I like how this design actually draws the water from the bottom of the tank instead of only skimming the surface. I take it the hight of the stand pipe in the overflow box is what sets the water level inside the tank. 👍🏻
Love your design! I’ve been designing a system myself to run two tanks on one pump, and watching your video helped solve a couple of problems I was having!! Super clever and awesome system.
Glad the video was of help. Adding in a float switch (after I made the video) was definitely a good idea as there was more than one occasion that it turned off the pump and prevented overflow of the top tank.
Hi Rob. Loved the way you've designed the overflow system. It looks awesome and rather safe (no worry about flooding). There are many (unsightly) DIY overflows systems that are on UA-cam, but your design beats them hands down (least in my opinion). It's neat and tidy without the plethora of PVC pipes going in and out of the tank. I will be giving a shot at making something similar for my 6ft tank. Great work mate 👍
@@robertdotfox Hi Rob, just quick question. The blue intake pipe (the end that is in the aquarium), has got a sponge on the end of it (stop fry from getting sucked in). Is that all that you've got at that end or is there anything else besides that as well.
I really like this Idea 💡 I have a big bow front 480 liter tank that I want to set up for new stock. It has glass brace's around the top edge so a hob filter isn't going to work. I didn't want anything in side the tank or anything above it either really so an under sump is Ideal. But how to fit a sump with out drilling the glass tank and getting around them brace's ? Now I have seen this I can give it a shot 🙏🏻 I think it's just answered my question ❓ thank you 👍🏻👍🏻
After much thinking, the penny dropped. The overflow (which is not a siphon) works as the water level in the tank comes up, it equalises in the overflow box, which brings it over the level of the white tube - voila! Have you experimented with the flow? How would you increase the flow out of the main tank? Great video - well explained. I thought I heard UK in the accent and USA in the power outlet - then I read Thailand in the comments!
Yep, you got it. Since it’s all run on one pump, adjusting the flow rate from the lower tank (with the black valve) automatically adjusts the rate of the overflow too. The faster water comes in, the faster it leaves. I was born in the UK, have lived in the states for 9 years, and currently live in Thailand 😉
new to the aquarist world and amazed with the awesome setup you have. would you mind sharing more about the filter you used in the main tank. and also how you made the side flow system you made. much much appreciated!
Hello Rob Fox i like the system on your aquarium or the all set up on your video. am wondering if this will going to work on the monster fish like 2 arowana. 1 aroawan at the bottom and 1 arowana on top. 1 pump only. is it ok? am wondering what if only 1 arowana that have pump will good condition but the other one arowan that have no pump will be un healthy. what do you think?
Not possible. It works on the syphon principle only and in case of power failure top tank will keep draining until the water level goes below to drain pipe.
What kind of container did you use to build your overflow box? Also, I LOVE this video. I've spent hours searching for a way to do an overflow in a way that works for my half-formed idea in my head and yours is the only one I could find. Thank you so much!
@@davidwatson7364 Not sure what kind of plastic it is. I bought two of the containers and cut one up to make the hook onto the tank and the lip the water bridge rests on. Superglue.
thats all well and fine, but if your using your fish tank as part of ornamental piece for you home , like furniture, and you will be looking at hoses and pumps, not to attractive is it?
very nice concept and beautiful video.Liked your setup very much. How is the suction power the filter has.. does the aquarium waste collected and pulled to the lower tank.. thanks
I had a similar set up and ended up with 150l water on my floor. You do have a siphon, the blue pipe with air tubing attached to it, and this pipe will eventually get some air in it and break the siphon. You have thousands of videos on UA-cam on this issue and many different solutions. If I were you, I would attach an air pump to the air tubing. That air pump will continuously suck water out of the siphon and prevent air bubble to form. Another solution is to add another siphon as a back up. Or a flotation switch. Believe me. This is an accident waiting to happen.
@@robertdotfox Good luck! I never tried this myself, but there is a lot about this on UA-cam. Do some research first. I think not all air pumps are suitable. The noise might be irritating. It would irritate me for sure. I have used floatsting switches though, and they work fine. You place them in some unconspicuous place and use them to shut down the power head or to start the air pump. Might be easier to use on the air pump actually, since you can ge DC airpumps. AC is more dangerous to use if you don't know what you are doing. The switch costs a few dollars and you need a relay (AC or DC) for below 10 USD.
@UC3iaCXnV_URbekrnFBaTPXw I think Laurent is saying that if the blue U-bend pipe get air in it (or the attached filter gets blocked - more likely in my opinion), then water will not be able to flow out of the fish tank, but water will still be pumped into the top filter and fall into the fish tank. So if water keeps flowing in, but can’t flow out, it could flood. It hasn’t happened yet, but it is possible. I’m not looking to attach an air pump anymore, but have ordered a float switch to turn off the pump in the event of the water level in the main fish tank gets too high. Thanks for your comment and kind words.
@@robertdotfox that's right Rob. I could not believe air pocket would just form spontaneously, but it did. I am actually building a little arduino system to control the floater, the light and the CO2 diffuser. Lots of fun!
i would'nt call this a fail safe anything.... Sure it's okay for a power outage, but what is the blue pipe gets clocked or if the seal around the air hose fail and the blue pipe gets air in=? then you have wet floors mate, it works for now but it's not fail safe
Nice system! What you have there is actually a bell syphon but with the bell higher than the water level which avoids drilling the tank but requires priming just once. Do you have a float sensor to shut the pump off if air ever leeches into the pipe or the filter clogs? Without it you could potentially overflow the middle tank. You could use a peristaltic pump to re-prime that pipe if the float sensor triggers.
It's not much flow in the tank. You show us what happened when the power goes down. But what happend in case of an overflow issue? Is that case the upper tank is not able to contain the water from the lower tank.
I've been waiting to find a video like this to figure out a failsafe sump set up, AND I wanted an above tank gravity setup as well. Just hit the jackpot with this. I was also told that if you drill a small hole like a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch below the water line on the intake tube, that will break the vaccum/siphon also. Seems logical but haven't tried it for sure. That would mean you could eliminate the hanging overflow box from the system and therefore a few fail points, no?
@@robertdotfox i think it is the simplest and best overflow system I’ve ever seen! I was thinking about drilling a hole but this is a risky operation. I want to install a drip water change system with an overflow. I think I am going to try with your system. Thank you very much for this excellent video.
What happens if the water bridge brakes? Any safety for not lifting all the water from the lower tank up? I think you could do something with the pump intake to take care of that risk.
I’ve since added a float switch on the top tank that controls the pump in the lower tank - so if the top tank gets too full, the pump switches off. Perhaps I’ll make a video with the new inclusion.
Hi! Tried to copy your very cool setup just have a question about jumpstarting the siphon tube why wont my siphon tube siphon water when i suck it? Thank yoj hope youll read this.
Because it’s not a siphon. As long as there is no air in the blue U-shaped pipe, it will only equalize the water level in the top main tank and the little side overflow box. Once those levels are equal, water will not flow. The way to make the water flow continuously is to constantly pump water into the top main tank, then the water will flow through the blue U-shaped pipe and out of the overflow box.
Hi can I ask how you made it as I currently use the pvc pipe for my overflow but seeing a reduction in the flow to my sump I figured this would be easier to use on the marine tank
Which part would you like me to explain? It’s really a very simple design that should be clear from looking at it. The blue pvc pipe is free floating with the filter end in the tank and the outlet in the small overflow box.
@@simonsmith7594 I bought a food grade little plastic storage box from the supermarket, drilled and siliconed in the white pipe. I then heated and bent another piece of plastic into a U shape to hook over the side of the aquarium and glued the box to it.
I bought a small plastic container from the supermarket, then superglued another piece of plastic to it and heated and bent that piece to hook onto the tank.
This is more like a top filter than an actual sump . Plus using common filter between two tanks always risks cross contamination . You do not need an overflow box for a top sump . I don’t know what you are really trying here .
Power of. After ma be amty your tank.oll woter come doun out side.wote lavel no have up side pipe.so very denjarsh.that time u not prajent hom.make a lossading.
Not sure that I understand you correctly, but there are no problems with this design in a power outage as demonstrated when I turned the pump off in the video.
![MUST-SEE DIY Surface overflow | Potential issues and ways to overcome it [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tR7CgoHDFYE/mqdefault.jpg)
![MUST-SEE DIY Surface overflow | Potential issues and ways to overcome it [Tutorial]](/img/tr.png)
I like how this design actually draws the water from the bottom of the tank instead of only skimming the surface. I take it the hight of the stand pipe in the overflow box is what sets the water level inside the tank. 👍🏻
Love your design! I’ve been designing a system myself to run two tanks on one pump, and watching your video helped solve a couple of problems I was having!! Super clever and awesome system.
Glad the video was of help. Adding in a float switch (after I made the video) was definitely a good idea as there was more than one occasion that it turned off the pump and prevented overflow of the top tank.
Been thinking about this kind of system for a while and you make it more clear. Thank you for your video explanation.
This is by far the coolest tank
Thanks
Definitely gave me a few ideas, thank you for sharing. The main tank looks great.
That's fantastic. Thanks for the detailed explanation. Great system.
Thanks for sharing the brilliant Mechanical cycle
This is the best DIY owerflow box i’v seen. Master 💪💪💪 Thanks for your job !
The blue pipe is most definitely a siphon.
yes it is a siphon, the levels of the left and right side piple does not matter as long as they are flooded and below the water level.
What a great way to do the filtration.👍💯✌️
How do you deal with water evaporation? Do you always leave the aquariums uncovered?
Very nice setup
Excellent design. 👏👏👏👏
Hi Rob. Loved the way you've designed the overflow system. It looks awesome and rather safe (no worry about flooding).
There are many (unsightly) DIY overflows systems that are on UA-cam, but your design beats them hands down (least in my opinion). It's neat and tidy without the plethora of PVC pipes going in and out of the tank.
I will be giving a shot at making something similar for my 6ft tank.
Great work mate 👍
Thanks so much for the kind words. Glad the design helped you out.
@@robertdotfox Hi Rob, just quick question.
The blue intake pipe (the end that is in the aquarium), has got a sponge on the end of it (stop fry from getting sucked in). Is that all that you've got at that end or is there anything else besides that as well.
@@khaldrogo8559 Just a sponge. You don’t want to inhibit the flow of water too much as it’s only gravity fed.
I love the system. Great job. 👍👍👍👍👍
Nice, clean, neat concept Mr---! great idea to have your 2nd container with ceramic media and plants --- I did like it a lot !
I connected a aeration adaptor to pump out to constantly suck any air out of overflow pipe and be adjusted with a valve
I find these wonderful designs and these awesome creators haven't posted a video in years.
This is a great design. I suppose that you could add an additional tank after the first one with fish as long as you repeat the whole bridge system.
I really like this Idea 💡 I have a big bow front 480 liter tank that I want to set up for new stock. It has glass brace's around the top edge so a hob filter isn't going to work. I didn't want anything in side the tank or anything above it either really so an under sump is Ideal. But how to fit a sump with out drilling the glass tank and getting around them brace's ? Now I have seen this I can give it a shot 🙏🏻 I think it's just answered my question ❓ thank you 👍🏻👍🏻
After much thinking, the penny dropped. The overflow (which is not a siphon) works as the water level in the tank comes up, it equalises in the overflow box, which brings it over the level of the white tube - voila! Have you experimented with the flow? How would you increase the flow out of the main tank? Great video - well explained. I thought I heard UK in the accent and USA in the power outlet - then I read Thailand in the comments!
Yep, you got it. Since it’s all run on one pump, adjusting the flow rate from the lower tank (with the black valve) automatically adjusts the rate of the overflow too. The faster water comes in, the faster it leaves.
I was born in the UK, have lived in the states for 9 years, and currently live in Thailand 😉
Congrats for the design!!!
new to the aquarist world and amazed with the awesome setup you have. would you mind sharing more about the filter you used in the main tank. and also how you made the side flow system you made. much much appreciated!
One word describes this set up: Awesome
Did you build the top filter /sump?
Love this, feel inspired to try it
That's pretty awesome 👍
Hello Rob Fox i like the system on your aquarium or the all set up on your video. am wondering if this will going to work on the monster fish like 2 arowana. 1 aroawan at the bottom and 1 arowana on top. 1 pump only. is it ok? am wondering what if only 1 arowana that have pump will good condition but the other one arowan that have no pump will be un healthy. what do you think?
very nice ...congrats ..its really motivated
Very nice, this solves my drilling of tanks problem
Not possible. It works on the syphon principle only and in case of power failure top tank will keep draining until the water level goes below to drain pipe.
awesome setup!
What kind of container did you use to build your overflow box?
Also, I LOVE this video. I've spent hours searching for a way to do an overflow in a way that works for my half-formed idea in my head and yours is the only one I could find. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome. I’m using a food grade plastic container for the overflow box.
Is the lip it hands on just acrylic and superglue? Or silicone?
@@davidwatson7364 Not sure what kind of plastic it is. I bought two of the containers and cut one up to make the hook onto the tank and the lip the water bridge rests on. Superglue.
Helped me so much. Thank you
You’re welcome.
thats all well and fine, but if your using your fish tank as part of ornamental piece for you home , like furniture, and you will be looking at hoses and pumps, not to attractive is it?
nice, but needs to be prep up again after the power outage
I think this is VERY cool indeed sir! That's very interesting. I wonder what a setup like this would cost?
Very nice setup thanks
Its been three years since the upload, update video on how its been working?
Nice video ^^
very nice concept and beautiful video.Liked your setup very much. How is the suction power the filter has.. does the aquarium waste collected and pulled to the lower tank.. thanks
Thank you!
Keeps accurate heat and is smaller than the details suggest!
I’m very new to this , but is this a saltwater tank system ? If so can this system set up handle a few Corel?
Where did you get the plastic box for the over flow box?
I had a similar set up and ended up with 150l water on my floor. You do have a siphon, the blue pipe with air tubing attached to it, and this pipe will eventually get some air in it and break the siphon. You have thousands of videos on UA-cam on this issue and many different solutions. If I were you, I would attach an air pump to the air tubing. That air pump will continuously suck water out of the siphon and prevent air bubble to form. Another solution is to add another siphon as a back up. Or a flotation switch. Believe me. This is an accident waiting to happen.
Thanks. I’ll look into attaching an air pump.
@@robertdotfox Good luck! I never tried this myself, but there is a lot about this on UA-cam. Do some research first. I think not all air pumps are suitable. The noise might be irritating. It would irritate me for sure. I have used floatsting switches though, and they work fine. You place them in some unconspicuous place and use them to shut down the power head or to start the air pump. Might be easier to use on the air pump actually, since you can ge DC airpumps. AC is more dangerous to use if you don't know what you are doing. The switch costs a few dollars and you need a relay (AC or DC) for below 10 USD.
@UC3iaCXnV_URbekrnFBaTPXw I think Laurent is saying that if the blue U-bend pipe get air in it (or the attached filter gets blocked - more likely in my opinion), then water will not be able to flow out of the fish tank, but water will still be pumped into the top filter and fall into the fish tank. So if water keeps flowing in, but can’t flow out, it could flood. It hasn’t happened yet, but it is possible.
I’m not looking to attach an air pump anymore, but have ordered a float switch to turn off the pump in the event of the water level in the main fish tank gets too high.
Thanks for your comment and kind words.
@@robertdotfox that's right Rob. I could not believe air pocket would just form spontaneously, but it did. I am actually building a little arduino system to control the floater, the light and the CO2 diffuser. Lots of fun!
@@laurentdrozin812 Nice! I’d love to see your set up.
i would'nt call this a fail safe anything.... Sure it's okay for a power outage, but what is the blue pipe gets clocked or if the seal around the air hose fail and the blue pipe gets air in=? then you have wet floors mate, it works for now but it's not fail safe
You’re right. I modified it with a float switch that kills power to the pump if the top tank gets full. - see description
Nice system! What you have there is actually a bell syphon but with the bell higher than the water level which avoids drilling the tank but requires priming just once. Do you have a float sensor to shut the pump off if air ever leeches into the pipe or the filter clogs? Without it you could potentially overflow the middle tank. You could use a peristaltic pump to re-prime that pipe if the float sensor triggers.
I added a float switch to the top tank after I made the video. If the top tank gets too full, the pump shuts off automatically.
It's not much flow in the tank. You show us what happened when the power goes down. But what happend in case of an overflow issue? Is that case the upper tank is not able to contain the water from the lower tank.
I added a float switch to the top tank after I made the video. If the top tank gets too full, the pump shuts off automatically.
Very nice, 👍
I've been waiting to find a video like this to figure out a failsafe sump set up, AND I wanted an above tank gravity setup as well. Just hit the jackpot with this. I was also told that if you drill a small hole like a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch below the water line on the intake tube, that will break the vaccum/siphon also. Seems logical but haven't tried it for sure. That would mean you could eliminate the hanging overflow box from the system and therefore a few fail points, no?
Nice and interesting video! Would it work without the filter on top of the tank, I mean if the pumped water goes directly in the tank
Yes, the water would still circulate, but you’d need filtration somehow.
@@robertdotfox i think it is the simplest and best overflow system I’ve ever seen! I was thinking about drilling a hole but this is a risky operation. I want to install a drip water change system with an overflow. I think I am going to try with your system. Thank you very much for this excellent video.
What happens if the water bridge brakes? Any safety for not lifting all the water from the lower tank up? I think you could do something with the pump intake to take care of that risk.
I’ve since added a float switch on the top tank that controls the pump in the lower tank - so if the top tank gets too full, the pump switches off. Perhaps I’ll make a video with the new inclusion.
@@robertdotfox 👍nice work!
Do you have a parts list, listed anywhere? I really like this design!
No, sorry. I went to local shops near where I was living in Thailand.
Where did you get the top tank? I’m sure you’ve been asked many times.
sir if i use 5800 liter pump no problem? and pipe recomendation size?
Hi Rob, how strong is your submersible pump?
What’s they hang on tub called I can’t find anything
I made it myself.
如果藍色管子跑空氣進去會被發現嗎？藍色管子漸漸充滿空氣，到最後虹吸就會失敗。
Any update on the tank/ set up
Hi! Tried to copy your very cool setup just have a question about jumpstarting the siphon tube why wont my siphon tube siphon water when i suck it? Thank yoj hope youll read this.
Because it’s not a siphon. As long as there is no air in the blue U-shaped pipe, it will only equalize the water level in the top main tank and the little side overflow box. Once those levels are equal, water will not flow. The way to make the water flow continuously is to constantly pump water into the top main tank, then the water will flow through the blue U-shaped pipe and out of the overflow box.
@@robertdotfox thankyou so much!
Hi can I ask how you made it as I currently use the pvc pipe for my overflow but seeing a reduction in the flow to my sump I figured this would be easier to use on the marine tank
Which part would you like me to explain? It’s really a very simple design that should be clear from looking at it. The blue pvc pipe is free floating with the filter end in the tank and the outlet in the small overflow box.
How did you make the overflow box
@@simonsmith7594 I bought a food grade little plastic storage box from the supermarket, drilled and siliconed in the white pipe. I then heated and bent another piece of plastic into a U shape to hook over the side of the aquarium and glued the box to it.
nice 1
Hey Rob, where can I find that blue tube.
Your local hardware store? Home Depot? I don’t know where you live. I’m in Thailand.
@@robertdotfox ok figures, I’m in the states and have not been able to find tubing like that. Thanks for the response
What clear box did you use? Link
I bought a small plastic container from the supermarket, then superglued another piece of plastic to it and heated and bent that piece to hook onto the tank.
What size pipe did you use?
Hi Rod, what if you have different size of tank?
No problem. You could use this same idea with any size tank.
Thanks You so much for inputs.
This is more like a top filter than an actual sump . Plus using common filter between two tanks always risks cross contamination .
You do not need an overflow box for a top sump .
I don’t know what you are really trying here .
I was trying to stack 2 tanks vertically and circulate water between them. Mission accomplished 😎
it is TOTALLY a siphon ..
It’s actually not. It’s a water bridge to an overflow. A siphon sucks water, this system cycles water at the rate water is pumped and overflows.
Ngl intro kinda sus
Power of. After ma be amty your tank.oll woter come doun out side.wote lavel no have up side pipe.so very denjarsh.that time u not prajent hom.make a lossading.
Not sure that I understand you correctly, but there are no problems with this design in a power outage as demonstrated when I turned the pump off in the video.
thank you that was very interesting