Mega-Flow Overflow Modification

Nathan provided this modification to his mega-flow overflow. Nathan had serious flow issue with the teeth spacing of the overflow chamber not allowing enough water into the overflow chamber.

Nathan’s design calls for no power heads within the tank and needed to handle the maximum amount of water flow from his Sequence Reeflo Dart pump (2800 GPH). He said he would have rather used a Dremel rotary tool for this job but did not have one available. Instead he used a drill with a cutting bit. The paper towels are to catch the shavings. Nathan did this modification to his existing reef setup.

This shows the bulk of the cutting has been completed.

This much wider opening will allow a tremendous amount of water into the overflow chamber.

In addition to removing the grill of the overflow chamber, Nathan also drilled several smaller holes in the upper side of the chamber where it is solid plastic. It’s questionable if these additional holes were really needed.

The grating is a plastic material called Gutter-Guard which is used to keep leaves out of house gutters. Nathan used hot glue to hold it in place. Silicone could likely be used as well if you have the time for proper curing.

Water pumps are fired up with his return pump full open.

As can be seen here the overflow chamber is handling the flow rate with no problem. In addition Nathan stated the overflow chambers were very quiet which is impressive for the volume of water being processed.

Nathan can now process nearly the entire output of his return pump. He had to dial back the return pump slightly only to prevent the sand from kicking up. He stated the overflow chamber and standpipes could handle the full flow of the pump easily.