~LadyBug~ Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 wow. that's some awesome overflow Link to comment
Deano Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Brilliant idea on the overflow. Looks a lot cleaner than the teeth. I don't know that this would make a difference but you could have also cut the slots on a angle down toward the back side to help the water flow smoothly down the back side of the overflow. This might help keep the water from cascading over the back, causing extra unwanted noise. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 doesn't look like it serves any purpose that a regular straight cut overflow wouldn't serve, and if anything, it'll suck more water from below the surface than the "less fancy" normal design with a straight cut top. but it sure looks cool Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 wow. that's some awesome overflow Thanks! It is perfect! We'll see about that. Thanks though! Brilliant idea on the overflow. Looks a lot cleaner than the teeth. I don't know that this would make a difference but you could have also cut the slots on a angle down toward the back side to help the water flow smoothly down the back side of the overflow. This might help keep the water from cascading over the back, causing extra unwanted noise. Because of the way it was built, it would not have been possible, but that would be a great idea! Hopefully it won't be too loud, with just the bulkhead right now is darn near silent, so I'm hoping this will only help. doesn't look like it serves any purpose that a regular straight cut overflow wouldn't serve, and if anything, it'll suck more water from below the surface than the "less fancy" normal design with a straight cut top. but it sure looks cool Thanks, here is how I am anticipating this working... The bottom slit will surface skim unless it doesn't pull enough water in, then the tank water level will rise to the next slit. That will surface skim unless again it doesn't pull in enough water, at which point it will go up again to the next slit. Vertical teeth work the same way, you just don't notice the height of the water on the teeth because they are running vertical. The function is the same as any overflow box, but 1 doing it this way looks different, 2 it functions like all other clean spills (teethless overflow) but this one has a guard to prevent anything from going through, and 3 there are multiple slits to accomodate different flow rates. Thanks for the feedback! Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 i dig the guard idea, but i can envision a scenario where the flow creates a water level with a surface directly at one of the vertical "guards" instead of a slit, which would leave all the surface film on the surface blocked by the guard while the immediate subsurface gets sucked through. I'm also curious how much flow it would take to overrun the bottom three slits to make it to the top. What are you anticipating as the water level? I def. wanna see it in action, good theory. May revolutionize the overflow industry! (Don't worry I just filed a patent in my name ) Make a video of it in action with a darth vader voice! Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well your theory is half correct... I'm running into a water tension issue if I don't keep the water surface moving around the box... The water is wicking to the upper guard which impacts the clean spill. Might have to build it over with wider slits. Good news is that I don't need to silicone it in place, it will be totally removable and also adjustable if I need to change the water level of the tank or should I need to clean it or give it a good vinegar soak. Man I love physics! In the mean time, here are some pics and vids. Link to comment
spanko Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Where if anywhere will an ATO be located? I would think that the water level would mess with the ability for it to surface skim. Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 ATO is installed in the sump. Doesn't impact surface skimming at all. Link to comment
DirtyC Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 so the overflow is held up by the water going in to the box??? Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Yep. Because the water level in the box is lower than the water level out of the box, it creates a high pressure/low pressure scenario and the box is forced against the glass much like a suction cup... I killed the power to the tank to see how it held up, and the seam is so tight that after 17 minutes (the time I'm typing this) it is still holding, as the pressure is keeping the joint so tight water is super slow to wick through. Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well the box held on it's own for 56 minutes... Now what are the chances that I'll have a power outage for 56 minutes plus and I won't be home. Yeah I know Murphy and he knows me. Maybe I'll just install some magnets. Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well the box held on it's own for 56 minutes... Now what are the chances that I'll have a power outage for 56 minutes plus and I won't be home. Yeah I know Murphy and he knows me. Maybe I'll just install some magnets. Please do. Would hate to lose a colony ... Sweet overflow by the way. Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Okay, that was quick and painless. Magnets are installed. Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Okay, that was quick and painless. Magnets are installed. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 i jsut watched both videos. no darth vader voice. i leave disappointed. Link to comment
Zer0 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 i jsut watched both videos. no darth vader voice. i leave disappointed. Heard a baby at the end though.. Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 i jsut watched both videos. no darth vader voice. i leave disappointed. Bummer. Heard a baby at the end though.. Yeah, video was going great, and then he walked into the room. In the other video you can hear my wife telling my other kids to be quiet... She is upstairs to give you an idea of how quiet the tank is... The gurgle sound when I remove the overflow box is no where near as loud as it sounds in the video. By far the loudest sound from the entire system is the water running through the pipes to the sump, and the air intake (from the silencer) on the skimmer. I'm very happy with how quiet the system is. Best part is the wattage break down... Return pump: 35 watts MP10 12-18 watts (estimated to use about 14 watts and I have it dialed down) AI SOL Blue 0-72 watts (estimated to use a max of 32.4 watts at peak daylight time (3 hours) Heater 75 watts Bubble Blaster on the Skimmer 10 watts So my tank uses at peak time 91.4 watts (166.4 watts with heater running) Off Peak 59 watts (134 watts with heater running) So assuming the heater is running 75% of the time, I'm using approximately 88.8 kilowatt hours a month!!! That's approx $8.88 a month to operate!!! 45% of that is the heater!!! I added rock and sand to the tank late last night, so new pics coming soon. Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 So I came home tonight and my wife tells me that the electric company came by while I was at work... They were checking our meter thinking it was broken... When they couldn't find anything wrong with it,they actually knocked on the door to ask if we did something different... Uh yeah! We just took out a 12 foot reef tank! LMAO. I guess they are missing our revenue! What perfect timing!!! Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 So I came home tonight and my wife tells me that the electric company came by while I was at work... They were checking our meter thinking it was broken... When they couldn't find anything wrong with it,they actually knocked on the door to ask if we did something different... Uh yeah! We just took out a 12 foot reef tank! LMAO. I guess they are missing our revenue! What perfect timing!!! haha, that's...haha.... Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 I swear, it was just perfect timing! I had just figured the new tank was going to cost 10 bucks a month to power, and I get home to hear this story! LOL! Link to comment
calvin415 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 So here are some updated pics... Salt, rock and sand are in the tank, and awaiting a cycle! Sorry the water is still a little cloudy, sand and rock were added about 24hrs before these pics. I also decided to try to explain the fully system to anyone who is unsure how everything works... Sorry, again no Darth Vadar breathing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKotbWAZWFY Link to comment
Zer0 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Man this build is so awesome. I'm not only jealous of your countertop and your house, but also your tank! So nice. So excited to see this flourish. Link to comment
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