Overflow Box

I will be using an overflow box conected to my refugium and wanted to know is it at all possible to use only the box hanging on the outside of the tank with the U bent tube to the inside and not use the part of the overflow box that hangs on the inside of the tank, really don't like seeing the box on the inside of tank because of it's size.

 

That box inside the tank is what skims the surface. Also it keeps our tank inhabitants from plugging the utube which would be very bad. You could try painting the box to match your background or even cover it in coral as some on here have.

 

I considered the fact that something could get trapped and clog the tube which is why I was considering surrounding the tube with some type of a plastic basket or some type of strainer to prevent that from happening or if not any of those a smaller box with holes drilled it to go around the tube.

 

Not to mention the box prevents water from going below the end of the u-tube. This prevents the siphon from breaking when the return pump is turned off. If the siphon breaks and noone is around to restart the utube you will be in need of flood pants.

 

also with out that box the you tube will siphon until the water level in your tank will drop until it reaches the bottom of the tube which will more than likely overflow your sump and you will have a flooded cabinet/ floor around your tank

 

What if drilled a hole in the tube just below the water line,will that solve the problem if the return pump was ever tuned off or lost power.Also i have seen some that had an air tube connected to the top of the U tube,, any idea the purpose of that airline connected to the tube.

 

How would adding another hole help anything?

The airline is attached to a PH or aqualifter to constantly remove air from the tube. This will restart a siphon.

 

After a lot of consideration about your comments decided to modify the Skimmer Box ,so I went out and found a clear plastic ice container which measures 3" deep x 4 1/2" wide x 10 1/2" high.My plan is to cut slots in it to create a new slimmer, Skimmer Box and cut down the height because it's a bit taller than i would like it to be,also I have to attach it the same why as the original setup which only came with one screw but plan is to use two screws.If this works, I would be more than happy to see a much smaller skimmer box compared to the original skimmer box.

 

This will quite possibly affect your gph flow as the box measurements are made for a certain amount of flow.

 

Also, the box is so tall in order to keep the water level well above the opening of the u-tube to help illuminate the possibility of any air bubbles making it in to the u-tube. It also makes sure that the height of the wait in the drain section and surface skimmer section are both well above the opening of the u tubes to prevent the siphon from breaking if the return pump loses power.