Sump tank without an overflow? (IMAGE)

[kellenr]

Do you think the 'risk' is worth the 'reward' with me even doing this sump? I'm starting to second-guess this whole thing.
I wish I could drill it, but I'm really iffy about doing that. It's not like I have a new tank and can lay it down and drill. I'd have to drill horizontally from the inside out with the tank 1/2 full and all my corals stacked underwater. I don't even know if they make a lubricant to do it horizontally. Even if I had a drain hole what if a snail or something else decided to 'park' on it; that would not be good. If I use a HOB overflow box I'm hearing how risky all of them could be. I may just toss this dream out the window and wait 'til I get my 300gal tank with a built-in overflow box in the corner. That comes after I buy my house though, so thats gonna be on the back burner.
I mean what real big benefit would a sump be on a 29gal? I don't have a protein skimmer so I don't have to hide anything. What, maybe burn up a few nitrates and phosphates with some macro. My phosphates are always pretty much 0. Trates peak at 35ppm once in a while. I think I might be ok and not risk a shattered tank and/or a ruined house full of water. Sounds like these overflow boxes are pretty shady.

 

[aquaguy24]

wait ur tank is only 29gs? from ur drawing i thought it was over 100g...just get urself and hob filter and be done with it...just have lots of live rock..around 40lbs maybe to help with filtrations and keep up with ur water changes....a tank that size i do it every week 20%. and get urself a couple powerheads...two koralia #2 would be good..can even run some carbon from time to time...

 

[kellenr]

Originally Posted by aquaguy24
http:///forum/post/2684221
wait ur tank is only 29gs? from ur drawing i thought it was over 100g...just get urself and hob filter and be done with it...just have lots of live rock..around 40lbs maybe to help with filtrations and keep up with ur water changes....a tank that size i do it every week 20%. and get urself a couple powerheads...two koralia #2 would be good..
I think I put 29gal on the diagram??

My tank is pretty established, I just thought it would be fun to have a sump. My levels are always pretty stable, the 'trates just creep up occasionally.
My whole tank is run on natural filtration only. I have over 55+lbs LR and 40+lbs LS, 4 powerheads, and just put in a surface skimmer with 2 returns a few weeks ago.
The HOB overflows are what we've all been discussing. I keep reading they're unreliable.

 

[aquaguy24]

if everything checks out, why mess with a good thing..if it ain't broken don't fix it...that wat i think...well as for the hob overflow..i have a pro clear brand and it hasn't lost syphon yet..but i only had it running for 3 months...so we'll see how it goes..but im happy with it so far...very easy to stop and restart the syphon...when there isn't enough water pressure forcing the water down to the sump my syphon stops but the water in the utube remains there untill there is enough water pressure to restart the syphon...kinda hard to explain but it just works....

 

[rotarygeek]

I did your exact plan on my tank right now. I used 3/4" pvc for my return and my syphon. Im using a quiet one 2200 as my return pump. I placed the syphon line so that it doesn't take much more than an inch of water to break the syphon. The return needs to be done in the same way. I have found that the return line becomes a syphon when you kill the power to it, so be sure the leave that pretty high up too. My main problem is figuring out how to preven tmy fish from getting sucked down the syphon line. My firefish goby must think its a water slide or something. Im constantly pulling him out of my sump. Make sure what ever pump you use to return water, the chamber is sits in is sealed tight and cant contain enough water to overflow the main tank. i simulated a power outage and flooded my sump till it almost overflowed then the return line lost suction. Then i plugged my syphon line and all it did was drain the chamber with my pump till it was empty, and still didn't overflow. So your plan can work, but i agree with the other people, get a overflow box, however you can get it to fit. Then you will be safer off.

 

[natclanwy]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2683501
the whole tank is tempered? i've never heard of that. i'm talking about drilling a hole about 3"-4" down from the top, in the back pane.
btw, i think that cpr overflows with aqualifter pumps are much more reliable than a
"j" tube style overflow. the aqualifter restarts the siphon when the power goes back on. i've witnessed J tube overflows failing to restart more than once.
Your a first for me also, I have never heard anyone reccomend a CPR over a U-tube overflow. I have had both and now I just use the U-tube style I don't even trust the cpr as a backup anymore. My neighborhood was like yours in the summer time everytime a storm rolled through we would have lots of brown outs and short outages usually less than 5 minutes. My aqualifter failed twice and the other times the aqualifter would not restart the siphon fast enough and the DT would overflow a half gallon or so before the siphon would take over and drain the tank. With the CPR you have three pieces of equipment to worry about failing and only two with the U-tube so the odds are aqainst the cpr.
KellenR, you can operate a worry free tank with a HOB overflow as long as you are diligent with your tank maintence. The biggest causes for oveflow failures are undersized pumps and poor maintence practices. So as long as you select a pump that is rated for at least 2/3 of the capacity of the overflow, keep your pump and U-tube free of debri and algae, and monitor the U-tube for accumulating bubbles on a regular basis your overflow should be worry free.