DIY PCV OVerflow-Anyone made one?

I've done it, it was such a pain in the ***. I would never do it again.

 

Check out ebay for a seller called salt-solutions. They have lots of overflows to choose from very reasonably priced.

 

not sure what tank you have but ive seen some threads on rc and nr where people have drilled the back of there cubes. if this is an option for you the false wall could be the overflow.

 

Is your nano glass?    I'm going to put a calfo style over flow on one of my tanks here soon, but it's an acrylic so it won't be difficult to shave down.

 

It didn't skim the surface of the water, which is ideal, and it was a big pain in the *** to make. A lot of cutting, fidgeting, then more cutting. Save yourself the hassle and buy a hang on the back overflow.

 

I have one on my tank. I personally thought it was really easy to make and have had no issues. I am using it on my "DIY" 10g budget build that I started when I moved here from Cali. Have had no issues. Cost me about ten bucks.

 

I should ask, how big is your tank? And how much flow do you want? I made one out of 1/2" and it didn't have enough flow for my return (it was just under enough), so I made one out of 3/4". If you wanted my 1/2" built one, I would be more than happy to give it to you. It is spraypainted with krylon fusion (blue on the area that goes inside the tank and black on the outer) to match the look of my tank.

Here is a pic that I took a while back to show someone that asked on RC

 

I just use a maxijet 1200 that I had as a powerhead in my tank back home LOL. It actually works out fine. I used half inch for the return, mostly because I had a ton of extra around originally from the pvc build. There is a diagram of measurements that was made scaled for a 90g tank somewhere on the net. I just used that and scaled it down to get some fairly precise measurements. Personally, I thought it was super easy. Than again, I actually went to Lowe's with a plan and knew exactly what pieces and such I was going to need (something I rarely do LOL). I tried to dig it up last night, but couldn't find it. I do have it printed, will try and get it scanned at the ISU library this coming week and upload it here.

 

It isn't so much a special length as the fact that when it is written down in front of you it is easier to just measure out and cut than to eyeball it. At least I thought so.

 

Matt- if you want, I have a used CPR overflow sitting around that I don't need now.

 

How do you prime that overflow?

 

Matt - No I don't use an aqualifter. If done right, you shouldn't need anything like that.

Agent - There are two ways to prime it. You can add a check valve to the "U" that goes over the tank. Originally I did this, but if the valve ever fails it will allow air in. Some will use the aqualifter in this case, which is fine. Power goes out, even if you lose prime due to the check valve failing the aqualifter kicks back on once power is back. My method was just to run some airline tubing from the inlet (blue painted part in the pic) all the way to the "U" that goes over the tank (the first black painted area). I close the ball valve (bottom right of the pic) and just sucked the air out. It has never lost its prime. I have had a couple power outages (nothing major, but still). So long as I do not remove the overflow from the tank it will never have to be reprimed.
If Matt the Fiddler is getting rid of that overflow I would jump on that. I had one accidentally shipped to me from an RC sale where I bought an algae free claning magnet and the seller got his addresses mixed up and I can say they are a pretty sweet system. I have used overflow that utilized "U-tubes" and the CPR one is essentially all one unit that I do believe will remain primed very well. I didn't try it out, but just the look of the build leads me to think they are great.