# Overflow box, sump & trickle tower build ideas please



## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

Okay so i have been munching on this for awhile now,... I haven't really proceeded with anything mainly due to financial reasons & the lack of guts in taking the plunge,... I really want to try out the shallow & wide low tech tank thingee with a wet/dry trickle filter placed within a sump below the tank. 

At first i was thinking of doing a DIY pvc overflow like that of uruayjoey (king of DIY in youtube) but i was thinking ,....it would pose a serious problem in terms of aesthetics so i kind of dropped the idea. 

Now i am thinking of using a proper overflow box that drains into the trickle tower and then down into the sump. 

I would really appreciate if anyone with experience could be kind enough to add the pros & cons of  this system. And how to go about choosing the diameter of pvc tubing with regards to pump capacity. Foxfish,... Please be reading this


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## Edvet (4 Mar 2014)

Bean animal overflow. Google it. If i made a new tank i would go for that


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## dw1305 (4 Mar 2014)

Hi all, 





faizal said:


> I really want to try out the shallow & wide low tech tank thingee with a wet/dry trickle filter placed within a sump below the tank.


 I like wet and dry trickle filters, but because your tank will be wide and shallow it should have a pretty good gas exchange surface already. Having said that I definitely like the look of  Edvet's "Bean Animal Overflow": <http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx>

If you want a cheap option you could have a planted over-tank trickle filter. I've made a few,  but they weren't very aesthetically pleasing.
<http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/trickle-filter.21410/> & <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/large-tank-filtration.12731/>

cheers Darrel


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## pepedopolous (4 Mar 2014)

MAME glass overflow. Mame Nano Overflow review

P


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## ian_m (4 Mar 2014)

Saw on another forum (in US) someone had copied the Mame overflow in clear PVC. Bought clear 1 inch PVC piping and clear PVC pipe fittings and welded the whole lot together using PVC cement.

He got all the bits from.

	Clear PVC Pipe and Fittings - Alsco Industrial Products 

Not been able to locate the equivalent in UK.


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## DTL (4 Mar 2014)

Why not just drill the tank with a diamond hole saw and fit a bulkhead with a screen on the intake?
For thinner glass use a dremel with a diamond tipped engraving bit.

 Step-by-Step: Drilling Holes in Your Glass Tank for Bulkheads - Reef Central Online Community


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## NC10 (4 Mar 2014)

If you're thinking of drilling, then the xaqua overflow/return is pretty unobtrusive. It's a tad on the expensive side for what is basically a little bit of plastic, but could be worth it depending on how high you value the looks. Would fit in perfect with your low and wide IMO 

It includes the return as, all built in to the same little part. The return also pulses slightly as well, there are no moving parts or anything though.

Not sure if I can give a link to the shop on here, so I won't. PM if want a look. 

Don't worry about taking the plunge and drilling either (if you are) the thought of drilling glass is far worse than actually doing it!


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

Guys,.....thank you so much. All of you !!! Wow ,...i hadn't expected so many responses to the thread. You guys are truly awesome,...you know that?


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

Edvet said:


> Bean animal overflow. Google it. If i made a new tank i would go for that


 
There is an immense amount of information in that thread Edvet,...a bit too much for my simple brain,...but thank you mate. I am gonna spend the next couple of days reading it & re reading it until it sinks in. Cheers mate. Much appreciated.


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

dw1305 said:


> If you want a cheap option you could have a planted over-tank trickle filter. I've made a few,  but they weren't very aesthetically pleasing.
> <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/trickle-filter.21410/> & <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/large-tank-filtration.12731/>



Darrel ,....i think there's something wrong there,...i can see the tank but unfortunately i can't see the filter. Is it stacked up over that tank? Isn't that Joe's Tank?


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

pepedopolous said:


> MAME glass overflow. Mame Nano Overflow review
> 
> P



Good gracious me  That thing doesn't look like it's affordable to garden variety old me. But what an eye candy,....It's amazing pepedopolous.


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

DTL said:


> Why not just drill the tank with a diamond hole saw and fit a bulkhead with a screen on the intake?
> For thinner glass use a dremel with a diamond tipped engraving bit.
> 
> Step-by-Step: Drilling Holes in Your Glass Tank for Bulkheads - Reef Central Online Community



This was another option that i had in my mind. Of course,....that's the part where the the "lack of true guts" factor peeks in. Of course,..i don't think I will ever attempt it on my own . I was thinking of giving the job to a professional.

That was then,...but now,..thanks to everybody,...i suddenly seem to have many more options to think about. Much appreciated DTL.


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## faizal (4 Mar 2014)

ian_m said:


> Saw on another forum (in US) someone had copied the Mame overflow in clear PVC. Bought clear 1 inch PVC piping and clear PVC pipe fittings and welded the whole lot together using PVC cement.
> 
> He got all the bits from.
> Clear PVC Pipe and Fittings - Alsco Industrial Products
> ...



Nice one Ian !!!. Cheers mate.


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## dw1305 (4 Mar 2014)

Hi all,





faizal said:


> Isn't that Joe's Tank?


It is, fantastic tank, but I've linked the wrong thread. However you could do what Joe did, but have a power-head pumping water to a spray bar, which trickles down through a shower-caddy with plants and hydroleca etc in it.

Have a look a this one: <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/alfagrog-for-reducing-nitrates.19636/page-2#post-213061>.

cheers Darrel


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## faizal (5 Mar 2014)

Edvet said:


> Bean animal overflow. Google it. If i made a new tank i would go for that


Edvet mate,...just spent most of my free time going through that link that you sent me. It's an amazing system,...only one catch though,...he says that both ends of the standing pipe should be submerged beneath the water surface,....for it to act like a siphon,..but any ideas as to how to acheive this should i opt for a trickle tower to be installed within the sump?


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## Edvet (5 Mar 2014)

I don't think i will work with a trickle tower then. But a  fluidized bed with K media should work. If you watch the tank build at UruaJoe (that large square one he makes from 2 old tanks), he incorporates a fluidized bed filter in one of those big blue vats (i think he uses an bean animal too).


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## faizal (10 Apr 2014)

Okay,...I was wondering if you guys could have a look at this overflow & sump return build & see if there are any potential problems that one might encounter with such a set up.



Do you think it would be able to provide the same safety level as a bean over flow?


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## Edvet (10 Apr 2014)

Having that pipe in the tank would bother me. Doesnt look nice, and looks overly engineered. A bean animal overflow filled with a large  piece of foam to block leaves and small inhabitants would be what i would build now.  Safe,easily cleaned, outside the tank, would tick all the boxes for me. Also the dividers in the sump are overengineered, three pieces of glass, KISS (keep it simple stupid). The sump is just a place to harbor some media. I would make some room to use filtersocks, easy to change and polishes the water.

BTW about that trickle tower, you could feed it with a small pump in the sump


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## Edvet (10 Apr 2014)

Wall of tekst incoming:
Just some thoughts about this subject from my own experience. I build my tank and sump with discusfish on my mind, so it could cope with big tunrover rates and the sump had to be able to house a lot of media. I put in a divider (a glasspane glued between back and side thus creating a triangular space) in a backcorner to act as overflow and made a hole in the side of my tank to get the pipe in. The overflow was set so when the power cut the tank wouldnt drain by itself. Later i thought that i woudn't get enough circulation so i decided to add a hole in the lower end of the divider to get water from the bottom of the tank in the filter too. This gave the draining risk again, so i crafted and glued a small box over the sidehole in the tank (open on top and glued inside the dividerspace on the tank wall)) to act as drainsaver. I used some special plastic grate to keep fish from getting over the divider. Later on when i decided to get some smaller fish this was a problem cause very small fish could get through this. Seeing some fish behind the divider was a a pain because i could hardly get them out (deep and out of reach)
All this would have me nowadays make a square, easy to reach overflowbox which could be filled with a large coarse foamblock which would a) block leaves and large debris to get into filter b) be easily cleanable/exchangable and c) not be a hazard to fish and even young fish/shrimplets. Glueing the overflow box to the outside would be nicer to the tank, less obtrusive, but could also be done inside the tank.

In my situation the wholde in the side of the tank led to another small glued box to the outside of the tank from wich two pipes (one over the other) led to two clear pvc square 15x15 cm tubes. Both these pipes (app 130 and 150 cm high) where filled with bioballs and stood in the sump . So the water from the tank ran onto drippplates on top of the bioballs. i added some course foamblocks on top of these the be able to clean leaves and large debris before entering the bioballs. Basically this worked very well, except in a CO2 added tank this drives  ALL the  CO2 out of the water. ofcourse you get very well airated water in the sump which is good.
I removed these pipes because going high tech i couldn't keep enough CO2 in the tank this way. I may add a small pump and get some water through a trickle filter to add O2 to the water. That filter could even be above the tank and let gravity feed it to the tank.

The old sump was filled with pieces of lava and filterfoamblocks, and a compartiment with Siporax, lots of media. Going planted i removed most of it.Now i only use 2/3 foamblocks and a bag of siporax in it, being able to clean it easily is important. I shut off the pump, lett it drain so there isnt flow and siphon the compartiments clean.
If you make a sump it's always wise to make a way to keep the sump circulating on its own, independent from the tank. Keeping flow in there is needed for instance if you add medications to the tank and don't want them in your sump.

From the last compartiment of the sump a big pump (3000 lit/hour) pumps water back to the tank. There again i originally made a overflowcompartiment (again a small triangular space created by glueing a sheet of glass in a back-side corner.( Originally these corners and the back wall where hidden behind a DIY backwall, that came out after a accident where a piece broke off)In that corner i have the water coming in through a pvcpipe. When i started adding CO2 i added a diffusor like pipe to help in diffusing the CO2.
I am still contemplating some form of plastic sheets to get the overflowboxes out of view, so i don't see the stuff in there anymore.

So 1) easy reachable and cleanable overflow box, 2) easy reachable and  cleanable sump are what i would advise.


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## ian_m (10 Apr 2014)

faizal said:


> Do you think it would be able to provide the same safety level as a bean over flow?


Couple of mistakes made here....

1. Use kitchen and bathrooms white paint inside cabinet. This is not aquatic safe as contains fungicide to stop mould growth. Might not be an issue, but why risk.
2. The one way valve is a point of serious failure. Eventually will "gum" up (unless regularly cleaned, and I notice no isolation valves on it either to make cleaning easy) and when power fails will syphon tank back main tank into sump.
3. The slot in drain bar, will block in a planted tank and you end up pumping your sump into main tank, with possibility of overflowing main tank. There is no emergency overflow in the main tank to cope with this either.

The above point show why overflow boxes and siphons are used. No moving parts. In failure due to leaves, blocked overflow, power loss etc the syphon breaks and water stops flowing before your sump overflows and/or contents of sump is pumped into main tank.

As Edvert points out, you have to consider failure modes as well as making something easy to clean and maintain.


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## faizal (12 Apr 2014)

Cheers guys,,....well... Bean animal overflow it is then. Very much appreciated.


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