DIY Overflow

mphammer

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Ok so Im sure there's a reason others don't plumb their tanks like this, but Im in a little bit of a pickle. After some routine maintenance in my 40, getting ready for the move to the 75, I dropped a piece of liverock and cracked the bottom of the tank. The race is on. Originally eagle9252 was going to help with the install of a bean overflow, but I have to get this done QUICK. The 75 only has 2 holes, one for return the other was just a drain overflow.
I have taken a small piece of PVC, capped the end, and drilled about 20-30 holes in it. Stuck the uncapped end into the overflow hole. Will this work as a makeshift overflow for the time being. I've included some extremely crude drawings.
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It should work for a short term solution. Make sure you have plenty of extra holes so that if some get covered the water still has a place to go. Algae can grow pretty quickly and restrict the flow enough to cause a problem.
 
The bean animal builds in a lot of redundancy with the three drains. I can understand why people want redundancy, but it seems to be overkill to me. Especially since most systems are sold with a single drain.

In my 200 with two holes, I used the smaller hole for the full siphon and the larger hole for the emergency overflow and then ran the return over the back. It's called the Herbie Method. Your welcome to stop by and take a look. I'm up in North Fulton.
 
if it were me i would use both holes as drains. Go to walmart in the bowls or at home depot they have a red plastic box for holding sheetrock mudd. Just get something, that has straight sides drill a hole in it for a makeshift overflow for both holes. The return can go over the top. Call me before 6 pm tonight or after the meeting

Edit: if it were me i would use both holes as drains. Go to walmart in the bowls or at home depot they have a red plastic box for holding sheetrock mudd. Just get something, that has straight sides drill a hole in it for a makeshift overflow for both holes. The return can go over the top. Call me before 6 pm tonight or after the meeting
 
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