Can anyone help me solve blockage issues on my diy overflow?

Sockcman

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I have a DIY 20 gal long AIO. I'm having issues with things clogging my filter chamber overflow. Occasional a trochus snail will climb over it and I saw my clownfish swim into it the other night... The drop in water intake triggers my ATO and the other night caused a sever salinity drop.

Sorry for the bad images but the intake is about an inch and a half by an inch in a half with teeth. I calculated the intake flow around 200 gph which is the same or greater than my sicce syncra 1.0 return.

Any idea how I can stop this from happening? I feel like I need to increase the intake flow but not sure how to do that without making the hole big enough for creatures to get in or fill my tank with acrylic dust.

Please help!



PXL_20260920_214950368.jpg

PXL_20260920_214938142.jpg
 
You might have better performance with the pump running slower (if possible?)
 
I have a DIY 20 gal long AIO. I'm having issues with things clogging my filter chamber overflow. Occasional a trochus snail will climb over it and I saw my clownfish swim into it the other night... The drop in water intake triggers my ATO and the other night caused a sever salinity drop.

Sorry for the bad images but the intake is about an inch and a half by an inch in a half with teeth. I calculated the intake flow around 200 gph which is the same or greater than my sicce syncra 1.0 return.

Any idea how I can stop this from happening? I feel like I need to increase the intake flow but not sure how to do that without making the hole big enough for creatures to get in or fill my tank with acrylic dust.

Please help!



PXL_20260920_214950368.jpg

PXL_20260920_214938142.jpg

I had a Aquatop AIO tank come in as salvage which had this interesting little acrylic hang-on overflow weir strainer:

image.jpg
image.jpg


perhaps you can find something similar to hang in front of your weir teeth?
 
I had a Aquatop AIO tank come in as salvage which had this interesting little acrylic hang-on overflow weir strainer:

image.jpg
image.jpg


perhaps you can find something similar to hang in front of your weir teeth?
Great idea thanks! I was able to find something similar.
 

WHAT KIND OF SUBSTRATE ARE YOU RUNNING ON YOUR TANK?

  • Bare bottom

    Votes: 5 25.0%
  • A shallow bed of fine sand

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • A shallow bed of coarser sand

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • A deep sand bed

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • Mixed substrate or varying sand depth

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • Some other substrate (posted in the comments)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I don’t have a reef tank yet

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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