Smooth or toothed weir on overflow box?

LittleRed · Oct 5, 2014

I've read a lot of debate about smith versus toothed weirs for overflow boxes. The smooth seems to have better service skimming for larger tanks is what I've inferred, but I was wondering if any of y'all have any experience on both and know which might actually be better. I have a 90gal, and I've decided to do a coast to coast internal overflow.

vtecintegra · Oct 6, 2014

I'm using no teeth after using teeth for many years. To me it looks a lot better. Instead of coast to coast I was wanting to minimize the size of the box like the ghost overflow. With no teeth I estimate my box half the size for the flow I have vs. teeth. Sounds like you've already read that debate. I use a piece of gutter guard to prevent things going down the drain. I don't think there is anyway to quantify how much better or worse one or the other would be.

LittleRed · Oct 6, 2014

Why'd you decide to use a smooth weir?

vtecintegra · Oct 6, 2014

Mainly I like the look better, but also instead of blocking half the flow into the box, with no teeth I made the box half the size but kept the same amount of surface skimming performance. My previous tank had a big overflow with teeth around the perimeter and I hated it. Inside box is a little over 1" wide and doesn't draw attention to itself.

LittleRed · Oct 6, 2014

That seems really nice. I'm trying to build my own box and use the Bean Animal overflow, but I'm experiencing difficulty tailoring it to my 90gal tank. How did you manage to do that?

vtecintegra · Oct 6, 2014

I just copied some dimensions I found on the internet, then reduced the inside box width by about half without the teeth. Went to the acrylic shop and had them cut the pieces. Glued together with weldon 4 and 16. Prior to gluing I cut the holes in the sides of the two boxes with a hole saw and some wood for a template to drill the holes in the glass. Once I got the tank, I drilled the two pass through holes and mounted the overflow. This design is different than a coast to coast. Are you using just an inside box or a two piece like mine? I set mine up bean animal style with one siphon, one at a trickle, and one dry emergency. The 4th was going to be a return up through the box, but then I decided to go with sea swirls and plugged the 4th. Only problem I've had is using ABS bulkheads. I was building from the ground up and had half crack or leak. I'd use schedule 80. I think I might even redo the outside box and put the schedule 80 in instead. These ABS bulkheads that are threaded on the nonflange side are junk. The tank builder said it was overkill on the previous tank when I used schedule 80, but I have never had any problems with them. New system has 11 bulkheads total, 6 cracked or leaked. Elaborate on what kind of trouble you are having.

LittleRed · Oct 6, 2014

I have absolutely no DIY expertise when it comes to building anything like this. I've decided to have an internal box only, coast to coast seemed best, but if the weir is smooth I could have it smaller and it do the same job, correct? I guess my biggest thing is, bean says to plumb it a certain way, but I need a dummies guide with complete instructions.

I have a 90 gal and a small budget, trying to make a great overflow but no one to really guide me as my LFS was not a lot of help.

vtecintegra · Oct 8, 2014

Yeah, I shrunk the box length in half and used no teeth. To me no teeth looks a lot better and flows extremely quiet. For the bean you need three holes through the tank. One main siphon with a gate valve closed down until you get a trickle on the second drain, and a third dry emergency drain. There are several videos on youtube.