building a new tank

So with the old tank having a few problems I am taking the dive on a new tank. The size i am looking to go is 72long x 20deep x 30wide. I found with my last tank that i didnt like the 24 tall tank for cleaning and was always fighting the width when placing rock structures in the tank, hence widening the tank and going shallower.

i am looking at doing a false wall to hide my powerheads, similar to lobsterboys tank. I am looking to get peoples opinion on the overflows, return piping and hiding of the powerheads, in my case I want to hide my two tunze wavebox pumps.

is an internal overflow a better idea or is external better for the clean look? what is your thoughts on having the overflow on the same side as the return pumps or would i be better to separate them, or put the return on same side as the pumps and move the overflow to the back? also what is peoples opinion on the coast to coast overflow vs just a say 16 in overflow edge.

Cheers,
Brian

[riceboy]

i would do an external overflow that way if you using the vortech pumps it would be flush (dryside), check out my tank design, i wanted everything hidden aswell

[ScubaSteve]

External Beananimal-style overflow. Make it as coast to coast as possible. Dead silent and bloody awesome. Get the glass company (or whoever is building your tank **cough** CONCEPT AQUATICS **cough**) to cut a long notch across the back glass and build the overflow off the back. You can build external glass boxes for wave boxes (Riceboy, didn't Brad do that on your tank?).

I can post pics of my overflow design that did back in the fall if you're interested.

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

External Beananimal-style overflow. Make it as coast to coast as possible. Dead silent and bloody awesome. Get the glass company (or whoever is building your tank **cough** CONCEPT AQUATICS **cough**) to cut a long notch across the back glass and build the overflow off the back. You can build external glass boxes for wave boxes (Riceboy, didn't Brad do that on your tank?).

I can post pics of my overflow design that did back in the fall if you're interested.

please post the pic, concept is building it. i am meeting with them this afternoon. did dave build your tank for you?
cheers
brian

[ScubaSteve]

Ok, you'll have to forgive the photo-bomb here, but I'll try to show as much details as possible. I built my tank myself but Brad at Concept spent some time telling me the tricks of the trade and discussing build details. Awesome dude. From the pics of his tanks, the way the guy talks about his tanks and how far the guy will go to help you, there's probably no one better in the West than him. If I could live but a few thousand kilometers closer he'd be building my next tank.

The pics below are from the build back int the fall. I tried to find a few pics before I put the black acrylic insert in that hides all the piping. Once you know your target return flow rate from the sump and how far you want your water level from the rim of the tank, I can tell you how deep the notch has to be for the overflow (takes a bit of math).

thanks for posting scubasteve. i am going to be doing the same thing but with a 180!