My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand)

bigcountry10 · 10-10-2011, 11:45 AM

I'm kind of a novice to the aquarium world, I had a 40 gallon tank setup about 10 years ago with some jacks, which was a mild success , other than the fact that I was a lazy kid and didn't always take care of it like I should have. The demise of the tank finally came when the wire spool I had the tank on eventually collapsed sending a metal rod through the bottom of the tank, makes me cringe just thinking about the mess. But anyways now that you know about my greatest failure in the aquarium world, I would like to show you what hopes to be my triumphant return to the hobby.

This time around I really wanted to do this right, so I have been really reading up on aquariums and how to successfully get one going and manage one. Along the way I decided that a sub tank filtration system was the best way to go, but I'm not the type of person to just go out and buy one. Number one they are far too expensive, and number two I love to tinker so I decided to make one up myself. So I went online to YouTube and various other sites and looked into how sub filters, and refugiums work, and finally came up with a plan and put it together and here it is.

Explaining the design: 20 gallon long sub

A. water enters tank from this section and starts filtering by way of a wet dry system using either sponges or bioballs and air stones. then passes through the first bubble trap.
B. water pours over bubble trap and enters the second filtration section of the tank most likely a mechanical form of filtration will be used in this section or a plant form. once the water level rises the water will pour into section C.
C. Section C imitates a shallow stream which will either use wet dry filtration like section one or some type of mechanical not sure yet.
D. Section D is a bit of a pain I should have put the stream system on a hinge or slotted it to overlap the middle divider so I could lift it up, but I didn't so not sure what I'm going to put in this section(Note I can fit my hand inside it's just a little tight). I might end up using this section for plants since I wouldn't really need to get my hands in there, the only problem is that if I use mechanical filtration before the plants I might rob the plants of some nutrients.
E. This section is where the return pump with go to bring the water back up to the tank.

The tank stand ( Image below) I created over the summer consists of a frame made from 2x4's and is covered by oak, which was salvaged from old pallets.

I am now currently working on an overflow box which should hopefully be completed by the end of the week when it is I will post some pictures and explain it. My planes for this thread are to show the progress of my tank setup and get some constructive criticism on some of my ideas and maybe what I could do to make them better , I have already been working on my setup for the past 6 months and expect it to at least take another six. so hope you guys enjoy the thread.

baeya · 10-10-2011, 02:39 PM

I love your ideas! Thanks for sharing and good luck with the finishing touches!

snail · 10-11-2011, 02:39 AM

Love the stand, simple but handsome.

AquaOverflow · 10-17-2011, 12:30 PM

Best of luck with your build. I have been building overflow boxes for years, so let me know if you get stuck or have any questions.

jrman83 · 10-21-2011, 10:06 AM

Seems a little ellaborate, but as long as it works. Stand looks awesome. What size tank is going to be on it? Looks about like the footprint of a 90g or maybe a little larger.

Don · 10-21-2011, 10:29 AM

Awesome looking stand.

bigcountry10 · 10-23-2011, 11:53 AM

Thanks for the posts guys, I'm just about done with the overflow box. I have the external drain section done, today I'm going to work on the actual overflow box today hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday I can start testing the system out, I'm going to add a valve in the system so I can adjust the water flow rather than just hoping I use the right sized pipe. The tank to answer your question jrman83 is actually a 55 gallon short, I like tanks that have a lot of floor space.

bigcountry10 · 10-30-2011, 09:18 AM

Sorry it's taken so long to update the post guys, I finished the overflow box a few days ago, but haven't had any time to post any pics, so here you go. The three PVC siphon pipes are 3/4 inch which I have read is rated to 220 gallons per hour, my pump is supposed to put out 350 gallons per hour so I put in 3 siphons just in case one gets clogged.

I made the drainage pipes so they can fit a ,whole house filtration cartridge, I just cut the cartridge in 3rd's so I can get a few uses out of one of them. I also put in a four way junction where the two drains connect, and just have a plug in the top section just in case it gets clogged. I also added a coupler to the bottom drainage section to allow for easy cleaning.
if you guys have any more questions just ask, here are the picks.

GraphicGr8s · 10-31-2011, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigcountry10

Thanks for the posts guys, I'm just about done with the overflow box. I have the external drain section done, today I'm going to work on the actual overflow box today hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday I can start testing the system out, I'm going to add a valve in the system so I can adjust the water flow rather than just hoping I use the right sized pipe. The tank to answer your question jrman83 is actually a 55 gallon short, I like tanks that have a lot of floor space.

Why would you need, or want a valve in the overflow?

Why the two baffles?

bigcountry10 · 10-31-2011, 03:35 PM

I didn't end up putting the valve in the system because I found that the 1 1/2 inch pvc allowed for more than enough flow through my system. I put in two different baffles just for insurance purposes (worst case scenario) in case one of them became clogged the other would take all the flow.

jrman83 · 10-31-2011, 09:33 PM

How do your overflow pipes maintain suction? It also looks like your water level will have to be pretty high for the overflow box to operate....there doesn't appear to be adjustability in it. Good craftsmanship....hope it works for you.

bigcountry10 · 11-01-2011, 12:57 PM

The way this type of siphoned works is fairly simple, but also a little complex : ). It took me a few hours to figure it out myself, I really didn't like the method most people use for DIY overflows like this one. I just really didn't like all that PVC in my tank It just looked way to tacky to me.

and I had seen these types of overflow boxes on the internet, but never a DIY version it was always a commercial grade. So I spent a few hours one day in the kitchen with a bunch of PVC a few containers and a lot of towels : ) trying to figure it out, and here's what I discovered.

With this type of siphon the water flows very fast due to the difference in height so it displaces water efficiently. The problem with this design is that because there's so much momentum behind the suction when container A runs out of water it sucks in air and destroys the siphon, so when container A refills with water the siphon is broken and causes the system to fail. though I did find that if the pipe was kept completely level sometimes it would keep minimal suction, but the suction was very minimal.

This type of siphon ( the toilet siphon, named because it's the same way your toilet works at home) is probably one of the cheapest and easiest siphons to reproduce, but in my opinion still has a few problem with its mechanics and isn't very visually appealing. The biggest problem with this type of siphon is that it can still suck air, ever time the water level drops below the drain pipe the water level drops to the bottom of the first curve. which in turn allows for air bubbles though minimal amounts to travel up inside to the second curve. This action over time without a bleeder could cause the siphon to break. Some people even go so far as to add an air pump to suck the air out of the second curve which causes your tank setup to cost that much more both initially and monthly (electrical costs), not to mention the added noise pollution generated by the air pump. The other problem I had with this design was the drain both because of the chance of it clogging (heaven forbid) from a fish dying , causing the tank to overflow and because the noise it makes from the water flowing into it. Finally I couldn't justify spending several hundred dollars on a tank setup just to have an unsightly amount of PVC inside of my tanks. I know this system is way cheaper than making an overflow box out of Plexiglas and you could just mask the pipes with rock our something, but I just really didn't like it.

finally I was really studying the commercial style siphon, it was very intriguing to me it was simple and sleek just a curved pipe. So I set up two mason jars filled them with water then put a pipe line in and tried to make a siphon ,water flowed through but it wouldn't suck all the water out of container A into container B they would just equalize in water levels then the siphon would stop. But the suction would stay in the tube.

So I looked all around the internet for an explanation, 2 hours later and I finally found a video on YouTube explaining how these systems worked . Basically what happens is when section A and B are equal there is no water flow because the pressure in the system is the same all the way through. But as soon as you add more water to section A the system has to equalize out again so the siphon sucks just enough water from section A into section B and if section B has enough water in it will overflow into section C allowing for the whole system to work. So in this system the siphon tube never becomes exposed to air allowing for the system to run indefinitely even if the power goes out and there are no drainage noises, because the system remains underwater at all times. In my opinion this is the perfect siphoning system.

So there's your answer JRman83, it's a little long, but being a DIY thread I wanted to cover all the bases.

jrman83 · 11-01-2011, 01:25 PM

Well, I hope it works for you. I still see the need for adjustability in the level of the box inside the tank, otherwise you have to do it by adjusting the water level. The way you have it the water level in the tank has to stay pretty high in order to flow water into the box initially. As soon as your water level drops, which it will do pretty quickly once it begins to flow, you loose flow into your box. This is the failsafe, but given how tight you have it you will not be able to account for much evaporation at all. If you look at the picture of a box you posted and you look at the area where the box rest on the tank rim, you'll see 2 plastic screws. These are used to fine tune the flow in the box and vary the depth of it within the tank. Your box doesn't look like it allows for that...unless there is something I am not seeing.

bigcountry10 · 11-01-2011, 01:50 PM

Good point I didn't think about the adjustability aspect, I might lower the overflow box a little, the only thing is either way it would be a pain, either I have to constantly add more water every day to account for my fixed box, or you would constantly have to adjust the height on the adjustable overflow to account for evaporation. Either way they seem to both have drawbacks to me.
But thanks I'm definitely going to maul the idea over in my head about lowering the overflow box.

jrman83 · 11-01-2011, 02:03 PM

It's not a pain really. If I see your box correctly, it looks as if the water has to be very close to the rim of the tank....even farther than most people prefer to fill them. Putting adjustability into the box allows to just throw it up there, adjust for flow and you're done. You have have to start off with a VERY full tank to get it going before your box may get the needed flow into it in order to operate correctly. When I had one on my tank....if I had let the tank go 2wks without putting any water in, I was still able to adjust the box down to get it under the water level. Ideally, I guess your box would need to be able to go 3-4" into the tank below the rim and then have the adjustability, like tightening those screws on the other box, to adjust it up.

bigcountry10 · 11-01-2011, 02:44 PM

I understand what you are saying but it shouldn't be an issue, even where my box stands as it is it has a 1 inch clearance from the bottom of the overflow holes to the bottom of the plastic rim. The box itself contains 25 - 1/2 inch holes and half inch PVC is ruled to put out 90 GPH so that allows for a total of 2250 GPH which my tank will never get anywhere near, so at worse the water level might come as close to 7/8th to the bottom of the trim.

plus all I need to do to get the system up and running is fill the tank up to just under the overflow box, fill these two sections (in the picture, red) with water prime the siphons, turn on the pump, and add just enough water to the sump tank to make the water overflow into the overflow box. so it basically works like a drilled out tank. I do agree I will have to pay attention to the water level a little more, but I plan on putting in a fixed Styrofoam background so I wouldn't really be able to adjust the overflow all that easy anyways.

bigcountry10 · 01-16-2012, 09:25 PM

Hey everyone sorry it's been a long time since my last post, but I had to save up enough money to start the next step of my build. Over the last few months I have been working on the hood of the tank and sculpting the backdrop. I finally finished both this week. I'm going to apply the backdrop tonight and then start coating the Styrofoam backdrop with quickcrete tomorrow. I'm getting really excited, because everything is starting to come together. I'm hoping to have fish in the tank by around may. here are some pic's of the lid and the backdrop, please post any comments, or questions.

Summer · 01-16-2012, 11:32 PM

It's coming along quite nicely! thanks for sharing the pics as you go along. I really like teh background.

artur_berger · 01-23-2012, 01:19 PM

Very nice!!

bigcountry10 · 02-07-2012, 11:44 AM

Hi everyone, I'm done with the background, it took me about two days to finish. I put on a total of 5 coats of quikrete with acrylic sealer. I waited about 4 hours between coats to allow for the coats to set up. Everything went fairly well other than I had a small crack form around the return pipe, and I didn't measure the location of the return pipe to the hood, which turned out to be a big problem because one of the supports met right up against the pipe so I had to notch the support out a little. other than that the tank is coming along nicely right now I'm soaking the background, I'm doing half change outs every other day for about 3 weeks. I'm also throwing some carbon in the water, to help absorb any extra chemicals. here are some picks of what it looks like.

10-10-2011, 11:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	My DIY Tank Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) I'm kind of a novice to the aquarium world, I had a 40 gallon tank setup about 10 years ago with some jacks, which was a mild success , other than the fact that I was a lazy kid and didn't always take care of it like I should have. The demise of the tank finally came when the wire spool I had the tank on eventually collapsed sending a metal rod through the bottom of the tank, makes me cringe just thinking about the mess. But anyways now that you know about my greatest failure in the aquarium world, I would like to show you what hopes to be my triumphant return to the hobby. This time around I really wanted to do this right, so I have been really reading up on aquariums and how to successfully get one going and manage one. Along the way I decided that a sub tank filtration system was the best way to go, but I'm not the type of person to just go out and buy one. Number one they are far too expensive, and number two I love to tinker so I decided to make one up myself. So I went online to YouTube and various other sites and looked into how sub filters, and refugiums work, and finally came up with a plan and put it together and here it is. Explaining the design: 20 gallon long sub A. water enters tank from this section and starts filtering by way of a wet dry system using either sponges or bioballs and air stones. then passes through the first bubble trap. B. water pours over bubble trap and enters the second filtration section of the tank most likely a mechanical form of filtration will be used in this section or a plant form. once the water level rises the water will pour into section C. C. Section C imitates a shallow stream which will either use wet dry filtration like section one or some type of mechanical not sure yet. D. Section D is a bit of a pain I should have put the stream system on a hinge or slotted it to overlap the middle divider so I could lift it up, but I didn't so not sure what I'm going to put in this section(Note I can fit my hand inside it's just a little tight). I might end up using this section for plants since I wouldn't really need to get my hands in there, the only problem is that if I use mechanical filtration before the plants I might rob the plants of some nutrients. E. This section is where the return pump with go to bring the water back up to the tank. The tank stand ( Image below) I created over the summer consists of a frame made from 2x4's and is covered by oak, which was salvaged from old pallets. I am now currently working on an overflow box which should hopefully be completed by the end of the week when it is I will post some pictures and explain it. My planes for this thread are to show the progress of my tank setup and get some constructive criticism on some of my ideas and maybe what I could do to make them better , I have already been working on my setup for the past 6 months and expect it to at least take another six. so hope you guys enjoy the thread.

10-10-2011, 02:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
baeya baeya's Photo Gallery Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 62 Location: Central New York Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) I love your ideas! Thanks for sharing and good luck with the finishing touches! __________________ 2 Kitties: Tiny & Sassie Blue 1 Doggie: Oliver *************************** 90 Gal Aquarium 1 - Marble Angel 1 - Gold Pearl Angel 1 - Black Lace Veil Angel 5 - Emerald Cories 2 - Eugene SuperKing Powerfilters 2 - Penn Plax Fl-40 aquarium lights ************************* 15 Gal Guppy Aquarium *************************** 6500 Gal Koi Pond with 300 gallon bog <>

10-11-2011, 02:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
snail snail's Photo Gallery Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 2,646 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 2,935 Times Said "Thanks" 361 Times Was Thanked 634 Times in 591 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Love the stand, simple but handsome.

10-17-2011, 12:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
AquaOverflow Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 519 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 519 Times Said "Thanks" 9 Times Was Thanked 99 Times in 99 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Best of luck with your build. I have been building overflow boxes for years, so let me know if you get stuck or have any questions. __________________ Custom Overflow Boxes, Standpipes, and Macro Algae… http://www.aquariumoverflow.com

10-21-2011, 10:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
jrman83 ....has no life.... jrman83's Photo Gallery Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 9,468 Name: Ben Location: White Plains, MD My location Feedback: 16 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 3,396 Times Said "Thanks" 478 Times Was Thanked 2,431 Times in 2,286 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Seems a little ellaborate, but as long as it works. Stand looks awesome. What size tank is going to be on it? Looks about like the footprint of a 90g or maybe a little larger.

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10-21-2011, 10:29 AM	#6 (permalink)
Don Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 14 My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 35 Times Said "Thanks" 5 Times Was Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Awesome looking stand. __________________ 4ea 10 Gal all planted. 20 gal in for repair Swordtails Still learning...

10-23-2011, 11:53 AM	#7 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Thanks for the posts guys, I'm just about done with the overflow box. I have the external drain section done, today I'm going to work on the actual overflow box today hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday I can start testing the system out, I'm going to add a valve in the system so I can adjust the water flow rather than just hoping I use the right sized pipe. The tank to answer your question jrman83 is actually a 55 gallon short, I like tanks that have a lot of floor space.

10-30-2011, 09:18 AM	#8 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Sorry it's taken so long to update the post guys, I finished the overflow box a few days ago, but haven't had any time to post any pics, so here you go. The three PVC siphon pipes are 3/4 inch which I have read is rated to 220 gallons per hour, my pump is supposed to put out 350 gallons per hour so I put in 3 siphons just in case one gets clogged. I made the drainage pipes so they can fit a ,whole house filtration cartridge, I just cut the cartridge in 3rd's so I can get a few uses out of one of them. I also put in a four way junction where the two drains connect, and just have a plug in the top section just in case it gets clogged. I also added a coupler to the bottom drainage section to allow for easy cleaning. if you guys have any more questions just ask, here are the picks.

10-31-2011, 03:35 PM	#10 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) I didn't end up putting the valve in the system because I found that the 1 1/2 inch pvc allowed for more than enough flow through my system. I put in two different baffles just for insurance purposes (worst case scenario) in case one of them became clogged the other would take all the flow.

10-31-2011, 09:33 PM	#11 (permalink)
jrman83 ....has no life.... jrman83's Photo Gallery Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 9,468 Name: Ben Location: White Plains, MD My location Feedback: 16 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 3,396 Times Said "Thanks" 478 Times Was Thanked 2,431 Times in 2,286 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) How do your overflow pipes maintain suction? It also looks like your water level will have to be pretty high for the overflow box to operate....there doesn't appear to be adjustability in it. Good craftsmanship....hope it works for you.

11-01-2011, 12:57 PM	#12 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) The way this type of siphoned works is fairly simple, but also a little complex : ). It took me a few hours to figure it out myself, I really didn't like the method most people use for DIY overflows like this one. I just really didn't like all that PVC in my tank It just looked way to tacky to me. and I had seen these types of overflow boxes on the internet, but never a DIY version it was always a commercial grade. So I spent a few hours one day in the kitchen with a bunch of PVC a few containers and a lot of towels : ) trying to figure it out, and here's what I discovered. With this type of siphon the water flows very fast due to the difference in height so it displaces water efficiently. The problem with this design is that because there's so much momentum behind the suction when container A runs out of water it sucks in air and destroys the siphon, so when container A refills with water the siphon is broken and causes the system to fail. though I did find that if the pipe was kept completely level sometimes it would keep minimal suction, but the suction was very minimal. This type of siphon ( the toilet siphon, named because it's the same way your toilet works at home) is probably one of the cheapest and easiest siphons to reproduce, but in my opinion still has a few problem with its mechanics and isn't very visually appealing. The biggest problem with this type of siphon is that it can still suck air, ever time the water level drops below the drain pipe the water level drops to the bottom of the first curve. which in turn allows for air bubbles though minimal amounts to travel up inside to the second curve. This action over time without a bleeder could cause the siphon to break. Some people even go so far as to add an air pump to suck the air out of the second curve which causes your tank setup to cost that much more both initially and monthly (electrical costs), not to mention the added noise pollution generated by the air pump. The other problem I had with this design was the drain both because of the chance of it clogging (heaven forbid) from a fish dying , causing the tank to overflow and because the noise it makes from the water flowing into it. Finally I couldn't justify spending several hundred dollars on a tank setup just to have an unsightly amount of PVC inside of my tanks. I know this system is way cheaper than making an overflow box out of Plexiglas and you could just mask the pipes with rock our something, but I just really didn't like it. finally I was really studying the commercial style siphon, it was very intriguing to me it was simple and sleek just a curved pipe. So I set up two mason jars filled them with water then put a pipe line in and tried to make a siphon ,water flowed through but it wouldn't suck all the water out of container A into container B they would just equalize in water levels then the siphon would stop. But the suction would stay in the tube. So I looked all around the internet for an explanation, 2 hours later and I finally found a video on YouTube explaining how these systems worked . Basically what happens is when section A and B are equal there is no water flow because the pressure in the system is the same all the way through. But as soon as you add more water to section A the system has to equalize out again so the siphon sucks just enough water from section A into section B and if section B has enough water in it will overflow into section C allowing for the whole system to work. So in this system the siphon tube never becomes exposed to air allowing for the system to run indefinitely even if the power goes out and there are no drainage noises, because the system remains underwater at all times. In my opinion this is the perfect siphoning system. So there's your answer JRman83, it's a little long, but being a DIY thread I wanted to cover all the bases.

11-01-2011, 01:25 PM	#13 (permalink)
jrman83 ....has no life.... jrman83's Photo Gallery Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 9,468 Name: Ben Location: White Plains, MD My location Feedback: 16 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 3,396 Times Said "Thanks" 478 Times Was Thanked 2,431 Times in 2,286 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Well, I hope it works for you. I still see the need for adjustability in the level of the box inside the tank, otherwise you have to do it by adjusting the water level. The way you have it the water level in the tank has to stay pretty high in order to flow water into the box initially. As soon as your water level drops, which it will do pretty quickly once it begins to flow, you loose flow into your box. This is the failsafe, but given how tight you have it you will not be able to account for much evaporation at all. If you look at the picture of a box you posted and you look at the area where the box rest on the tank rim, you'll see 2 plastic screws. These are used to fine tune the flow in the box and vary the depth of it within the tank. Your box doesn't look like it allows for that...unless there is something I am not seeing.

11-01-2011, 01:50 PM	#14 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Good point I didn't think about the adjustability aspect, I might lower the overflow box a little, the only thing is either way it would be a pain, either I have to constantly add more water every day to account for my fixed box, or you would constantly have to adjust the height on the adjustable overflow to account for evaporation. Either way they seem to both have drawbacks to me. But thanks I'm definitely going to maul the idea over in my head about lowering the overflow box.

11-01-2011, 02:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
jrman83 ....has no life.... jrman83's Photo Gallery Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 9,468 Name: Ben Location: White Plains, MD My location Feedback: 16 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 3,396 Times Said "Thanks" 478 Times Was Thanked 2,431 Times in 2,286 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) It's not a pain really. If I see your box correctly, it looks as if the water has to be very close to the rim of the tank....even farther than most people prefer to fill them. Putting adjustability into the box allows to just throw it up there, adjust for flow and you're done. You have have to start off with a VERY full tank to get it going before your box may get the needed flow into it in order to operate correctly. When I had one on my tank....if I had let the tank go 2wks without putting any water in, I was still able to adjust the box down to get it under the water level. Ideally, I guess your box would need to be able to go 3-4" into the tank below the rim and then have the adjustability, like tightening those screws on the other box, to adjust it up.

11-01-2011, 02:44 PM	#16 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) I understand what you are saying but it shouldn't be an issue, even where my box stands as it is it has a 1 inch clearance from the bottom of the overflow holes to the bottom of the plastic rim. The box itself contains 25 - 1/2 inch holes and half inch PVC is ruled to put out 90 GPH so that allows for a total of 2250 GPH which my tank will never get anywhere near, so at worse the water level might come as close to 7/8th to the bottom of the trim. plus all I need to do to get the system up and running is fill the tank up to just under the overflow box, fill these two sections (in the picture, red) with water prime the siphons, turn on the pump, and add just enough water to the sump tank to make the water overflow into the overflow box. so it basically works like a drilled out tank. I do agree I will have to pay attention to the water level a little more, but I plan on putting in a fixed Styrofoam background so I wouldn't really be able to adjust the overflow all that easy anyways.

01-16-2012, 09:25 PM	#17 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Hey everyone sorry it's been a long time since my last post, but I had to save up enough money to start the next step of my build. Over the last few months I have been working on the hood of the tank and sculpting the backdrop. I finally finished both this week. I'm going to apply the backdrop tonight and then start coating the Styrofoam backdrop with quickcrete tomorrow. I'm getting really excited, because everything is starting to come together. I'm hoping to have fish in the tank by around may. here are some pic's of the lid and the backdrop, please post any comments, or questions.

01-16-2012, 11:32 PM	#18 (permalink)
Summer Susan and Bev's protégé Summer's Photo Gallery Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 2,504 Name: Summer Location: Pennsylvania My location Feedback: 11 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 1,138 Times Said "Thanks" 168 Times Was Thanked 572 Times in 553 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) It's coming along quite nicely! thanks for sharing the pics as you go along. I really like teh background. __________________ "Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

01-23-2012, 01:19 PM	#19 (permalink)
artur_berger Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 13 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 0 Times Said "Thanks" 1 Times Was Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Very nice!!

02-07-2012, 11:44 AM	#20 (permalink)
bigcountry10 bigcountry10's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 65 Location: MIchigan My location Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 39 Times Said "Thanks" 47 Times Was Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: My DIY Tnk Poject (DIY Sub, Overflow Box,scenery, stand) Hi everyone, I'm done with the background, it took me about two days to finish. I put on a total of 5 coats of quikrete with acrylic sealer. I waited about 4 hours between coats to allow for the coats to set up. Everything went fairly well other than I had a small crack form around the return pipe, and I didn't measure the location of the return pipe to the hood, which turned out to be a big problem because one of the supports met right up against the pipe so I had to notch the support out a little. other than that the tank is coming along nicely right now I'm soaking the background, I'm doing half change outs every other day for about 3 weeks. I'm also throwing some carbon in the water, to help absorb any extra chemicals. here are some picks of what it looks like.

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