Calfo type overflow question.....

[abe77901]

I was thinking of taking a 6" piece of acrylic tube and cutting off the back side so it sits flat on the back wall of an aquarium covering the overflow holes, then cut slots to skim the water and let in the overflow water, i think its a better look than a square box, what do you think?

[Reef69]

A "true" calfo is one that has no "teeth"..I have one and i love it..lots of surface movement..the water just falls through...

[hammondegge]

that sounds like an interesting idea. the only drawback that i can see is noise. it would probably be more of a waterfall then the flat sided box.

[Reef69]

Yeah, I agree with Hammondegge

[brewercm]

There are some that exist with that design (fairly large tube) and some that are similar but are longer surface area skimmers, they look rectangular but with more rounded corners. Just make sure you have enough room in them to get into it if needed.

[matt]

If you're talking about a large enough tube to fit a durso and your hand in there, and you're thinking that this tube will go from top to bottom of your aquarium, you may be in for a little sticker shock. I can't see doing this with anything less than 8" tube, which costs about $50/ft plus shipping (that's the best prce I've ever seen on it if you buy a 5 ft section), then you're talking about ripping that in half lengthwise? Then you'll still only have an overflow that's 7.5" wide and 3.75" front-to-back at the center, which is pretty small. Plus, cutting nice even slots in a piece of tube is not something I'd want to do.

What you could do if you want something unusual is make your overflow out of a big piece of 1/4" extruded acrylic sheet and bend it in an oven over a large curved surface; that wouldn't be too hard and it would be WAY cheaper then buying tube.