Loaches Online Forum

I redid the overflow for the main tanks again. It now it has a completely different design and is capable of 1200 gph of flow. The old design was barely getting 300 gph of flow.

Here it is.

The nice thing about this design is the surface skimming. With the stainer extending above and below the water line there is no way this thing can clog and overflow my tanks. Knock on wood.

Thanks for all these idea's everyone. I never even thought of half of these things.

Wolfram- I have a few spare 10 gallon tanks that I could use instead of acrylic. I could just set them on there sides against the back of the tank stepping down. I'll take a pic of what I mean.

I need to start on a plant list and see what's available locally.

The tank on the left could be sloping down some to the other tank. Then put rocks on top of them to level them out and then stack driftwood around them. I also have a 15g and 5g tanks which might work better. I'll play around with this idea a bit more.

Hey Keith . Great design but......... 2 drains will be a bit safer although that is spectacular as is. At that high a flow one large dead fish against it can block a significant amount of exiting water. Here is the inside of one of mine. Your idea is very good......I now have a pick up in the tank for my pump also of a similar design which increased the amount of flow up to 2400 gallons an hour if needed in each tank. I run about 35 gallons or so a minute now each through 2 loach tanks with my 2 hp pentair which moves about 140 gallons a minute.The filters get about 50 gallons a minute and the rest through my other tanks......Plus my cannisters and powerheads ect.

Good thing I haven't glued the overflow together yet. Duel inlets is a wonderful idea. Thankyou Tinman. I'll make that modification for sure.

I have another tweek I want to make also. I want to use a clear pipe where the airline lever valve is so that I can see if it is primed properly.

I have clear airline on mine not only to see it but to prime it as well then tuck it in the outside level controller or overflow,whatever you call it and you can watch the airbubble to check at an instant....

The plans for this tanks landscaping is still up in the air. I want to do more research and think about it for a little while longer.

I do like Whitey's idea very much about suspended potted plants for atleast part of the tank. So I'll shop for some plants Today. What plants to get is one question. I'll look for some Echi's and Heartleaf Philodendron. The other question is what I can find locally.

Hopefully, I'll have some pic's later showing the new plants.

I'll try to get the plumbing done too, but first I need to get more pvc and elbows. I really better get a shopping list going. I think I'm going to run the an airline hose from the lever valve to a powerhead venturi intake so that the overflow stays primed.

You must consider whether or not that will self prime after a power outage. Self starting is a real trick. That sounds like a good idea .I will experiment myself with that here. I have a airline I just stick in the outside riser below the water line and I have to look at it to see if air has accumulated in the overflow and occasionally it does every few weeks. Attaching it to a power head may draw that air out as you say. Good idea.

I didn't find any Echi's, but I got plants-
Peace Lilly-

Heartleaf Philodendron-

Baby Tears-

Anyone know what this is? I thought it was Pothos Vine, but now I don't think it is.
English Ivy maybe?-

Tinman wrote:You must consider whether or not that will self prime after a power outage. Self starting is a real trick. That sounds like a good idea .I will experiment myself with that here. I have a airline I just stick in the outside riser below the water line and I have to look at it to see if air has accumulated in the overflow and occasionally it does every few weeks. Attaching it to a power head may draw that air out as you say. Good idea.

I just tried priming it with the venturi intake of a powerhead and it worked awesome. It took about 15 seconds for it to fully prime. I was so happy it worked that I stepped on a lightbulb and cut my foot up. I'm still pulling glass out of my bleeding foot, but I'm still happy nevertheless.

The only trick to it was that the powerhead I'm using (Aquaclear 30, which is weak) needs to be near the water's surface for the venturi to work. When I placed the powerhead near the bottom of the tank, the venturi wouldn't work.

Nice plants. They are going to be above water right?

Yes, they will be above the water. The roots might be in the water, but I'm not sure yet. I'm still trying to figure out how they will be planted.

Sorry to hear about your foot.

I am glad to hear that the venturi effect works well for priming your overflow. I have been wondering how well that would work. As for keeping the powerhead close to the surface, Martin has pointed out this fact. When it is too low in the water, the venturi effect does not have the power to pull air that far under water.

looks like ivy to me, grew up with it all over my parents backyard

Here's my latest try at the overflow. Most of the pvc is cemented in now, so this is probably my last attempt at getting it right.