Hello all!
I've been a long time lurker, and have posted a few times, but I thought I would share my DIY pvc overflow build on my current 45 gal, to hopefully give back to a community that has taught me so much.
I started off with a standard DIY pvc overflow, but tore it out within an hour of installation due to noise. I wanted to somehow fashion a typical overflow box out of pvc pipe, and after digging up a few old threads on some other reefing forums, and spending many hours sitting on the floor of home depot planning with various fittings, I finally came up with a quiet and reliable overflow that is relatively easy to make.
I apologize in advance if my pictures are not very instructive, as I am not the best at documenting these sorts of things.
For the main body of my overflow I decided to use 1in piping inside of 2in piping like so
I attached the two pipes at the bottom by sanding out the inside of a 1in to 2in adapter so that the 1 inch pipe could slide through and be capped at the end. I also used this technique to seal up the overflow portion outside of my tank on top of the 2in section.
A siphon is formed on the inside 1in piping and water goes between the two chambers via the holes I sloppily drilled into the bottom of each 1in section. I also drilled a small whole for some airline tubing on the top of the outside section into the modified 1in to 2in fitting to break the siphon.
And finally, here it is on my tank, draining into my under desk sump, another diy build of mine. Not the prettiest build, but practical nonetheless.
If I were to do this build again, I would minimize the appendage that drains to my sump, because of a slight trickling noise. I severely overestimated the amount of flow that would to go the arm with the blue ball valve, and was planning on plumbing some biopellets with it, but it currently serves no purpose. Mysteriously though, there is significantly less trickling noise than there used to be. Buildup of some sort must has evened out the edges of the fittings inside, smoothing it out significantly. I also added some foam for noise reduction and pvc teeth and netting at the top of the in-tank section of the 2in tube after my clown made a few too many trips to my sump
Hopefully this build saves a few people some money, or inspires some new creations.
Thanks!
I've been a long time lurker, and have posted a few times, but I thought I would share my DIY pvc overflow build on my current 45 gal, to hopefully give back to a community that has taught me so much.
I started off with a standard DIY pvc overflow, but tore it out within an hour of installation due to noise. I wanted to somehow fashion a typical overflow box out of pvc pipe, and after digging up a few old threads on some other reefing forums, and spending many hours sitting on the floor of home depot planning with various fittings, I finally came up with a quiet and reliable overflow that is relatively easy to make.
I apologize in advance if my pictures are not very instructive, as I am not the best at documenting these sorts of things.
For the main body of my overflow I decided to use 1in piping inside of 2in piping like so
I attached the two pipes at the bottom by sanding out the inside of a 1in to 2in adapter so that the 1 inch pipe could slide through and be capped at the end. I also used this technique to seal up the overflow portion outside of my tank on top of the 2in section.
A siphon is formed on the inside 1in piping and water goes between the two chambers via the holes I sloppily drilled into the bottom of each 1in section. I also drilled a small whole for some airline tubing on the top of the outside section into the modified 1in to 2in fitting to break the siphon.
And finally, here it is on my tank, draining into my under desk sump, another diy build of mine. Not the prettiest build, but practical nonetheless.
If I were to do this build again, I would minimize the appendage that drains to my sump, because of a slight trickling noise. I severely overestimated the amount of flow that would to go the arm with the blue ball valve, and was planning on plumbing some biopellets with it, but it currently serves no purpose. Mysteriously though, there is significantly less trickling noise than there used to be. Buildup of some sort must has evened out the edges of the fittings inside, smoothing it out significantly. I also added some foam for noise reduction and pvc teeth and netting at the top of the in-tank section of the 2in tube after my clown made a few too many trips to my sump
Hopefully this build saves a few people some money, or inspires some new creations.
Thanks!
