overflow...teeth, or no teeth?

[JayM]

The subject says it all....as I get closer to new tank time, I am in the design phase of the overflow.

I'm 99% sure I am going with a calfo-style overflow, probably somewhere between 30 and 36" long

I'm also reasonably sure I will be using the 'bean animal' style drain system.

My question is, does having the 'teeth' make a difference, other than aesthetics?

 

[CrazyCorals]

i wouldnt think so..............probably just helps so fish dont go through

 

[JohnK]

No teeth is often considered superior because you get better surface skimming. On the other hand, since you will have a fairly long overflow the surface skimming will still be pretty darn good with teeth.

Personally I prefer to go with teeth so it's harder for fish to go over the top, and for a few other reasons. I'm also not really sold on the idea that the surface skimming issue is all that important. You're still surface skimming, you're just skimming 1/2" off the surface insted of 1/4". Either way you're getting the surface and some water under it (remember the whole reason that surface skimming is important is so that you get the scum that is attracted to the air water interface so it's fed to the skimmer).

 

[newenglandreef]

I've been using a no-teeth for about a month and have seen two chromis's go for a ride already...I did use teeth on the downturned elbows within the overflow but apparently didn't make a difference.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

A simple solution to this is to incorporate a screen such as Gutter Guard, so the fishies don't go for a ride.

 

[newenglandreef]

haha... yeah, I've got to do something.

 

[sciknen]

Id probably be more worried about snails going over and clogging drains. Granted with bean you will have a spare but still. Why risk a tank crash/flood?

Steve

 

[newenglandreef]

agreed! I'll say that the no teeth does do an excellent job of skimming the surface though, I initially had saw dust and other particles across the top of the water, and the overflow skimmed it off almost immediately... for what's it's worth.

 

[wrassefan]

teeth....keeps snails and shrimp in the tank beside the fish while maintaining the surface skim....solid black acrylic top overflow covers to limit "stuff" from growing in the overflows

 

[Mr. Leemr]

I would have to say "no teeth". I'm currently running tanks with both styles of overflows and my overflow without teeth is quieter and cleaner and thats enough for me...

 

[JohnK]

That's a good point about noise.

If used with a near silent drain system ("bean" or "Herbie" style), teeth will cause a little splashing and sloshing noise whereas no teeth will be a more gentle, near silent cascade.

If you go with a duroso or stockman approach you'd never hear "teeth noise" over the rest of the noise

 

[delta]

Jay since Mr Murphy resides at your house full time, I say teeth.

Well I would say teeth anyway, but for you that goes doubly

 

[JohnK]

That's a good point as well. The M in "JayM" does refer to Murphy's law.

 

[newenglandreef]

quiet for sure, the only sound I hear is water passing through the pipes. No gurgling or trickling at all.

 

[Reefried]

.......teeth.....

 

[mak3mydae]

+1 for teeth. Technically, it makes a difference in how many GPH your overflow would be able to handle since the weir length is different IIRC. With teeth the linear length is doubled, but with such a long overflow, I wouldnt worry too much about the overflow not being able to handle your amount of flow. I would still go with teeth though. I feel like toothless is so... naked or something.

 

[gweston]

I'm working on a calfo/bean system for a 125 long. I have the glass all made up, just need to drill and silicone the pieces in (need to get over my fear of drilling I guess). The overflow is 36" long on the 72" tank, so should get some decent skimming. I wanted a coast-to-coast, but didn't want to deal with building a 72" glass overflow. I figured 36" would be plenty. I am going tooth-less to start, but I may put in gutter guard, or add teeth later. It depends on if I have any problems with overflow surfers.