im going for it!!! DIY overflow to sump.

[bighitrider45]

okay so i have an acrillic (sp) 29 gallon, I am planning on first buffing thehell outa it (alot of scratches!!) lol and then drilling holes in it for the tubes and then puting my current 20 gallon reef in it.
okay i have many questions
1. is buffing out scratches hard to do?
2. how do i know how big to drill the holes in my tank?
3.how do i drill the hols for my tank.
4. I have a GX-1000 return pump (if that has anythign to do with the hole size)
5. How do i secure the overflow box to my tank?
6. is there anything else i need to take into consideration?
here are 2 pics of my sump and tank and return pump.

 

[bighitrider45]

okay so my concept of an overflow to sump is, you have a hole in the bottom of your tank surrounded by a baffle, the water flows over the baffle into the hole which is sealed shut by a bulkhead. The bulkhead is connected to tubing that feeds into sump, the water passes through the sump and into the return pump, a tube is connected to the return pump leading back up into your main tank, is there anythign wrong with this?

 

[wee_heavy]

for the overflow just get some acrylic and some weldon and make the overflow box or you could just heat and bend the acrylic. Either route some teeth in it or go toothless, i'm going this route on my son's tank for better surface skimming and flow. Drill the hole based on the size of what bulkhead you'll be using http://www.savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=2. I say go fer 1". That pump is going to give roughly 4x (with 3' head) turnover from what I could find online. I'd go for something a little bigger.. I've never buffed acrylic before but I have seen some buffing kits available from TAP, good luck

 

[bighitrider45]

thanks alot wee heavy!!

 

[bighitrider45]

anyone else have any info about it? im concerned that the water wont go into my sump quick enough and my tank will overflow

 

[MarineTeng]

umm i believe reefcentral has a flow calculator for different bulkhead sizes, don't forget about headloss too for your pump too, but another thought, having too big a hole will only allow for upgrades and can function with lower flow, also you need to make sure that there's enough area for the water to flow over the baffles, i think there's a calculator online for that somewhere too, might be rc don't remember exactly though

 

[dhnguyen]

anyone else have any info about it? im concerned that the water wont go into my sump quick enough and my tank will overflow

Obviously the best overflow will be an internal one where the tank is drilled. That said however, that would take up some valuable tank realestate and could be quite unsightly depending on your design.

For a hang on back overflow, just make sure your pump is strong enough that the water would be flowing through the u-tube with enough force to dislodge any bubbles inside. Bubble buildup inside the u-tube can often lead to siphon breaking and flooding. Similarly if your overflow capacity is a lot greater than the return pump, you will suffer the same as well.

 

[bighitrider45]

okay well i did an internal oveflow, is there anything i have to worry about?

 

[wee_heavy]

just make sure you have enough room in your sump to handle the overflow in case of power failure and post up some pics

 

[bighitrider45]

so i kinda fu**ed up and i bought really thin acrylic peices so i have to go back rip the off my tank and buy thicker acrylic and glue it on....dang, i was hoping to fill my tank up today

 

[wee_heavy]

that sucks, another option would be to install the overflow on the back of your tank and just route some teeth directly into your tank. That would free up some space in the tank too...

 

[bighitrider45]

well i was actually thinking since I already have the hole drilled I would somhow put a PVC pipe coming out of the bulk head instead of having the overflow so i would have the bulk head on the bottom of the tank with a PVC pipe sticking out of it up to where I want my water line to be

 

[wee_heavy]

it'll work as long as you can deal with the unsightly pvc and surface skimming

 

[bighitrider45]

lol yeah.... im thinkin I could put like some kind of plastic netting over it so no fish or anything else gets sucked it and then have the pipe be black so its not soo unsightly..lol but I need to get everything out of my 10 gal ASAP!! (I had a 20 set up but it got a leak, so i moved everything to my 10 gal and didnt really set anything up right so all the rock is jsut layed in there and its a mess because I thought it would be like that for a day or 2 but its been a week now lol so I really need to get it out!!) oh and whats surface skimming?

 

[wee_heavy]

surface skimming removes the scum off the top of your water, I saw somewhere where a reefer used some pvc fittings to make something like this. By the way I'm a mspaint master and if ya didn't know you'd better ask somebody:lol:

 

[bighitrider45]

lol mad skills WEE heavy!! lol kk thanks for the info

 

[sstainba]

So I think I can answer some of this if you still have questions...

Buffing acrylic: I've buffed out my headlight lenses (polycarbonate) and it wasn't too bad. It does take some time. If you have any deep scratches, start out with something like 220 or 320 grit. If they're shallow, go up to 400. I started at 400 and stepped up to 800, then 1000, then 1500, then 2000. You can get these high-grit at most auto parts stores. The restults were pretty good. Here is the trick: WATER! You need to use wet/dry paper and keep it WET while you're sanding. This reduces friction and makes it easier and safter for the plastic.

As for the holes... You can get the bulkhead connectors are drfostermsith.com as well as other places. I don't imagine you would need anything larger than 1" for a 29G.

DRILLING: I am not sure if you should attempt this on your own. I've done a few projects with acrylic where I needed to drill and it is NOT easy. You cannot use a regular drill bit or it will grab and crack the acrylic. From my experience, spade bits tend to work best. You also need to make sure you are at 90 degrees from the surface. I tried using a hand drill but it kept breaking the acrylic because i couldn't keep it at a good angle. I finally used the drill press with good results. Also, make sure that bit is spinning FAST. I would say at least 1400rpm and go very slow when you're drilling. Give the bit time to cut, don't push it too hard.

If you're drilling holes, you don't need an overflow box. Go look at how All-Glass makes their overflow kit. You can copy it with PVC from lowes for probably $20 or less. If you need some ideas, I can send you a little diagram. Just shoot me an email.

 

[bighitrider45]

okay thanks for the info, as of right now my tank has about 25 gallons in it and 0 gallons in the sump... I need more water lol so anyways, i drilled the hole myself with great success, and everything is in place, im using a large black PVC pipe as my overflow so everything is set up I jsut need alot more water and my water needs to clear up

okay i have one more question...i put my live sand in a 5 gallon bucket for a week with no light or heat or anything, is it still good? i put it in my tank and my water has been cloudy for 2 days and is finally clearing up alittle..anyone have any input on this?

 

[sstainba]

It takes time for the debris to settle. It's easiest to put the sand in first... then add the water. It minimizes the cloudiness if you do it right. Anyway, you can buy marine aquarium clarifier that will greatly help clear the water. I've used it a few times.