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Glass-holes kit


stevethao

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I've searched but couldn't find a definite answer. I'm gonna be drilling a 20 long with10 gallon sump. Should I get the nano overflow (max 300gph) or get the bigger 700gph overflow kit?

 

Thanks

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I ran the nano on a 33g with a 10g sump and a manifold off of a Sicce 2.0. It was just barely keeping up. I'd go with the 700gph if I had to do it again.

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smeagol108

You really only want 6-10 times ur tank volume going through sump hourly so the 300 should be more than sufficient if sized with a pump correctly and head taken into account when choosing the sump. Your main tank is where you want all your flow and that is created by your powerheads/gyres/etc.

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I don't really see why everyone goes for glass-holes. All of their smaller ones only have one drain which is an awful thing to have. If you try to fine tune it so that you have a full siphon, you have no emergency drain and risk overflowing the tank. The only other option is to run it with air in the drain making it way louder. I actually just drilled my 20 long display about a month or two ago and it works way better. I used the smallest overflow box from BRS and put in two bulkheads. One runs as a full siphon and the other one has a 90 degree elbow pointing upwards which is a trickle/emergency drain. If you tune it right, the trickle/emergency drain should have next to no water running through it and the drain should be silent.

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I don't really see why everyone goes for glass-holes. All of their smaller ones only have one drain which is an awful thing to have. If you try to fine tune it so that you have a full siphon, you have no emergency drain and risk overflowing the tank. The only other option is to run it with air in the drain making it way louder. I actually just drilled my 20 long display about a month or two ago and it works way better. I used the smallest overflow box from BRS and put in two bulkheads. One runs as a full siphon and the other one has a 90 degree elbow pointing upwards which is a trickle/emergency drain. If you tune it right, the trickle/emergency drain should have next to no water running through it and the drain should be silent.

my kit is dead silent, plus i used more bulkheads to make an E-drain, 90% of the time my pellet reactor is louder than my overflow box, and my tank is less than 5 feet from where i sleep. i know if you run too much water through the overflow it will be loud. i had a siphen drain running once, and ill tell you it failed every other day. most of the time i was home in enough time to restart it before i had a flood.

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my kit is dead silent, plus i used more bulkheads to make an E-drain, 90% of the time my pellet reactor is louder than my overflow box, and my tank is less than 5 feet from where i sleep. i know if you run too much water through the overflow it will be loud. i had a siphen drain running once, and ill tell you it failed every other day. most of the time i was home in enough time to restart it before i had a flood.

When you say you used more bulkheads to make an E-drain, do you mean that you drilled a second hold for an emergency drain? I currently have two 3/4" drains and even if the siphon drain were to be 100% clogged, my tank wouldn't flood because I have the emergency drain and my return pump can't pump enough water to out pace that drain and overflow the tank. The only way this would cause a flood would be if both of the drains happened to get clogged at the same time.

 

In regards to the glass-holes kits, only the 1500 GPH one comes with two bulkheads.

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When you say you used more bulkheads to make an E-drain, do you mean that you drilled a second hold for an emergency drain? I currently have two 3/4" drains and even if the siphon drain were to be 100% clogged, my tank wouldn't flood because I have the emergency drain and my return pump can't pump enough water to out pace that drain and overflow the tank. The only way this would cause a flood would be if both of the drains happened to get clogged at the same time.

 

In regards to the glass-holes kits, only the 1500 GPH one comes with two bulkheads.

i drilled 3 holes total in my tank, 3/4 return line, 3/4 E-drain, and a 2 or so inch drain line. my trouble with siphons was before i had an E-drain, yea i know how stupid of me. so either way works really as long as there isnt just one drain line.

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i drilled 3 holes total in my tank, 3/4 return line, 3/4 E-drain, and a 2 or so inch drain line. my trouble with siphons was before i had an E-drain, yea i know how stupid of me. so either way works really as long as there isnt just one drain line.

I agree and that's the issue that I have with the glass hole kits. All except for that one 1500 GPH kit only have one drain. With only one drain, you're either going to either flood the display or run a loud overflow.

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I agree and that's the issue that I have with the glass hole kits. All except for that one 1500 GPH kit only have one drain. With only one drain, you're either going to either flood the display or run a loud overflow.

i can see what you mean, thats why i added the other bulkhead to my tank, plus its very quiet, but to each his own, if the OP goes with glass holes or any company id make sure to have either a second drain in the kit or order another bulkhead to make one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So is the Glass-holes kits useless then unless you do the 1500gph that has 2 holes? I figured with the airline they have installed on the elbow you'd avoid an overflow, and define "loud". The only way I could see the tank overflowing is if your return pump is pushing out more than what the overflow is rated at, that seems common sense to me.

 

I'm always amused when people say that things are too "loud" with reef tanks. If you were not running any pumps and had no water flow then yes the tank would be silent. But come on, when you add pumps and are pushing 700 to 1000 plus gallons of water flow per hour in these systems you're gonna have noise regardless.

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The noise can be similar to a bathtub draining when it starts sucking air, and sometimes a toilet flushing as the siphon starts and stops. I run 2 3/4" drains, one as a full siphon w/ball valve and it's almost closed, and the other is an open 3/4" drain with a 90 turned up with just a trickle. Self starting. Self adjusting. And I know it can not overflow. Oh, and literally dead silent. I hear my SCA 302 skimmer sucking air over the drains

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So is the Glass-holes kits useless then unless you do the 1500gph that has 2 holes? I figured with the airline they have installed on the elbow you'd avoid an overflow, and define "loud". The only way I could see the tank overflowing is if your return pump is pushing out more than what the overflow is rated at, that seems common sense to me.

 

I'm always amused when people say that things are too "loud" with reef tanks. If you were not running any pumps and had no water flow then yes the tank would be silent. But come on, when you add pumps and are pushing 700 to 1000 plus gallons of water flow per hour in these systems you're gonna have noise regardless.

Pretty much. That's the reason I really don't like that website. I ended up getting an overflow box from BRS and just drilling the back of the tank. Worked out really well. You can also get a ghost overflow box from Modular Marine which would work really well but it would cost a bit more.

As for that bit about the elbow and air line, if you have a tube that gets constricted and slows down the flow, your return pump doesn't notice and will continue pumping at the same rate. It doesn't matter what is back there, that one tube is the only way water can go normally. If that tube gets backed up and the return pump keeps pumping then the only place the water can go is over the top of the display tank causing an overflow.

The noise can be similar to a bathtub draining when it starts sucking air, and sometimes a toilet flushing as the siphon starts and stops. I run 2 3/4" drains, one as a full siphon w/ball valve and it's almost closed, and the other is an open 3/4" drain with a 90 turned up with just a trickle. Self starting. Self adjusting. And I know it can not overflow. Oh, and literally dead silent. I hear my SCA 302 skimmer sucking air over the drains

That's a great way to describe the sound. It's definitely a bit of a gurgling sound sometimes but usually like a bath tub draining while taking a shower. I had an Eshopps overflow box that only had one drain and even with the gurgle buster I could hear it in another room. Granted they shared a wall and the door was always open but it was still rather loud.

 

Two drains is definitely the way to go. I put a gate valve instead of a ball valve on my siphon drain just so that I can fine tune it a bit more. If you get it tuned right, you should not hear a single thing since a siphon doesn't make noise.

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Pretty much. That's the reason I really don't like that website. I ended up getting an overflow box from BRS and just drilling the back of the tank. Worked out really well. You can also get a ghost overflow box from Modular Marine which would work really well but it would cost a bit more.

As for that bit about the elbow and air line, if you have a tube that gets constricted and slows down the flow, your return pump doesn't notice and will continue pumping at the same rate. It doesn't matter what is back there, that one tube is the only way water can go normally. If that tube gets backed up and the return pump keeps pumping then the only place the water can go is over the top of the display tank causing an overflow.

That's a great way to describe the sound. It's definitely a bit of a gurgling sound sometimes but usually like a bath tub draining while taking a shower. I had an Eshopps overflow box that only had one drain and even with the gurgle buster I could hear it in another room. Granted they shared a wall and the door was always open but it was still rather loud.

 

Two drains is definitely the way to go. I put a gate valve instead of a ball valve on my siphon drain just so that I can fine tune it a bit more. If you get it tuned right, you should not hear a single thing since a siphon doesn't make noise.

 

So even if your dual drain is rated for 1,500 gallons that really won't matter much, it will all depend on the power of the return pump then right? So if your return pump is only sending 800GPH back then you are technically only draining 800GPH, the second drain is just a fail-safe in case 1 gets clogged then?

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So even if your dual drain is rated for 1,500 gallons that really won't matter much, it will all depend on the power of the return pump then right? So if your return pump is only sending 800GPH back then you are technically only draining 800GPH, the second drain is just a fail-safe in case 1 gets clogged then?

Exactly. First you have the full siphon drain which has a gate valve on it. That drain is going to be running with zero air in it and you restrict the flow in that drain in order to slow down the flow. The idea is that you want to match the speed of your return to the speed that you are draining with the siphon in that one drain. So once you match the amount of water coming into the tank to the amount of water draining out of the tank, you're set. The second drain normally has a 90 degree elbow turned upwards. If for any reason you are pumping more water into the tank than is being drained, your water level will begin to rise in the display and the overflow box. Eventually it will reach the top of that 90 degree elbow from the emergency drain and will start draining that way. With the emergency drain, you don't put any gate or ball valves since you want that thing wide open. That way even if your siphon drain is completely clogged, the other drain can handle it.

 

That being said, the 1,500 GPH overflow kit is WAY overkill for a 20 long. The overflow box itself is almost half the length of the tank and is 6" tall. That's why I would recommend using the same method but on a smaller scale. Lets take the overflow box that I linked below for example. It's 6" so you can fit two 3/4" bulkheads in there. They do have a smaller one rated for 1000 gph but i would not recommend it. The smaller one is the one that I have and it's very difficult to get any plumbing inside of the overflow box. As a result, I have no snail guard on my main siphon and the 90 degree elbow had to be cut down on multiple sides in order to fit inside of there. The one I linked is a bit bigger but gives you more room to work. In there, you toss in your two bulkheads. You can offset them or you can just put them side by side. As long as you leave enough room between the holes for the flanges on the bulkheads and just to give it more support. If you drill holes too close together, you risk cracking the glass while cutting the second hole. From there just add the bulkheads (I like to only hand tighten and maybe 1/4 turn with a wrench) and then silicone in the overflow box itself. With that set up you end up with two 3/4" drains where you can run one with a full siphon and one with a drain.

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1500-GPH-Overflow-Box-internal-aquarium-surface-skimmer-Up-to-120-gal-aquarium-/191230961825

 

In regards to pump/flow, you really don't need very much flow going through your sump. 3-5 times your total water volume should be enough. As long as you can supply your skimmer with enough water then you're good to go. The place you want most of your flow to be is in your actual display where your coral and fish are because they're the ones that benefit from the extra flow. My pump is a pretty cheap pump that I got for $33. It puts out around 400 GPH with 3 feet of head pressure but with the bends in the plumbing I'd imagine that it's somewhere closer to 300-350. That alone is more than enough for such a small tank like mine/yours.

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Exactly. First you have the full siphon drain which has a gate valve on it. That drain is going to be running with zero air in it and you restrict the flow in that drain in order to slow down the flow. The idea is that you want to match the speed of your return to the speed that you are draining with the siphon in that one drain. So once you match the amount of water coming into the tank to the amount of water draining out of the tank, you're set. The second drain normally has a 90 degree elbow turned upwards. If for any reason you are pumping more water into the tank than is being drained, your water level will begin to rise in the display and the overflow box. Eventually it will reach the top of that 90 degree elbow from the emergency drain and will start draining that way. With the emergency drain, you don't put any gate or ball valves since you want that thing wide open. That way even if your siphon drain is completely clogged, the other drain can handle it.

 

That being said, the 1,500 GPH overflow kit is WAY overkill for a 20 long. The overflow box itself is almost half the length of the tank and is 6" tall. That's why I would recommend using the same method but on a smaller scale. Lets take the overflow box that I linked below for example. It's 6" so you can fit two 3/4" bulkheads in there. They do have a smaller one rated for 1000 gph but i would not recommend it. The smaller one is the one that I have and it's very difficult to get any plumbing inside of the overflow box. As a result, I have no snail guard on my main siphon and the 90 degree elbow had to be cut down on multiple sides in order to fit inside of there. The one I linked is a bit bigger but gives you more room to work. In there, you toss in your two bulkheads. You can offset them or you can just put them side by side. As long as you leave enough room between the holes for the flanges on the bulkheads and just to give it more support. If you drill holes too close together, you risk cracking the glass while cutting the second hole. From there just add the bulkheads (I like to only hand tighten and maybe 1/4 turn with a wrench) and then silicone in the overflow box itself. With that set up you end up with two 3/4" drains where you can run one with a full siphon and one with a drain.

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1500-GPH-Overflow-Box-internal-aquarium-surface-skimmer-Up-to-120-gal-aquarium-/191230961825

 

In regards to pump/flow, you really don't need very much flow going through your sump. 3-5 times your total water volume should be enough. As long as you can supply your skimmer with enough water then you're good to go. The place you want most of your flow to be is in your actual display where your coral and fish are because they're the ones that benefit from the extra flow. My pump is a pretty cheap pump that I got for $33. It puts out around 400 GPH with 3 feet of head pressure but with the bends in the plumbing I'd imagine that it's somewhere closer to 300-350. That alone is more than enough for such a small tank like mine/yours.

 

That one isn't bad, I assume you have to silicone it to the tank for installing it? How far apart do you drill the 2 holes from each other to avoid cracking on the tank? Keep in mind my tank is a 40 breeder and not a 20L tank so I got a little more room to work with.

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That one isn't bad, I assume you have to silicone it to the tank for installing it? How far apart do you drill the 2 holes from each other to avoid cracking on the tank? Keep in mind my tank is a 40 breeder and not a 20L tank so I got a little more room to work with.

Wow, I thought you were the OP, haha. For a 40 breeder you have a bit more room since the tank is 6" longer, a bit wider, and a bit taller. I think you would still be fine with the one I listed. If you want you could even go a bit larger but i would definitely not go any smaller. You still don't really need to step up the size of your drain since it's still not a very large tank. The only reason you would step up the size of the overflow box is simply for convenience. The box I have is frankly a bit too small but that one should allow you to put in and take out the plumbing with ease.

 

Yes, you would have to silicone in the box onto your tank and make sure to do this LAST. Dry fit the plumbing and make sure that nothing gets in the way and if the box is big enough you'll be able to remove the plumbing while the box is on the tank. Also, depending on the size of the bulkheads, you may not be able to fit them onto the tank if you put the overflow box on first so that's another reason you put the overflow box on last.

 

There are also overflow boxes that have backs on them. These are a bit different in that you don't have to silicone them to your tank. These typically come with an extra flat o-ring that helps keep water out. Pretty much you end up with a seal between the bulkhead and the back of the overflow box and a seal between the back of the overflow box and the back panel of glass. In that case, you would have to drill 4 holes instead of two: two on the glass panel and two on the back of the acrylic box.

 

For drilling through glass, I would simply try to get as much space between the two holes as possible. On my tank I have an inch and a half between the edges of the flanges on the two bulkheads. I don't know if there is a specific rule but obviously the more space, the better.

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Wow, I thought you were the OP, haha. For a 40 breeder you have a bit more room since the tank is 6" longer, a bit wider, and a bit taller. I think you would still be fine with the one I listed. If you want you could even go a bit larger but i would definitely not go any smaller. You still don't really need to step up the size of your drain since it's still not a very large tank. The only reason you would step up the size of the overflow box is simply for convenience. The box I have is frankly a bit too small but that one should allow you to put in and take out the plumbing with ease.

 

Yes, you would have to silicone in the box onto your tank and make sure to do this LAST. Dry fit the plumbing and make sure that nothing gets in the way and if the box is big enough you'll be able to remove the plumbing while the box is on the tank. Also, depending on the size of the bulkheads, you may not be able to fit them onto the tank if you put the overflow box on first so that's another reason you put the overflow box on last.

 

There are also overflow boxes that have backs on them. These are a bit different in that you don't have to silicone them to your tank. These typically come with an extra flat o-ring that helps keep water out. Pretty much you end up with a seal between the bulkhead and the back of the overflow box and a seal between the back of the overflow box and the back panel of glass. In that case, you would have to drill 4 holes instead of two: two on the glass panel and two on the back of the acrylic box.

 

For drilling through glass, I would simply try to get as much space between the two holes as possible. On my tank I have an inch and a half between the edges of the flanges on the two bulkheads. I don't know if there is a specific rule but obviously the more space, the better.

 

Well I guess my mind about drilling a tank has totally changed. I'll go with a slightly larger box and go with two 3/4 inch holes and try to space them apart as much as possible and I have a drill guide already so I'll just use that to drill the new 40 breeder when I pick it up and use the old tank as the sump/fuge. Question is what is the GPH the one 3/4 inch drain handles? being that the 2nd one will have the upward facing 90 degree elbow for emergency draining.

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Well I guess my mind about drilling a tank has totally changed. I'll go with a slightly larger box and go with two 3/4 inch holes and try to space them apart as much as possible and I have a drill guide already so I'll just use that to drill the new 40 breeder when I pick it up and use the old tank as the sump/fuge. Question is what is the GPH the one 3/4 inch drain handles? being that the 2nd one will have the upward facing 90 degree elbow for emergency draining.

With a siphon it depends on how much tubing you are running. I have about 5 feet worth of tubing and according to the following table, I'm right around 500 gph.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1814606

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