A little advice please

jaws789832

Member
Hi all. So I found and bought a 120 high on Craigslist for 50$. Only problem is its not reef ready. I thought for that price I was going to try and drill it to install a synergy overflow in it. After I got it all cleaned up I saw a sticker on the bottom panel that says tempered glass, do not drill. I am going to do a check to see if the sides are tempered as well, and if they aren't I will proceed as planned but if they are I have to rethink things.

If the sides are tempered and I have to do a suction overflow, I want to try and do it in such a way that I eliminate the chances of a tank overflow. Would I be better off having 2 suction overflows on the tank. seems the chances of both of them breaking siphon would go way down, plus it would better surface skim the 5 foot tank. Does this make sense and is there any risk to doing this? I was looking at the eshopps1000 overflow. The 2 drain lines on each one I would tie into1 drain (so having 2 drain lines going into my sump, 1 from each box) with a ball valve on them to control flow. That would be 4 siphons that would have to break to stop flow into the sump.
 

cracker

Well-Known Member
Hello Jaws, I took the chance and drilled 2 holes thru the back of an old 200. They handle all the flow I want. It's a hard call to decide whether to drill or not! Over the back overflows are dependable but not as fool proof as internals. Good Luck!
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Yes, you can use polarized light to tell if the glass is tempered. You'll see a pattern in the glass if it is tempered. You'll need to get a pair of polarizing filters from some place.

The other sure way is to drill the tank, and if it shatters into lots of small bits, it was tempered (Grin)

If your worried about it, and don't want to risk it, get yourself a Lifereef overflow. It will cost you about twice as much as the usual junk being sold, but it's worth it because the design is very unlikely to fail. I use one myself on my 125 gal reef.
 

jaws789832

Member
I guess I didn't word the question very well. I will definitely check for tempered glass. You do this by placing a polarized screen behind the glass and rotating some polarized glasses or a camera filter to about a 45 degree angle until the screen goes black. If it stays black looking trhough the glass it is untempered, if it show up as lines and patterns its tempered. Problem here is I am having trouble finding a polarized screen to look at. Yes my computer screen works but it would be a huge hassle to unhook my screen from my puter and take it too the tank (because of where and how my computer is run) and I obviously can't drag a tank like that into my computer room to do it. My iphone is a 4 series and their screens (even though they are polarized) don't show up the same. They give me a rainbow pattern (not a blackout) and its way more difficult to see the difference between the 2 panes of glass and I want to be absolutely sure before I try just drilling. eventually I will find a screen I can use (maybe borrow a laptop from a friend ) and I will be able to do a for sure test.

My question was more based on if I cant drill and using a siphon overflow. After more research I think you are right about the lifereef. I guess its just like everything else in this hobby, you get what you pay for and the best isn't cheap. But even with the lifereef, he offers 2 different sizes . One of them the actual weir (inside the tank) is 8 inches wide, the larger one is 14 inches wide. Would I be better off with 2 of the smaller ones (for a total of 16 inches of surface skimming) or just the 1 14 inch one? My logic is with the 14 inch overflow you have 2 Utubes, but they are both in the same chamber. seems if the siphon breaks on 1 of them most likely it will break on both because whatever air bubble that got in there has the potential of getting into both tubes breaking the siphon. If you used 2 separate boxes (the smaller 1) air would have to get into both boxes at the same time in order to break both siphons which seems more unlikely.

Now each small overflow says 800 gph (so with 2) would be a total of 1600 gph which is a bit too much for this tank. I was thinking of installing a ball valve in each line to dial them down a bit, and that's where my question comes in. Are there dangers in dialing down the flow? Will that actually help break the siphon easier because there is not as much flow (what they are rated for) going though them?

The lager one is rated at 1200 gph (which is about right for a tank that size) but I lose out on 2 inches of skimming and the chances (in theory) of siphon breaking increases. I know the gph is relative to whatever my return pump is pumping so that can be dialed to about 1200 gph either way and that's the flow I will get.
 

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
Lots of people swear by LifeReef and I don't hear many complaints, so I think you're on the right track.

I'm drilled, never used one, but the danger isn't in siphon breaking, it's whether a siphon can consistently resume consistently by itself, such as during a brief power interrupt when the return pump kicks back on.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
... But even with the lifereef, he offers 2 different sizes . One of them the actual weir (inside the tank) is 8 inches wide, the larger one is 14 inches wide. Would I be better off with 2 of the smaller ones (for a total of 16 inches of surface skimming) or just the 1 14 inch one? My logic is with the 14 inch overflow you have 2 Utubes, but they are both in the same chamber. seems if the siphon breaks on 1 of them most likely it will break on both because whatever air bubble that got in there has the potential of getting into both tubes breaking the siphon. If you used 2 separate boxes (the smaller 1) air would have to get into both boxes at the same time in order to break both siphons which seems more unlikely.

Now each small overflow says 800 gph (so with 2) would be a total of 1600 gph which is a bit too much for this tank. I was thinking of installing a ball valve in each line to dial them down a bit, and that's where my question comes in. Are there dangers in dialing down the flow? Will that actually help break the siphon easier because there is not as much flow (what they are rated for) going though them?

The lager one is rated at 1200 gph (which is about right for a tank that size) but I lose out on 2 inches of skimming and the chances (in theory) of siphon breaking increases. I know the gph is relative to whatever my return pump is pumping so that can be dialed to about 1200 gph either way and that's the flow I will get.

As for one large one or two small ones, it's more a question of personal preference. Either will work well. The LifeReef overflow is designed so the siphons will not break, even during a power failure. The curved siphons don't trap air bubbles. I'd say the main danger is that livestock such as snails or a fish can crawl up a tube and get stuck. This can occur with any kind of overflow.

When using this type of overflow, you should never install ball valves "to dial them dow a bit". First, there is no need. An overflow can only remove the amount of water you pump into the tank, nothing more, so if your pump supplies only 100 gph of water, the overflow will only remove 100 gph of water. It's self limiting. Second, adding a ball valve creates a bottleneck. Anything that gets in there can get stuck at that point. If that occurs you have a flood.

As a note, some specialized overflows, such as the Bean Animal design does use a ball valve on one pipe, but it also has a backup pipe that's not restricted, just in case blockage occurs.
 
Top