Sump?

[supercichlid]

Howdy..
I have a 35g FOWLR tank containing a snowflake moray, and will eventually contain a dwarf fuzzy lion and a flame hawk..
I have a spare 5g tank, and a spare powerhead...
I was thinking about making a sump...what else would i need? And also, how does it actually work?
I do apologise for all the questions, but am new to this..
Also, im presuming i dont need a light for the sump tank, do i? What should the sump tank contain, heater, live sand and LR?
Thanks for putting up with all the questions!
James

 

[slothy]

just a side note, 35 gallon is too small for those fish....

 

[supercichlid]

You sure?
I have been told they will be fine...
I realise i might have to upgrade for the eel eventually, some people say i will, others say i wont...

 

[broomer5]

SuperCichlid
A five gallon tank is pretty small for a sump.
You run a sump about 1/2 full of water - so you might pick up a couple gallons of additional water - that's it. Plus trying to cram the heater, return pump and drain hose in a five gallon tank will be tricky. Plus it's just so small, that on a 35 gallon display tank, you run the risk of overflowing the sump on power outage.
Save the five gallon tank for a nice little nano or guppies.
A 10 or 20 gallon tank makes for a better sump in my opinion, if you have the room under your tank stand. This size allows for everything to fit, and even section off an area for protein skimmer someday, or refugium partition.
You'll need an overflow if your tank's not drilled.
You'll need the sump.
You'll need a return pump ( powerhead normally don't work so well for pumping water uphill to the tank ).
You'll need some return line tubing or piping.
You'll need some flexhose or piping for the drain from overflow down to sump.