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Overflow for AquaMaxx 2.6 Gallon


kinetic

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This might be crazy, but I want to drill an AquaMaxx 2.6 Gallon tank for an external overflow.

 

Are there any nice overflow kits that will work with such a small tank?

 

My goal is to plumb it to my bigger Reefer 170 system, and try to find a pygmy anglerfish. It will be tiny, but easy to see in the tank, and easy to feed! Lower flow for the guy, but plenty of filtration and water volume for him by plumbing into the bigger system.

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1 hour ago, RoboNarples2929 said:

You might want to check out the new two little fishies overflow.

You mean the XAQUA inout? It's pretty old, so not sure if that's the one you're talking about.

 

It is really pricey for a seemingly cheap looking plastic piece. But if it's durable, quiet, and works well, it might be a good option.

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2 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

I almost think you could use a standard bulkhead covered by this siliconed to the tank. It would be a pretty cheap solution.

 

https://intankaquatics.com/intank-universal-surface-skimmer/

I was thinking that too. Will a simple elbow with a "breather" in the drain be enough to keep it quiet? Just want to make sure it looks clean (which overflow boxes do) and quiet.

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Lauraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
3 hours ago, kinetic said:

You mean the XAQUA inout? It's pretty old, so not sure if that's the one you're talking about.

 

It is really pricey for a seemingly cheap looking plastic piece. But if it's durable, quiet, and works well, it might be a good option.

Lol sorry i thought it was new (I've was out of the hobby for the past 3 years.)

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25 minutes ago, kinetic said:

I was thinking that too. Will a simple elbow with a "breather" in the drain be enough to keep it quiet? Just want to make sure it looks clean (which overflow boxes do) and quiet.

Yeah, you’d need to run it like a durso and it would be pretty quiet otherwise it would gurgle.  The eshopps overflow box would probably be a little quieter as one of the drains would be full siphon-but it’s just so big for the tank. 

 

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3 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

Yeah, you’d need to run it like a durso and it would be pretty quiet otherwise it would gurgle.  The eshopps overflow box would probably be a little quieter as one of the drains would be full siphon-but it’s just so big for the tank. 

 

I might go with the Modular Marine nano, that seems to be the smallest and looks pretty nice. I'm worried about maintaining those surface skimmers. If I silicon them onto the glass, it would be near impossible to access the space between? I guess I could just get a sponge in there.

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8 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

I don’t think you could go wrong with that one. And it would look super clean - as I know that’s how your builds are! 

 

Keep us posted! 

 

Haha yes, form over function is sometimes my downfall 😉

 

I'm still debating if I want to do it. I'll need to figure out the plumbing and lighting as well. For the tank inhabitants, I think I'll probably need a snail that will be able to keep it fairly clean but also not starve. Maybe just an astrea would work. Or I can just bring a trochus over from the main tank every couple days.

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  • 3 weeks later...
4 hours ago, ahud said:

@kinetic 

Did you come up with anything? I'm in a similar boat. 

I emailed modular marine, and they said the nano would be fine. Not entirely sure what that means, but I guess it would work out. I would probably just go that direction if I ended up doing it. It's funny that the overflow costs almost as much (maybe more) than the actual tank.

 

I wonder if a better solution is to just drill a small bulkhead, and get a surface skimmer box. The key would be to get the plumbing to look as nice and smooth, and with the hope that I could fiddle around with it enough for quiet operation. Getting a modular marine you're paying for that R&D, which could be worth it. Though it would suck if it's loud and unusable with such a small tank/flow.

 

The XAqua might also be a good solution since it does "pulsing." If I don't have any pumps in the tank, this might be a great way to get a little random flow.

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19 hours ago, kinetic said:

I emailed modular marine, and they said the nano would be fine. Not entirely sure what that means, but I guess it would work out. I would probably just go that direction if I ended up doing it. It's funny that the overflow costs almost as much (maybe more) than the actual tank.

 

I wonder if a better solution is to just drill a small bulkhead, and get a surface skimmer box. The key would be to get the plumbing to look as nice and smooth, and with the hope that I could fiddle around with it enough for quiet operation. Getting a modular marine you're paying for that R&D, which could be worth it. Though it would suck if it's loud and unusable with such a small tank/flow.

 

The XAqua might also be a good solution since it does "pulsing." If I don't have any pumps in the tank, this might be a great way to get a little random flow.

 

I have been speaking with them as well. They offered to send me the Nano undrilled so I could see what I could come up with. But I'm on the fence about it. The tank I am considering is larger than yours at 18x11x11. Overflows on these small rimless tanks stick out like a sore thumb. And I don't want to paint the back glass.

 

If I was willing to go bare bottom, I would 100% just do a canister filter with glass inflow/outflow. But I have a pistol shrimp and goby. On the fence about the canister since I have a sand bed. But that is the cleanest look IMO.

 

If you come up with something in the future, mind updating? 

 

 

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I saw on another forum where someone took a 4" pvc pipe and cut it in half length wise and used it as an overflow/area to hide the heater and hob tube. might be able to make that work too

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