Reefroom ‘A’ Continued: The Overflow, part 1

On a dreary, snowy, winter day like today in Toronto, there is nothing better than a warm fire and a great blog on a reefroom build. Since I can assume the fire is going well, then lets continue talking about the build.

Designing an overflow is like going to a proctology exam; you hope that you have the right drain, but you worry about it plugging up. Now that you have that gross image in your mind, try to replace it with one of water spilling everywhere because your drain pipe wasn’t vented properly.

Just like sumps, there are many different ways of designing an overflow. From internal and external, to box or pipe. But, getting it right without any issues is an achievement in itself.

So what did I do? I employed a modified Stockman overflow design. It is flood proof, clog proof, minimal footprint, and super silent. So what does it look like?

Here are the materials that I have used to build one overflow.

The only thing missing in the above picture is the 2″ elbow (which you may or may not need depending where the bulkhead is)

Here is a detailed list:

For the Overflow….

1. 2″ ABS or PVC pipe
2. 1.5″ ABS or PVC pipe
3. 2″ elbow
4. 2″ to 1.5″ reducer/bushing
5. Slip to Thread 1.5″ adapter (only if you are using a threaded bulkheads)
6. 4″ coupler
7. 4″ to 2″ reducer/bushing

Here is a simple way to put the overflow together:

First, you glue your 2″ elbow to your 2″x1.5″ reducer.

Then you glue to that reducer the 1.5″ pipe, cut to your desired lenght.

To the other side of the elbow, you glue the 2″ pipe (again cut to your desired size). Make sure that you measure how high you want to water to be in your tank. This pipe will determine the height of your overflow.

Before you assemble the top overflow section, you must glue together the 4″ coupler to the 4″x2″ reducer.

After that, you can join the two sections together.

Here it is inside my tank. In my setup, the overflow is supported by a longer 1.5″ pipe. Therefore reinforcement was necessary underneath the rising 2″ pipe. I used an acrylic 1/16″, 4″x8″ sheet for support that was glued to a supporting 1.5″ pipe. Then, pipe was glued to the bottom of the 2″ elbow. I used Weldon #3 and #16 for strenght. You can also try to use pvc cement.

Here are both overflows setup in the display tank.

In my next entry, I will talk about how to design the silencer that sits inside the overflow.