Drilled Vs. Overflow Boxes

[clinks]

SOMEONE, ANYONE please help me figure this out once and for all. I'm trying to figure out which way is best to avoid an over flow in my tank/sump. Everyone says that having a drilled tank doesn't allow for a fail to happen with the draining so a over flow would never happen, where as a over flow could back drain and over flow the sump or stop draining and just fill up the tank.. what I don't understand is that cant this happen no matter what...? Or is the chance just greatly decreased if your tank is drilled.... Someone please help me grasp this concept and understand for the well being of my future tank and wood flooring.

 

[Shep]

An overflow box relies on a siphon to pull the water out of the tank and down into the sump, if the siphon were to break the water would stop leaving the tank. This would cause the tank to overflow and flood because the return pump would still be pumping water back into the tank. Drilled tanks do not rely on a siphon and thus can not fail and would not cause a tank to flood. Flooding your sump can happen with both if the return pump were to fail but can be easily avoided if the sump has room to accommodate the extra water (aka just don't fill it to the top)

 

[clinks]

Thank you ! but.. what if your over flow box has a pump in it and is continuously pumping water down to the sump while the sump pump is returning water to the tank... wouldn't that then be the same as a drilled tank except no hole in the tank?

 

[ramabama]

If you have the option to choose between the two then drilling would be the way to go. If you are nervous about doing it don't be, it is not hard at all. Check out http://glass-holes.com for some good info.

 

[HOOPDEEZ]

A drilled tank is much more reliable, especially a bean animal or herbie setup. With the siphon overflow if the power goes out, the pump fails, or the drain clogs you may have a flood

 

[Robbob]

I had a Hang on back overflow with pump. It was loud and took up a lot of space in the tank the pumps also failed. Tank overflowed onto the floor. Drilled it 4 months ago and couldn't be happier installed a Shadow overflow from Synergy its quiet/ reliable and can flow more. no more worries of a flood.

 

[clinks]

what would you all recommend? just two holes in the back left and right sides?

 

[happyhourhero]

You can simply set your baffles high enough on your overflow boxes in tank portion so if your return pump failed you wouldn't flood the sump and you can make your return pump chamber of your sump so that it will empty before the tank over flows if your siphon fails. I have been using my eschopps for 2 year and have been through many power failures and have had no issues with the siphon starting back up. It also does not rely on a pump to keep it going.

 

[clinks]

You can simply set your baffles high enough on your overflow boxes in tank portion so if your return pump failed you wouldn't flood the sump and you can make your return pump chamber of your sump so that it will empty before the tank over flows if your siphon fails. I have been using my eschopps for 2 year and have been through many power failures and have had no issues with the siphon starting back up. It also does not rely on a pump to keep it going.

This is exactly what I thinking. But I still haven't made my mind up. I might just drill it

 

[Vaughn17]

My new 180 has an overflow box. The sump is a 40 breeder. Like happyhourhero said above, the return chamber doesn't hold enough water to overflow the main tank (which is filled to about 2 inches from the top) and the overflow box is set high enough to prevent it from overflowing the sump. It works. The power went out once already and nothing overflowed. The siphon started right up when the power went back on, but if it had not done so, the main tank has room to handle the extra water. Note: I did overflow the sump when I was aquascaping the tank...forgot to remove water, duh, until I heard this little tinkling sound.

 

[pettoe90]

You can simply set your baffles high enough on your overflow boxes in tank portion so if your return pump failed you wouldn't flood the sump and you can make your return pump chamber of your sump so that it will empty before the tank over flows if your siphon fails. I have been using my eschopps for 2 year and have been through many power failures and have had no issues with the siphon starting back up. It also does not rely on a pump to keep it going.

Same here if you set your over flow box up its works with no issues

 

[mcarroll]

Drilled is smoother looking, but I've never had a drilled tank myself....all overflow boxes since the early 1990's. Never a flood.

 

[pettoe90]

Only think I dislike about over flow box is the noise, i got a t on top to allow it to breath as well as the bottom and still noise Even tries the airline trick,

 

[happyhourhero]

I built a "hofer gurgle buster" and mine runs pretty much silent. Mine drains into a small box I made of egg crate that I fill with pillow stuffing. Pretty quiet down there too. Wife couldn't stand a loud tank so you gotta do what you can.

 

[Shep]

Thank you ! but.. what if your over flow box has a pump in it and is continuously pumping water down to the sump while the sump pump is returning water to the tank... wouldn't that then be the same as a drilled tank except no hole in the tank?

If power goes out or the pump fails, then the same thing can happen. I use an overflow box but if I could have, I would have drilled the tank.

 

[Shep]

Drilled is smoother looking, but I've never had a drilled tank myself....all overflow boxes since the early 1990's. Never a flood.

I know lots of people who use overflow boxes and have never had an issue, I think in a lot of ways its more about peace of mind.

 

[KJAG]

A drilled tank is much more reliable, especially a bean animal or herbie setup. With the siphon overflow if the power goes out, the pump fails, or the drain clogs you may have a flood

Agreed. At the very least employ a herbie, preferably a Bean

 

[mcarroll]

Only think I dislike about over flow box is the noise, i got a t on top to allow it to breath as well as the bottom and still noise Even tries the airline trick,

I built a "hofer gurgle buster" and mine runs pretty much silent. Mine drains into a small box I made of egg crate that I fill with pillow stuffing. Pretty quiet down there too. Wife couldn't stand a loud tank so you gotta do what you can.

More than likely the culprit in both cases is too much flow. (And FWIW, none of those hacks actually helped me either.)

If you can measure your flow at the return outlet or drain outlet using a bucket or cup or something, time how long it takes to fill and measure the quantity....convert to gallons and hours. 2x-4x your display size, in GPH, is all the flow through the sump you really need....anywhere in that range is fine. It's common for flows above that range to be noisy.

Lower the flow rate to 2x-4x and you can probably dispense with all the "extra" plumbing AND have a totally silent drain.

 

[jaws789832]

Either one, if set up correctly won't overflow the tanks. As already stated just make sure there is enough room in the DT to handle the volume of water in the return section of the sump, and enough room in the sump to handle the amount of water that will overflow into the sump. What a drilled tank pretty much completely eliminates is the chance of your return pump ever drying out. With a drilled tank, anytime the water is flowing through the return pump it will be flowing down the overflow. with an over the tank overflow box, you are relying on the syphon, so if it ever breaks, and (in your case) the suction pump fails, Water will continue to flow from the return section until it is dry.

 

[cpalminteri]

My new 180 has an overflow box. The sump is a 40 breeder. Like happyhourhero said above, the return chamber doesn't hold enough water to overflow the main tank (which is filled to about 2 inches from the top) and the overflow box is set high enough to prevent it from overflowing the sump. It works. The power went out once already and nothing overflowed. The siphon started right up when the power went back on, but if it had not done so, the main tank has room to handle the extra water. Note: I did overflow the sump when I was aquascaping the tank...forgot to remove water, duh, until I heard this little tinkling sound.

Which overflow box did you go with?