Old tank bulkhead/overflow

[chev2]

Looking for some insight here, I have done a lot of reading but haven't found exactly what I am looking for. I recently picked up a couple old divided tanks. The type you would see at a fish store. It will be for my son's room as he wants a variety of fish that may not get along, and I want one tank so he doesn't have more than the three he already has. All of my experience is with HOB filters or a drilled tank either in the bottom, or the top. These tanks are drilled but the holes are in the back panel in the lower corner. There is an overflow box built in the corner on the inside. My question is, will this still function the same way as a regular drilled tank? And will it still need a standpipe in the overflow area? The return is straightforward. My thoughts are yes and yes, but I figured I would check before we got the thing ready to go. Thanks for the help!

 

[revhtree]

YES! I would plumb them like a standard tank.

Very cool tanks. What do you plan to house?

 

[chev2]

Im really not 100% sure so far. My son has mostly freshwater, but we also have. 29 gallon with a pair of clowns that are like 9yrs old. So we may do one saltwater and one freshwater, trying to decide! I want to redo the bulkheads and get a standpipe in there and then redo the return line. Will be using a 30gallon ish sump.

 

[UncommonSense]

I want to redo the bulkheads and get a standpipe in there and then redo the return line. Will be using a 30gallon ish sump

If you can sneak a second bulkhead and standpipe into the overflow box area, you can employ a “Herbie” drain system for redundancy, and silent operation!

Single drain overflow systems have a tendency to run noisy unless muffled or otherwise tuned in… a dual drain system allows you to run a silent full siphon primary drain, and an emergency drain!

 

[chev2]

These are the current holes, not enough space to go side by side on the drains for herbie, but I could probably get one above the current hole. Haven’t really seen it setup like that before though.

 

[UncommonSense]

These are the current holes, not enough space to go side by side on the drains for herbie, but I could probably get one above the current hole. Haven’t really seen it setup like that before though.

You should have space to get a second bulkhead/standpipe in the overflow box if you use a few 45 degree elbows!

A dual drain (Herbie), or triple drain (BeanAnimal) overflow system is the gold standard in this day and age; more or less all new tanks come plumbed this way, primarily for the above reasons!