Want to convert my 65g fresh into a reef, unsure of which route to take

[$$$]

To give some background. I started the fish keeping hobby in 2019 with a 65 gallon freshwater tank. (a custom tank that is pretty much the same dimensions as a 55g but a little taller)

fast forward to October 2021 i was fortunate enough to scavenge a 30g bio cube AIO from my parents and create a succesful reef tank and im enjoying it way more than i ever was with the freshwater. im trying to decide what to do with the freshwater tank because i dont particularly like it all that much and im bad at the planted tank part so i want to convert to a reef tank.

for the record i hate 55's i wish i bought a better wider tank but this is what i have and i bought it new so it has matching stand etc.

so what i cant decide is i what setup i want. i really really really dont want to drill this tank i would much prefer a cannister over drilling. but what i really want is a sump

I was wondering if anyone has any build threads for this. Would a HOB overflow box make sense? could i not just silicon a piece of black acrylic in the corner or on one side of the tank and cut grates and have an overflow that leads to a water pump at the bottom of that just like it works in my AIO. and there would be no danger of siphoning the entire tank?

if that doesnt work would it be dumb to dedicate like 12 inches of the tanks length to make it my own AIO?

attached photo of my healthy but lame 65g

 

[Fish Think Pink]

To give some background. I started the fish keeping hobby in 2019 with a 65 gallon freshwater tank. (a custom tank that is pretty much the same dimensions as a 55g but a little taller)

fast forward to October 2021 i was fortunate enough to scavenge a 30g bio cube AIO from my parents and create a succesful reef tank and im enjoying it way more than i ever was with the freshwater. im trying to decide what to do with the freshwater tank because i dont particularly like it all that much and im bad at the planted tank part so i want to convert to a reef tank.

for the record i hate 55's i wish i bought a better wider tank but this is what i have and i bought it new so it has matching stand etc.

so what i cant decide is i what setup i want. i really really really dont want to drill this tank i would much prefer a cannister over drilling. but what i really want is a sump

I was wondering if anyone has any build threads for this. Would a HOB overflow box make sense? could i not just silicon a piece of black acrylic in the corner or on one side of the tank and cut grates and have an overflow that leads to a water pump at the bottom of that just like it works in my AIO. and there would be no danger of siphoning the entire tank?

if that doesnt work would it be dumb to dedicate like 12 inches of the tanks length to make it my own AIO?

attached photo of my healthy but lame 65g

View attachment 2976055

I'm a fan of sumps, and I'm a fan of space in tank, so your HOB overflow idea gets my vote! This fall I was at another hobbyist's home, and he had done that. REALLY nice and got me thinking!

 

[$$$]

I'm a fan of sumps, and I'm a fan of space in tank, so your HOB overflow idea gets my vote! This fall I was at another hobbyist's home, and he had done that. REALLY nice and got me thinking!

do you have any suggestion for a HOB for that size tank?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Since I personally haven't done HOB myself, doing a quick search on "HOB overflow 65" found 5 pages of results, including:

Hob overflow help

I am trying to decide on a hob overflow for my tank and have been looking at the eshopps pf series. My tank is 65 gallons and I was wondering if I bought the pf-1000 would I be able to just use one side for regular drain and then put in a pvc pipe higher as an emergency drain on the second side...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[dedragon]

I have run an hob overflow before and they are not worth it imo, too much sound with ebbing and flowing in full siphon as well as creating a point of failure on your tank where you could end up with gallons of saltwater on your wooden floors ruining them.

if you are already draining the tank to replace with saltwatwer, why not just get it drilled by any glass cutter nearby or drilling the tank yourself? You could get it drilled for an external overflow as well like eshopps or synergy and have more room in the tank. This way you can put in a quieter overflow using bean animal or herbie overflow plumbing