Hob overflow ?

[LetItReef]

Hello,

I just have a nano aio tank with few corals and I am thinking of getting a 40b or a 75g possibly for Fish only set-up.
Does anyone here have a hob overflow set-up? I have seen vid with Eshopps. Also, read about overflowing
What plumbing do you have- flexi hose will be ok and what return pump size?

Thanks in advance

 

[Ron Reefman]

So I assume you are going to set up the 40 breeder or 75g with a sump?

HOB overflows are pretty easy to set up. The size of pipe is determined mostly by the size of the bulkhead in the bottom of the overflow. I think any kind of hose will work.

The big issue with HOB overflows is if the siphon that lifts the water over the back fails (and they do) the overflow shuts down and your return pump continues to push water from the sump into the DT and it overflows. The solution I used was to attache an Aqua Lifter pump to the siphon. My siphon would work OK for several days, slowly collecting air and then fail. So every evening I had a timers ($10 at hardware store) set to make the Aqua Lifter run for 30 minutes to suck all the air out of the siphon tube. Some of the newer HOB overflows work far better than mine did. But you need to pay attention to them as they can fail. That's why most people switch to drilled tanks.

You can buy an overflow that drains through the back glass if you drill holes in it for the bulkheads. Just be sure the glass you drill isn't tempered. Trying to drill tempered glass will cause it to shatter.

 

[LetItReef]

Even with the CPR overflow with this aqua lift it will fail?

 

[theMeat]

A cpr or other non-utube design overflow with an aqaulifter is about as safe as you can get, as far as hob overflow goes. Much safer than a utube design, like eshopps.
But not as safe as a drilled tank for overflow

 

[dealseer]

Even with the CPR overflow with this aqua lift it will fail?

Only if the Aqualifter fails

 

[cracker]

Yes, They all "can" fail . I have used them years ago and never had one fail but once You see how they work one can see how it could . A drilled overflow is the safest we have these days& in my op worth the $$ .

 

[JoshH]

If you can't do a drilled overflow the only HOB overflow I'd recommend is a Lifereef. Been in production for decades and 0 reports of it losing it's siphon. The Eshopps overflow would be a close second and if you look at them side by side they are ALMOST identical. I did a TON if research when I was going to go the HOB route and Lifereef was definately my first choice. I did and up drilling my tank anyway but there are quite a few more than happy Lifereef HOB owners on here if you do some digging. Ideally the best thing to do is drill, always will be the safest route but sometimes you can't always do it:)

 

[jd371]

My tank will be 4 years old this august and I've had an eshopps PF800 on my 75g without any issues at all. I've never experienced any bubbles collecting in the U-tube over time and the siphon starts right back up again in the event of a power failure or after WC's. If the siphon was ever to break my return section would run dry way before the tank overflowing, and as a fail safe if that ever happened the return and ATO shut off and I get and alarm. I picked this one over the aqualifter type because I didn't want another cord to plug in and the siphon controlled by a pump. The only downside is they are noisy out of the box and need a silencer (stockman standpipe) to be made to quiet them down, and it needs to be removed a couple of times a year for cleaning.
HOB's get a bad rap but if set up properly there shouldn't be any issues. The only reason I didn't drill mine is I wasn't 100% sure on the back glass. With that being said if you can drill the tank do so otherwise don't sweat it using an HOB.

 

[LetItReef]

My tank will be 4 years old this august and I've had an eshopps PF800 on my 75g without any issues at all. I've never experienced any bubbles collecting in the U-tube over time and the siphon starts right back up again in the event of a power failure or after WC's. If the siphon was ever to break my return section would run dry way before the tank overflowing, and as a fail safe if that ever happened the return and ATO shut off and I get and alarm. I picked this one over the aqualifter type because I didn't want another cord to plug in and the siphon controlled by a pump. The only downside is they are noisy out of the box and need a silencer (stockman standpipe) to be made to quiet them down, and it needs to be removed a couple of times a year for cleaning.
HOB's get a bad rap but if set up properly there shouldn't be any issues. The only reason I didn't drill mine is I wasn't 100% sure on the back glass. With that being said if you can drill the tank do so otherwise don't sweat it using an HOB.

Nice to hear that.
What size return pump and sump size do u have? Thanks!

 

[jd371]

I think a DC controlled pump is easier to make adjustments for the overflow. For the first two years I was using a Jebao DC6000 for the return pump and had no problems with it, just needed to be cleaned more often. I switched to a Vectra S1 and keep the DC6000 as a back up. With the Vectra I only need to clean about every 6 months, with the Jebao it needed to be cleaned more often otherwise it would lose a little flow which was evident by the change in the return water level. The sump is an eshopps RS100 rated for 75g - 125g.

 

[LetItReef]

I think a DC controlled pump is easier to make adjustments for the overflow. For the first two years I was using a Jebao DC6000 for the return pump and had no problems with it, just needed to be cleaned more often. I switched to a Vectra S1 and keep the DC6000 as a back up. With the Vectra I only need to clean about every 6 months, with the Jebao it needed to be cleaned more often otherwise it would lose a little flow which was evident by the change in the return water level. The sump is an eshopps RS100 rated for 75g - 125g.

Thanks for the info!