Overflow Teeth question

[tigger2577]

I have recently purchased a used Acrylic tank, this tank has a overflow on the back panel in the center. The previous owner broke some of the teeth off with a par of pliers so there was more flow going in to the overflow.

I now want to clean up the mess that was made.

Looking at the Image you can see I have one location that is lower then the rest should I just trim everything to the blue line or go with the red line

http://s33.photobucket.com/user/tigg...gykaf.png.html

[RobZilla04]

You'll need teeth to restrict the flow into the box otherwise it will overflow. You can trim to the bottom line and create new teeth. Another option is place something over the outside to restrict the flow and prevent fish from ending up in the box (I had that happen several times).

[JaySchulz]

I would trim everything to the red line unless that brings down your waterline more than you could live with. Taking off all the teeth will actually make your tank more capable of getting organics to the sump and removed via mechanical filtration.

[mcgyvr]

Pick the red or the blue Neo..

Either one is fine..Picking the red will simply set the water level in your tank lower than if you pick the blue pill..
No one needs teeth on an overflow.. All they do is help to prevent fish,etc.. from taking a ride down/into the overflow..
They are NOT there to restrict flow on purpose..

[ca1ore]

^ Exactly. Overflow will only take what the pump provides.

[on the spot]

Don't forget option 3:

put a strip of acrylic over it it raise the water level. It looks like the top of the weir is what, ½" below the top of the tank already? I would rather raise the pump off level than lower it.

YMMV

[RobZilla04]

I stand corrected.

[Greybeard]

ewwww.

If it were mine, I'd trim at/below the red line in your photo, nice and straight, and build a new, slip on weir from some black acrylic.

[azsoccerpop]

Originally Posted by tigger2577

I have recently purchased a used Acrylic tank, this tank has a overflow on the back panel in the center. The previous owner broke some of the teeth off with a par of pliers so there was more flow going in to the overflow.



I now want to clean up the mess that was made.



Looking at the Image you can see I have one location that is lower then the rest should I just trim everything to the blue line or go with the red line



http://s33.photobucket.com/user/tigg...gykaf.png.html

Where you trim is where the waterline in your display will end up not taking into account water tension but where ever you decide you still need to screen above the waterline to prevent critters ending up in the weir and then possibly plugging a drain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clowning_Around]

I would not trim either. Instead I would create a new say 2 inch tall black acylic piece with teeth to match the old locations and the solvent weld it right over the old face on the outside face.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[DasCamel]

Originally Posted by clowning_around

i would not trim either. Instead i would create a new say 2 inch tall black acylic piece with teeth to match the old locations and the solvent weld it right over the old face on the outside face.

Sent from my sm-g930p using tapatalk

+1

[Lsufan]

I would cut it off at the red line & leave it be. Personally, I rather a overflow without teeth. U get better surface skimming without the teeth. If u aren't using a canopy then u will see the water line no matter what being its a rimless tank. If u rather the water line be 1/2" to 3/4" higher then what that will leave u with then just install another piece of acrylic to raise the water level. Even if u raise the water level with a piece of acrylic I would skip the teeth & have a flat wier.

I would go ahead & cut the hole front & the sides when u cut it down so the water can enter over the entire box instead of only entering a section of it. U will improve the surface skimming greatly by doing that & having a flat wier. U will probably improve the surface skimming of that overflow by 70 to 80%

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Teeth vs no teeth is a personal preference thing. Teeth are intended to keep livestock out but honestly after many years running tanks both ways I can say there is no significant difference. With no teeth, the water layer flowing over the weir tends to be so thin that it naturally prevents livestock from going over the edge anyways.

These days I go without teeth. For one thing, it's a lot easier to build a box without them. Secondly, I find toothless overflows to be much quieter. A smooth, uninterrupted layer of water flowing over a smooth weir can be literally silent, while a box with teeth almost always has at least some splashing noise from the teeth causing turbulence.

[tigger2577]

Thanks for all the responses. I am still up in the air on what to do.

I am leaning on adding a an acrylic strip to make no teeth overflow. With that should I put the strip on the outside of the box or on the inside. I am thinking the outside and taking the bottom edge and smoothing it out so it dose not quite the visible lip

[mcgyvr]

outside

[Clowning_Around]

Outside. I think it will look better and it will also be easier to install and get to looking good and not Like a patch job

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[ca1ore]

I tend to agree that teeth/slots versus smooth top make very little difference. For a given linear length, a smooth top skims better; but it would be as half of that length is not blocked. Trouble is that many of my fish end up in the sump, so I tend to go with teeth; but I run a longer skim box to compensate.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The few times I've had problems with fish in the overflow I just rig a strip of gutter guard or clear mesh (the stuff used to make covers for tanks) to keep the livestock out.

[Clowning_Around]

You can also adjust your inlet pipes so as ti have perforated openings or slots, just be sure to increase the area so that the openings in total dont reduce/bottleneck your plumbing pipes capacity. Then you just simply move any fish that get into your back into your DT

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk