Over flow box

[MikeDeL]

I was wondering if I were to drill a hole in the back of a power filter and seal it off so water couldnt return to the aquarium, would this work for an overflow box?


Thanks,
Mike

[Yano]

hey hey, thats a cool idea. I do have a little whisper filter that you or I could try it out on.

[btacker]

I may not totatlly understand what you are trying to do, but from what I'm reading:

1. You would miss the surface skimming
2. Your flow would be dependent on the pump of your power filter.

I think you would be better off with a real overflow with a surface skimmer.

[StephenA]

My wife's nano doesn't have any surface skimming and it looks like an oil slick on top.

[prof]

It would work for pumping water out of the tank but it would be very hard to balance the flow of the filter with the flow of a return pump. I am guessing that you are talking about flowing into a sump?

[MikeDeL]

I would be flowing into a sump. Would I want the flow rate of my return pump to match the flow rate of the power filter, or should the return pump have a higher flow rate? The power filter has an adjustable flow rate, would that help tune it, or could I use a ball valve on the return line to control the rate of the return water, or both? I was browsing AquaTek today and saw a surface skimmer you can hook up to an Aquaclear Power filter. Its basicly a tube that suction cups to your glass and the water overflows down the pipe and the power filter sucks it up the hose that connects to it. So what if I were to buy this, and hook it up to a power filter, and then drill a hole in the power filter. Would this work better of a HOB overflow box?


Thanks,
Mike

[matt]

I don't know if i understand what exactly what you're trying to do, but if I do, it won't work. First, you'll NEVER exactly match the flow of two pumps, especially hobby level pumps which change flow all the time, get dirty, etc...

Let's see if i got it right. First, you want to suck water out of the aquarium with a power filter, but instead of returning to the tank, you want that to go down to an open sump. Then you want to use another pump to return water from the sump to the tank? If that's right, forget about it.

You need to use a return pump to fill up the tank from the sump, and have means by which water flows out of the tank as it fills. This means the water is essentially pushed out of the aquarium by the return pump. It has to be this way. And, you have to account for power outages or system shut off, and make sure a siphon between the tank and overflow box is not broken. That's why overflow boxes have two external compartments, so that both ends of the overflow tube are submerged even when the system isn't running.

Now, if you have a way of making sure the tube in the powerfilter stays submerged on both ends when everything is shut off, you might be able to use that strictly as an overflow box, although you won't get surface skimming. I have to say, though, it sounds shaky to me. And if you're planning on using suction cups to attach it, that's REALLY iffy IMO. What happens when the suction cups break loose?

Dan makes really good overflow boxes at a very reasonable price. Why don't you contact him to make one for your set up?

[MikeDeL]

So does a hang on overflow box work with out a pump then? How does the water get into the hang on overflow without a pump? I really dont want to drill this tank. The tank is up and running and I dont think getting glass shavings into the tank would be that great of an idea. Plus with my luck I would end up cracking it and really be SOL.


Thanks,
Mike

[matt]

What you might do is go look at one in action. You'll get a much better idea of how it works then. The basic principle is that there are 2 boxes, one inside and on outside the tank. These are connected with a siphon tube so that the levels stay the same in each box. As the return pump pushes water into the tank, the level in the inside box goes up, which also raises the level in the outside box. That box overflows into the chamber which has a fitting for a drain hose which goes to the sump.

[MikeDeL]

Thanks for the info Matt. I will have to see if Dan will build me one.


Thanks,
Mike