How to Drill your aquarium and install a Shadow Overflow

Acro maniac · May 20, 2017

I watched the video again to see if i missed something....
My problem that i see is the trim on the tank is 3/16 thick and the stand off on the rear box is less then 1/16 plus 1/16 for the gaskit doesnt allow room for the lid to be removed. Unless i lower the box the thickness of the flange on the lid. Which will in turn lower the water level inside the tank
Hopefully i can be directed at what im missing

needbiggertanks · Jun 5, 2017

@Acro maniac I just got mine and am experiencing this issue as well. If i snap the lid on, the box pulls very slightly away from the glass. I may have lined up the template wrong, but im contemplating to dremmel that plastic frame a little bit.

Did you find anything that worked?

Acro maniac · Jun 5, 2017

needbiggertanks said:
@Acro maniac I just got mine and am experiencing this issue as well. If i snap the lid on, the box pulls very slightly away from the glass. I may have lined up the template wrong, but im contemplating to dremmel that plastic frame a little bit.

Did you find anything that worked?

I noticed what i thought to be an issue prior to dilling. I was told by mixer911 through IM that i could line up the outside box just below the trim. Thats what i did also i used the bigger bit I think it was 65mm but dont quote me on that. But it allows me to move the inside box 1/4 " up and down without changing the hieght of the outside box. If you want to see i have a build thread that its documented in.https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-180-sps-kingdom.305008/

needbiggertanks · Jun 5, 2017

Thanks. Ill check it out

needbiggertanks · Jun 8, 2017

Thanks i checked it it out. It looks like the holes got drilled 2mm too high. Im just gonna dremmel the lip of the tanks trim right above the overflow. Thanks for linking your build for me

Acro maniac · Jun 8, 2017

needbiggertanks said:
Thanks i checked it it out. It looks like the holes got drilled 2mm too high. Im just gonna dremmel the lip of the tanks trim right above the overflow. Thanks for linking your build for me

No problem

Kayvon · Sep 13, 2017

If I drilled a tank for the old ghost overflows, would they line up with the new shadows?

mixer911 · Sep 13, 2017

Kayvon said:
If I drilled a tank for the old ghost overflows, would they line up with the new shadows?

Yes @Kayvon our old 16" ghost has the same hole pattern as the new Shadow. They interchange perfectly.

Aquainas · Sep 16, 2018

Is a 60mm bit completely out of the question?

GoldeneyeRet · Sep 16, 2018

I just installed my overflow and tank is filling now. Hopefully everything is done right!

Only issue I can see is the supplied u tubes are junk. I cleaned, sanded and chamfered the upright pieces I cut. Directions said press fit so I did, but the u- tubes both split before I even got the pipes 1/4 inch inserted. They easily split at the seams with very little pressure applied. Use caution, they are CHEAP junk.

I am now scared to insert the assembly into the box itself, what to do...

mixer911 · Sep 16, 2018

Quill said:
Is a 60mm bit completely out of the question?

While technically it will work, they is no room for error with 60mm. 63 or 65mm are the best options.

GoldeneyeRet said:
I just installed my overflow and tank is filling now. Hopefully everything is done right!

Only issue I can see is the supplied u tubes are junk. I cleaned, sanded and chamfered the upright pieces I cut. Directions said press fit so I did, but the u- tubes both split before I even got the pipes 1/4 inch inserted. They easily split at the seams with very little pressure applied. Use caution, they are CHEAP junk.

I am now scared to insert the assembly into the box itself, what to do...

If you have an issue with the u pipes being too tight just let us know. They could have been over welded and that makes them tight and brittle. That's why they split. We can replace them. These are only made to divert water down a piece of PVC and not made for industrial plumbing at a commercial water facility. So yes the are thinner than schedule 80 pvc and were made to he that way.

GoldeneyeRet · Sep 16, 2018

Mine were very tight and extremely brittle. Both snapped in half very easily.

I have them out to glue them together now, if it doesn't work I will let you know. Thanks for your response!

mixer911 · Sep 16, 2018

GoldeneyeRet said:
Mine were very tight and extremely brittle. Both snapped in half very easily.

I have them out to glue them together now, if it doesn't work I will let you know. Thanks for your response!

How old are they? That sounds like some of the first ones from a few years ago. They were too tight and we have since updated the tooling to fix that. Either way just let us know.

GoldeneyeRet · Sep 16, 2018

I bought it just a few months ago.

I glued them up and sanded my pipe down and it appears that they will work.

Aquainas · Sep 17, 2018

mixer911 said:
While technically it will work, they is no room for error with 60mm. 63 or 65mm are the best options.

I figured that...well I won't risk it my 65mm bit gets here on Tuesday. Can you see to it that my 16" Ghost that I just ordered gets here sooner rather than later as well

Shane.

mixer911 · Sep 17, 2018

GoldeneyeRet said:
I bought it just a few months ago.

I glued them up and sanded my pipe down and it appears that they will work.

Ok. Good to know.

Quill said:
I figured that...well I won't risk it my 65mm bit gets here on Tuesday. Can you see to it that my 16" Ghost that I just ordered gets here sooner rather than later as well

Shane.

Good call! If you ordered it from us it will ship today for you! Thanks!