank. Let me know if this helps. Cheers.


yeah scotty id like to see pics of sump, let me know how the finishing products runs and goes


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## scottydoesntknow00

*Pics of sump and first system failure*

joe,

Here are the pics of my sump. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you with these but my wife gave birth to my son so as you might expect, I have been a little busy. Anyways, I did have a failure of the overflow sort of after several cracks occurred due to stresses on the plastic container and pvc piping. So I am repairing that and am down to only one functional overflow which doesn't affect the filtration. I designed the overflows to have double the capacity of the return pump so there would be no change in flow through the filter section. I use a 29gal aquarium as my sump and have a compartmented mechanical and chemical filter sections inside. You will also see the section that was originally designed to serve as the biological filter but that proved to be too small. So that is where the 5gal bucket comes in as the new bio filter. It is stuffed with plastic sponges with a very large amount of surface area. Make sure you use sponges with no antibacterial treatment if you're going to pursue that path. The bio filter is feed from one branch off of the return pump and gets recycled back in the sump once going through the bio filter. I have two valves on the discharge of the return pump. One controls flow to the display tank and the other controls flow into the bio filter. I used this design to control flow into the display tank and to control flow through the bio filter. I hope this helps. Let me know what other questions you have. Cheers.


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## dlambert

*sump*

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-fish-pictures-videos/refugium-106371/page2/ 



 the thread link above the video might be helpful.. the video is just a look at it in action now. on the top of the open section of pipe on the outside of the tank i have a circle cut piece of black duct tape with a slit in it which almost completely eliminates the gurgling noise u get without it. mine has been running since i put up that thread. i would definitely reccomend using a larger overflow pipe diameter because mine is pretty much always at its maximum flow. also give careful consideration to the height of the top of the overflow inlet pipe as the water level will be slightly higher than that when its running. in the sump, make sure that the section with the pump in it can be emptied into your display tank without overflowing it; if for some reason the siphon is broken on the overflow the pump will empty its chamber into the display tank.


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## Reefing Madness

:thumbsup:


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## corwinlame

I would like to inform you that I am currently using DIY overflow box with the PVC pipes. I want to tell that that potential of your overflow should be higher than the come back pump's circulation potential.


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## scottydoesntknow00

*pipes out > pipes in*

I agree. I have dual overflow that can handle the flowrate for two of the type of return pump that I use. Also verify no air leaks because this can cause loss if siphon and that means no more functioning overflow.


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## Tigris

What's the lil guy in the refugium dlambert?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Joe1985

dlambert what is that eel like thing? looks kinda like what we call a lungfish here in australia, id love to make something like that but dont rarely have time on my hands, anyone wanna make me one? hahhaa


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