Toothless overflow?

[Patrick Bateman]

I'm planning my overflow, and I'm thinking about making it without any teeth, I just think it looks a little cleaner. Anybody do this?

my main concerns are:

1- How high in the tank should I put the rim of the overflow? I was thinking halfway up the black trim?

2-Is it any noisier -splashing water- than a traditional overflow with teeth.

3-are my fish all going to get sucked in for the ride of their lives?

Thanks!

[thor109]

As long as you don't have fish, snails, crabs, or other tank inhabitants it should be good.

[shaginwagon13]

I wouldn't have this unless you want to loose fish, crabs and snails.

Some fish have a hard enough time staying in the tank as it is, this is just one more thing for them to wander and sucked over.

I have never heard the noise level of a tank with the 'teethless' overflow but I would assume it is around the same noise level. Your not going to get Niagara Falls unless you have a super-up return pump cranked to full power.

[Ron Reefman]

A friend of mine has one on his 225g and we added a cover made out of eggcrate that fit snugly inside the overflow right at the top. It works fine, no issues with critters going in the overflow and it doesn't make any more noise than my toothed overflow.

[jon99]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

A friend of mine has one on his 225g and we added a cover made out of eggcrate that fit snugly inside the overflow right at the top. It works fine, no issues with critters going in the overflow and it doesn't make any more noise than my toothed overflow.

+1

I did this with gutter guard a plastic "screen" used to keep leaves out of gutters. You can find at most big home improvement stores near the gutters.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I haven't had "teeth" on an overflow I've built in years. I'd never go back after being "toothless."

There IS a difference in noise level, but obviously it depends on flow rate and how low the water level is within the box. With no teeth, a short drop, and a herbie overflow, my drain system on my current tank is literally, completely, 100% dead silent. I've witnessed overflows that were similar to mine except with teeth, and there's definitely SOME noise, though it's typically quiet enough that you can't hear it above other tank noise.

In addition, teeth essentially mean your weir (overflow lip) is half as long as you think it is, since half of the length is blocked by teeth. If you're concerned about surface skimming efficiency, size of the overflow to accommodate a given flow rate, etc., then teeth are working against you.

Keeping livestock out is a matter that is easy to address. There are lots of ways to solve this problem that don't introduce the potential problems that teeth can cause, and I'm not convinced that teeth are that effective at keeping livestock out anyways (on my long-departed 125, which had traditional toothed overflows, I had a male clown that would end up in the sump a few times a month). Typically I use clear plastic mesh, i.e. the stuff you can get from BRS to cover an open-topped tank. It's easy to attach via a few magnets, and it does a vastly better job of keeping livestock out than teeth - I've never had a critter make it past, and adding the netting to that old 125 finally kept the clown out of the overflow. Plus, you can extend the netting above/around the overflow to keep jumpers out - again, something that teeth can't accomplish.

[rrasco]

For the record, I think they are referred to as a 'weir' or a 'calfo' and they are awesome.

[gmate]

Pictures, anyone?

[rrasco]

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

I haven't had "teeth" on an overflow I've built in years. I'd never go back after being "toothless."

There IS a difference in noise level, but obviously it depends on flow rate and how low the water level is within the box. With no teeth, a short drop, and a herbie overflow, my drain system on my current tank is literally, completely, 100% dead silent. I've witnessed overflows that were similar to mine except with teeth, and there's definitely SOME noise, though it's typically quiet enough that you can't hear it above other tank noise.

Great info.

This is a big deal to me. This tank will be set up in my room, and I have a hard time falling asleep as it is. I'm quite the insomniac.

I will be designing my sump to be as quiet as possible, using the "Herbie" design. I'm probably not going to have fish for awhile, but I know there is still the issue with snails/inverts getting sucked up. I guess if it gets to be too big of an issue, I could always add the gutter guard as a number of people have suggested.

[LoJack]

The mesh is the way to go to cover an overflow. I used eggcrate on the top of my last overflow and I'll never do that again. It was very loud, and fish can still jump over, teeth or not.

Like stated above, I had a clown that would end up in my sump once a week ... and a wrasse that always jumped over to the other side lol.

Mesh fixes that problem all together without hindering your surface skimming ability.

[Malign Reefer]

Originally Posted by rrasco

I love that look, it looks my zero edge pool. Nice looking tank.

[tkeracer619]

My tank started out that way. I added weirs because I kept loosing fish.

Wouldn't consider going without them again.

[Tat2demon]

I also have a smooth top overflow with gutterguard.

[Snootch]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

I haven't had "teeth" on an overflow I've built in years. I'd never go back after being "toothless."

There IS a difference in noise level, but obviously it depends on flow rate and how low the water level is within the box. With no teeth, a short drop, and a herbie overflow, my drain system on my current tank is literally, completely, 100% dead silent. I've witnessed overflows that were similar to mine except with teeth, and there's definitely SOME noise, though it's typically quiet enough that you can't hear it above other tank noise.

In addition, teeth essentially mean your weir (overflow lip) is half as long as you think it is, since half of the length is blocked by teeth. If you're concerned about surface skimming efficiency, size of the overflow to accommodate a given flow rate, etc., then teeth are working against you.

Keeping livestock out is a matter that is easy to address. There are lots of ways to solve this problem that don't introduce the potential problems that teeth can cause, and I'm not convinced that teeth are that effective at keeping livestock out anyways (on my long-departed 125, which had traditional toothed overflows, I had a male clown that would end up in the sump a few times a month). Typically I use clear plastic mesh, i.e. the stuff you can get from BRS to cover an open-topped tank. It's easy to attach via a few magnets, and it does a vastly better job of keeping livestock out than teeth - I've never had a critter make it past, and adding the netting to that old 125 finally kept the clown out of the overflow. Plus, you can extend the netting above/around the overflow to keep jumpers out - again, something that teeth can't accomplish.

der_wille_zur_macht, my experience has been exactly the same.


How high in the tank should I put the rim of the overflow? I was thinking halfway up the black trim?

I have mine set 1.5" below the top edge. ( water level is actually at 1.25" below the edge )

2-Is it any noisier -splashing water- than a traditional overflow with teeth.

I have tried it both ways and in my case the oveflow is much quieter without the teeth.

3-are my fish all going to get sucked in for the ride of their lives?

Have been running without the teeth since Dec 2011, haven't found a single fish in the overflow.....yet.

[catfish]

Seem like a good way to lose fish.

[LoJack]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

Keeping livestock out is a matter that is easy to address. There are lots of ways to solve this problem that don't introduce the potential problems that teeth can cause, and I'm not convinced that teeth are that effective at keeping livestock out anyways (on my long-departed 125, which had traditional toothed overflows, I had a male clown that would end up in the sump a few times a month). Typically I use clear plastic mesh, i.e. the stuff you can get from BRS to cover an open-topped tank. It's easy to attach via a few magnets, and it does a vastly better job of keeping livestock out than teeth - I've never had a critter make it past, and adding the netting to that old 125 finally kept the clown out of the overflow. Plus, you can extend the netting above/around the overflow to keep jumpers out - again, something that teeth can't accomplish.

Do you have any pictures of how you did this? I intend to do the same thing, I'm just looking for a starting point.

[Felixc]

I am interested, please show some pictures if you could.