I think i (meaning my dad ) is going to drill my tank . And i was going to use a 12g eclipse tank for the sump. would that work? My question is how to make a in tank overflow i want to know how. How big should i make the bulkheads and drill the holes. Also what kind of pump should i get i was looking at this maybe the 600 gph one.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8164

there are a ton of ways to go about this, but there are 2 ways that are popular the durso and stockman standpipes. the main thing you are doing with these is limiting the amount of air that gets into the down tube. doing this reduces the gurgling noise (similar to any water draining).

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

there are ones that are designed for back drilled or bottom drilled. i went bottom drilled myself.

one tip i have for you though is that the bulkheads i bought leaked, and after some reading i found that many people silicone them in place. i placed some on each of the gaskets and then a bead around the top and bottom. hope this helps

chachi

But how to i make the overflow.

How can i build one of those.

you can get the tube pvc parts at home depot or lowes. the link on the page that says DIY (meaning do it yourself) should be useful. there are many threads dedicated to this and you should be able to find them through a search for durso

No the overflow.I saw the link.

ohh. i don't use an overflow, just the pipe. from what i read it is just plastic that you cut and silicone to your tank, but i'm not an expert as i have not done it yet.

possibly try diy overflow search.

chachi

Go to http://www.glass-holes.com

I drilled my 10gal-if you want to check that out, the link is in my sig. If I were to redo it, I would go with an external durso setup rather than the "herbie" method I used. That only requires one hole in the back of the tank. Be extra careful drilling as 10gals are very fragile. I also used a piece of 1/4" plexi on the back to spread the force of the bulkhead across the entire pane of glass.

As far as the overflow, I constructed my own with acrylic. But if you don't feel confident with that, glass-holes as suggested by evilc66 is a brilliant option. Much less chance of a leak.

+1 on 10 gallons being fragile, they are so thin its not uncommon for them to crack after being drilled a few months later from just vibrations from powerheads or strain on the plumbing. the good news is you only only out $12 when it does break, the bad news is 10 gallons of water plus the 12 gallons in your sump makes one hell of a mess on the floor.

also 600 gph is way to much pump mabey 200 gph after headloss at best. you limiting factor is going to be the bulkhead size, if its 3/4 like most small tanks they can handle 300gph during syphon, if you use a durso or other syphon break setup flow will be closer to 250-275gph.

But i read that overflow s boxes suck and the siphon can stop and overflow your tank.
So should't he jsut go with a canister filter or something. Maybe a hob fuge.

And i don't think his parents want a pond in his room.

there are 2 types of overflows, one that uses a syphon tube to go up and over the tank wall, the other is the prefered way and that is done by drilling the tank and using a bulkhead(s). the newer sypon tube designes are pretty safe in that they wont lose syphon, the older styles allowed the back side of the tube to be uncovered by allowing all the water to drain. the newer designes will use a seperator/baffle to keep the tube covered in water so they wont lose syphon. they will restart automaticly when the water level on the tank side starts again.

some of the tube styles will use a aqua lifter pump to keep the tube from collecting air bubbles, personally i wouldnt do this as its just another point of failure. as long as the tube doesnt collect an air bubble or get cloged with algea syphon will work with no issues.

thats why drilling is prefered as long as you can drill the tank. some of the more popular tank sizes are now being made tempered exclusivly. you havent been able to find a 55 for years from the major manufactures that wasnt tempered, 75's and 29's are start to become like this. either buying a reef ready or using a syphon overflow is your only options with those.

have had my ten drilled for 3-4 years, moved even. use herbie style with durso's out the back. will very easally break while drilling have found the dremill has higher sucsess rate. once installed the bulkhead helps to keep things safe. just dont hit the pipes coming out, flexable tubing can help here. this will crack the glass. make sure that the holes are there diamiter away from anything and if posable not centered on a mode (half, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) for first 9-10 modes. this makes it easier to crack. the over flow can be made many ways, depending on your needs. two/three peices of glass siliconed together, 4" abs tube (this is what i used because it maximized display area) cut in half and silconed in place. both have pros n cons. glass has to be cut n polisied easy to cut yourself other wise but can be made large enough that when the drain clogs you can reach down and fix it. the abs pipe takes up less room but is really tight have to use tools to fix clogs. let alone when your fish goes over the edge. close the drian(s), fill the tank high enough that fishie can swim back out, open drain(s). having used the abs pipe i also think this helps keep the tank from cracking, because of the pipe joining so closely to the drains.


my next 10/15 gal would probable use glass in the corner. the pipe in the middleish of the tank makes scaping harder than it would be other wise. but put it there to acomedate a return in each corner.

on anythig bigger would recomened an external overflow. to maximize display area.

also pumps can be smaller if you use eductor nozells (there actually penductors but look up eductor) they can incress the flow rate of the return up to 4x while not afecting the turnover rate. thus the sump/fuge has greater dwell time, and ellectric cost are lower.

one moer thing you dont want a ten, do a 15gal. this is because there 24" instead of 20" opening up your options for lights considrably. trust me on this.


read these


glass overflow in corner
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=163883

extrnal overflow/silcone
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=209500

drains (read the hole dang thing)
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69372


if you have any more questions ask.