DIY - Overflow Box, ideas?

[themissinglynk]

Okay, so here is a pic that I developed using Google SketchUp...  not perfect, but it could work.



Simple enough...  slotted front side, 12" wide, 3.5 inches tall (the box itself), 2.5" deep.  Two pieces (blue and yellow).  Blue hangs over side, and yellow hangs over blue to hold it snugly in place.

Back side has 1" drainpipe.  Will have two mounted siphon tubes, one on each end.  Siphon tubes will have a small valve on top (can open valve, suck out air, and siphon is started?).  Two tubes means I can get a few bubbles in one or the other, without losing the entire siphon.


Thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc?

-Lee

[scott wilson]

I would hook up an aqua lift pump to the airline coming out of the top.  This will maintain your siphon.  also you can either make the transition piece black or have a black facade that covers it to reduce any algae growth in the siphon.

[Joel]

I have made overflow boxes very similar to the illustration out of two large specimen container manufactured by Lee's. Theses are the containers that pet shops use to put fish in when selling them ot of their aquariums. Although the aqualift pumps are a great idea, a power head can work well two as a way to keeping the "U" tube primed. I use to run a piece of air line tubing from the venturi on a power head to the inside top of the "U" tube to keep air bubbles out of it. Worked pretty well for a home made job.

Joel

[ohioreef]

I ran a HOB overflow with u-tube for 2+ years w/o a pump without a single problem. The key is making sure you have enough flow that any air bubbles are pulled through and don't accumulate.

[rmstevensiii]

Ditto... I run one, with no pump.  I'm only using 1 of the 2 u-tubes which came with the overflow which keeps the flow thru the tube high enough to prevent air bubbles from being trapped.  It's working well for me.  The overflow that I had b4 this, was similar to the CPR style, and did not use a std u-tube.  This one did trap air in the tube and could have benefited from a pump.

Just my .02