# 450 litres tank arrives tomorrow...no overflow



## Lemeshianos (Jan 30, 2008)

So my tank arrives tomorrow, it has no overflow, and the importer told me that the glass is car glass.
Now on a quick search on google I found that car glass is either tempered glass or laminated glass. Windscreen is laminated and the rest is tempered glass.
And I m now puzzled on what I should do.
I have the following options:

Replace the back glass with a drilled glass or acrylic. How difficult is it to remove the back glass and how hard is it to glue a glass or acrylic piece?

If I have the tank drilled and the back glass shatters, is there a risk the front and bottom glass will shatter too?They are glued together with silicon.

Have a HOB overflow and accept that the siphon will sometimes break and the return pump will burn when it pumps back all the water from the last chamber of the sump(where the pump is).


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

A good External Overflow really shouldn't break siphon. If you cant have the tank drilled, that would be the way to go. If you really want the reef ready set-up, and the tank you have cannot be drilled, i would recommend selling or returning the tank and buying a reef ready tank. 

I have a External overflow on my wifes tank and it's never lost siphon.


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## Lemeshianos (Jan 30, 2008)

What brand and model do you use?
For 450 litres, around 118 gallons what should the flow be?
Lets just say its less than 115 gallons because it won't be filled to the top.

How well will a DIY Overflow work, if its made from acrylic and its the box type,(not the pipe kind)


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

Be careful with the DIY overflows. If they were made properly, they'll be fine, but if there are any design or construction flaws, that's when you'll get a siphon break, and subsequently, a flood.

I would say, for a tank that size, you will want to run two 600gph overflows, or one higher rated dual overflow.


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## Lemeshianos (Jan 30, 2008)

I'm quite good at DIY, and I will have help from a professional.
Marine depot has the dimensions of some of their box overflows so, I'll try to replicate on of those. The materials costs is insignificant compared to the cost of buying one, so if it fails I'll replace it and lose nothing but some of my free time.

I guess what is the sweetest thing in a reef is overcoming the problems you face down the road.

Well, since this topic is already opened can I ask some more questions regarding LFS?

I only found 1 LFS that actually runs reef tanks.
He has live rock for sale.
13 Euros for 1 kilogram uncured
17 Euros for 1 kilogram cured

In USD and lb its: 
20 USD for 2.2lb uncured = 10 USD for 1 lb
27 USD for 2.2 cured = 13.5 USD for 1 lb

Is that a good price?
From what I know, he will first check what comes on the live rock and if it has anything good(coral, etc) he will keep it for himself. So I don't expect anything special from the live rock from this guy.

If I go with uncured rock, how long does it take to cure the rock and cycle the tank?
With cured rock will it make a big difference, making worth the extra money for cured?


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## Lemeshianos (Jan 30, 2008)

I've just found a guy quite close to my place that handles glass and even build aquariums. He has aquarium safe silicon and everything, and I'm going to take my tank to him and have him change the back glass with a drilled one.

This is a design I saw on a reef ready tank.








The single hole is on the back glass. What should be the diameter of that hole so that it can handle around 1000 gph?Or should I drill 2 smaller holes and have 2 seperate pipes to run the water to the sump?
It has a glass with 3 holes for the water to fall in the overflow chamber and it has a second glass very close to the one with the 3 holes. Quite similar to a sump baffle but much closer to the first glass.
Is this necessary?
Does anyone have a design for an overflow I could use?
And is it better to use a black colored acrylic so it will cover up the hole, pipe system and everything?It would be easier to cut it and install it myself also.


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