A Few DIY Sump Questions.....

hillius31

hillius31

Member
Ive been researching this for a while and have watched alot of videos on the net about making a sump. So the only question is how do I get the water down to the sump if my tank isnt drilled?
The return is the easy enough. Ill attach a picture of the design, let me know what you guys think.
thanks,
Justin
 
fishfreak1242

fishfreak1242

Active Member
Originally Posted by hillius31
http:///forum/post/2568302
Ive been researching this for a while and have watched alot of videos on the net about making a sump. So the only question is how do I get the water down to the sump if my tank isnt drilled?
The return is the easy enough. Ill attach a picture of the design, let me know what you guys think.
thanks,
Justin
Your design looks pretty good. For the drain, since your tank isnt drilled you are going to need and overflow box. I made my own out of 2 specimen boxes and a U-tube. They generally cost between 50-70$ for a commercial one. I built mine for about 25$. Some advice is you should use some sort of valve for the return and drain so that if the drain is draining more than the return can pump then you can easily fix it. Good luck.
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Ok so I designed a overflow box. So ill post the picture and hopefully you guys will tell me if it will work or not.
thanks,
Justin
 
fishfreak1242

fishfreak1242

Active Member
Originally Posted by hillius31
http:///forum/post/2568358
Ok so I designed a overflow box. So ill post the picture and hopefully you guys will tell me if it will work or not.
thanks,
Justin
There are a few flaws to this design. One of them is that if you have that vent air will go into the U-tube and it will not siphon. Also the U-tube should have the longer end go into the outer box and the shorter end go into the inner box which will be inside of the DT. Otherwise it looks like a good plan.
 
fishfreak1242

fishfreak1242

Active Member
Originally Posted by hillius31
http:///forum/post/2568316
Ok one more question, would it be a good idea to have a fuge in there too?
thanks,
Justin
It would be a pretty good idea to have a fuge in the sump. How big is your DT? How big is the tank that you will be using for the sump? You want to shoot for at least a 20 gallon tank for the sump
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
hillius31, if I remember correctly, your just starting out, is your tank set-up yet? If not, I would consider having it drilled and setting it up with an internal overflow. Easy enough to do and much better than the external overflows IMO. Just a suggestion.
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Originally Posted by fishfreak1242
http:///forum/post/2568706
It would be a pretty good idea to have a fuge in the sump. How big is your DT? How big is the tank that you will be using for the sump? You want to shoot for at least a 20 gallon tank for the sump
The DT is 75 Gallons and the sump will be a 29 gallon or a 55 gallon, I havnt decided yet.
thanks,
Justin
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Originally Posted by Scopus Tang
http:///forum/post/2569750
hillius31, if I remember correctly, your just starting out, is your tank set-up yet? If not, I would consider having it drilled and setting it up with an internal overflow. Easy enough to do and much better than the external overflows IMO. Just a suggestion.
Some one told me that you cant drill tamper proof glass so thats why I didnt even try to get it drilled. And now its been set up for almost 2 weeks now.
Justin
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Justin,
You can't drill tempered glass, not tamper proof. lol.
Generally, anything more then a 55 gallon has tempered glass on the bottom, but not on the sides! You could easily have a couple of holes drilled for a drain.
External overflow boxes are more of a hassle and a heartache then you may think. I had one break siphon on me and it overflowed my display tank, burned out my pump, killed my fish, the heater broke and electricuted everything in the sump and uhh... yeah, it was a disaster.
Best of luck to you!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by fishfreak1242
http:///forum/post/2573822
If you can you should use the 55 gal. The bigger the better when it comes to sumps.
Also agreed.
You could add a protein skimmer chamber as well as a refugium in a 55. Check to make sure that you have enough extra room underneath or beside your tank before deciding on sump size....
 
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