High Tide Aquatics

Tank placement advice and external overflow dimensions

DurTBear

DurTBear

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Hey guys,

So I'm finally close to putting down a deposit on a new tank. It's gonna be a 48x28x22 (LWH) and I'm pretty excited about it. I have a general idea where I want to put it in my living room but wanted to run it by you guys to see what you think. I've attached three photos of the areas where I think it'll go. The tank can't really go anywhere else in the room. In the first picture, the options are either on the left wall behind the big couch or straight in front where the cooler is. My preference is the left wall but the front will be facing to the right. Also, with an external overflow, it means the tank won't be right against the wall. It will stick out a bit and I've thought about ideas to cover up the gap in stand/canopy designs etc. The downside is access to the back of the tank will be tough. How do all of you with bigger tanks deal with accessing the back and reaching down to the bottom of the overflow box, etc.?

The cooler area is much smaller (only 2.5' of wall space) so it would extend out towards the big window. But it would be viewable right when you walk in (I took the first pic with the front door behind me). Plus, it would make access to the back of the tank much easier. The left wall would be cleaner and the third pic shows where I taped off the area of where I think it'll go.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

Living_Room_002.jpg


Living_Room_003.jpg


Living_Room_004.jpg
 
Put it where you tapped off :p I don;t like tanks by doors. Someone will come in carrying something and wack the glass. Likewise, right by the window could be problematic from either light or heat.
 
Good point...any high traffic area could be problematic. As crazy as it sounds, I wish I didn't have a window in the living room! Haha! Then I could just put it in the corner.
 
Another good point!

Also wanted to ask everyone about the height of the external overflow box. The tank will be 48x28x22 (LWH) so how tall does the overflow box need to be if I want to have a flooded drain using two pipes and a third will act as an emergency standpipe. I want to make it shallow enough so it's easy to reach down to the bottom if I need to perform any maintenance but tall enough to accomodate three standpipes at different heights.
 
Regarding the electrical outlet. You may want an electrician to turn that outlet to a 4-plex and have it put on its own circuit. I had two circuits installed for my tank w/ each 4-plex having 2 gfi and 2 non-gfi plugs.

Regarding the flooded drain, you only need 2 pipes. The second should be able to handle all the flow should the first with the gate valve get clogged.
 
iani said:
Regarding the electrical outlet. You may want an electrician to turn that outlet to a 4-plex and have it put on its own circuit. I had two circuits installed for my tank w/ each 4-plex having 2 gfi and 2 non-gfi plugs.

Regarding the flooded drain, you only need 2 pipes. The second should be able to handle all the flow should the first with the gate valve get clogged.
Click to expand...

Good advice on converting that outlet. Know any good electricians? :)

So the second "should" be able to handle all the flow? What happens if it can't or am I being too paranoid? Haha!
 
If you make both stand pipes 1.5" it will be able to handle anything you can throw at it.

As for electricians I do know a good one. PM me if you want the details.
 
I think it's a good spot - 1) electrical outlet 2) window - gives some ventilation 3) if you have AC (I see the vent in the alcove) will help with ambient cooling when it gets turned on
 
iani said:
If you make both stand pipes 1.5" it will be able to handle anything you can throw at it.

As for electricians I do know a good one. PM me if you want the details.
Click to expand...

So I should go with 1.5" standpipes? I was originally thinking 1". But I can still change it.

Will PM you for details on the electrician.
 
Ok...gonna go with 1.5" drains/standpipes. How tall should the overflow box be? Should it be the full height of the tank? Half as tall? Does it matter? Just thinking if it's shorter, it'll be easier to reach down to the bottom of it.

iani said:
Regarding the electrical outlet. You may want an electrician to turn that outlet to a 4-plex and have it put on its own circuit. I had two circuits installed for my tank w/ each 4-plex having 2 gfi and 2 non-gfi plugs.
Click to expand...

Also, for your 4-plex outlet, what would you put on the gfi's vs. the non gfi's?
 
I've got a full height overflow (standard AGA) in my 57G that probably drains ~400 gph and I can't think of too many reasons to have the full height overflow. It is hard to clean down in the bottom of the overflow where detritus inevitably builds up.

The best reasons I can come up with are:
My overflow is internal so the full height keeps all the plumbing inside the tank rather than behind the tank.
To allow for greater height adjustments for the standpipe inside to control water noise.
Room for adding plumbing like a durso or a grate to keep snails out of the drain.
Room to hide a heater or other probes in the overflow.

Since your is an external overflow, I can't come up with a compelling argument to have a really tall overflow box.
 
I like tall overflows, its very hard to auto start the siphon on a flooded drain. Taller overflows give you a better chance on it. Its not a huge deal but you would need to open the gate valve to start the siphon if you were to ever stop and start your return pump.

As for the gfi and non gfi. I have all my vortechs and my return pump on non-gfi. I have everything else on the gfi. I just don't want my pumps that circulate the tank to turn off if my gfi were to trip by accident.
 
Why is it that a taller overflow would give you a better chance to start the siphon? And why would you have to open the gate valve to achieve that? So for everyone that uses the flooded drain overflow, you have to readjust your gate valve everytime you shut down your return pump?

Thanks for the advice on the non-gfi vs. gfi. Guess I'll be putting my controller on the gfi since that controls lights, dosing pumps and the heater. I'll put the pumps and return pump on the non-gfi.
 
I don't need to touch my gate valve on my full siphon drain when I shut down the return pump - the setup is pretty robust in returning to the same water level in the overflow each time I do a water change. There were some adjustments necessary in the first month or two, but I haven't really needed to touch it at all since.

I do agree that a taller overflow is nicer for getting an easier adjustment for the gate valve - a taller overflow lets you have a bigger vertical distance between the opening of the full siphon drain and the emergency drain. Ideally, you want to tune the water level in the overflow so that it is between the openings of the full siphon and emergency drain. Too low and you might get air into the full siphon drain which leads to noise and bubbles in the sump. Too high and you could have water flowing down the emergency drain (not really that bad of a concern). With a greater vertical distance, you have more room to play with in getting it set up right.
 
So if I have a 22" tall tank, how tall should I make the overflow box? I got the first sketch from AGE and they have a 10" tall overflow box. I'm thinking it should be a bit taller for the flooded drain standpipes.
 
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