Originally Posted by
joeyfine
http:///forum/post/3252271
the tank came with one hole drilled already? how many holes will i need? I already have the tools to drill glass (my neighbor owns a glass shop). so i have no problems doing it.
A hole mid way up would be your drain line. You put a bulkhead inplace, then fit an over flowbox on thi inside, and a standpipe outside, this drains water that fills your tank past the brim of the overflow box. It then drains to the standpipe which is a slurping reducing mechanism, and into your sump.
In the sump you will have a return pump that will just come up the back of your tank, and over the brim. This creats a constant cycle of water leaving the DT down to the sump, then pumping back up again. This is how sumps work in a nut shell. From there you customize your sump and add whatver you want to it...LR,Mud, Bioballs, sponges, skimmers, reactors...you name it. Having a sump really clears up the mess up top, and allows more water volume. Its win win.
In the event of a power outage you will not have everything drain all over the floor this way. And under normal operation, the pump in the sump will not out do the draining ability of your overflow box in the upper tank. It keeps a constant cycle.
