Overflow and Return placement advice please

MarSch

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I would like advice on positioning for my overflow and return for my tank.

Tank: 120cm x 45cm x 45cm (48" x 18" x 18")

I have a small Marine Depot Elite OverFlow Box

Where should I place it?

It will be on the 120cm back end of the fish tank as its already painted black. Should it be near a corner? Or right in the center? I'll be drilling the hole myself (wish me luck!) so want to make sure I don't screw it up.

And where should the return go? The return will probably just go up over the edge of the tank, not be through a drilled hole, so I can easily change it later, so this is less impoartant.

Also, what power/flow rate does the return pump need to have? MD does not state the drain rate of the overflow box.
 

Pete Luna

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My first tank had only one overflow, a hang on the back, I had it on the back left and the return on the back right. my current tank has two of each, I definitely liked it with them on opposite corners. I think you get better turnover. as for the pump I wouldn't get anything more than 250 gal an hour, use power heads to turn water over, over flow say's it has two 1" that is more than enough, you can use one as the main overflow, the other as an emergency backup if the first becomes plugged
 

Super Fly

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I would agree with @Pete Luna that having return and drain on opposite corners would provide a very good flow.
 

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