Still talking about sumps...

[mutts]

Okay all of you guys that have built your own sumps. tell me what you would do. my 75 CAN NOT be drilled. so how do i get a sump?

i wanted to have one that would hang on the back but if you all know of a way to get one under the tank when you can't drill it i would be very happy.

thanks guys!

[Whoyah]

You will need an overflow (a.k.a weir box) to get water over the edge and down to the sump. They are pretty reasonable in price to buy or there are some DIY plans around to. I would highly suggest in getting the primer pump along with the overflow. AIr bubble collect in the top of the u-tube which deduces the flow in the tube. The Primer pump sucks those out so your flow remains even.

Here is a link for some:

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_...pr.asp?CartId=

I got mine off e-bay. Different brand, same idea though.

[mutts]

so i would have that on my tank pulling water out and into another tank and all i'd need is a 600 gph pump to pull the water back into the tank, or would i need a bigger pump.

thanks for helping me!

[dakar]

Actually the size of the return pump will determine how much water is 'overflowed' from the display, in other words only the amount of water pumped into the tank will be taken out via the overflow (to the max rate of flow of the overflow and any plumbing restrictions). I think that makes sense...

[lReef lKeeper]

in other words, to put it simply ... if you have a 700 gph overflow box, you would need a 700 gph return pump. 1500 gph out = 1500 gph return and so on.

[Whoyah]

Just for referance, I have a 75 gallon with an overflow. I use a Mag 7 as my return. Some of the return line in recycled into the sump so the pump is unrestricted. I am not sure of through put of the whole loop but I would guess is would around 5 times an hour. I kind of like the a slow/low flow since half of my sump is fuge. The trick is getting everything balanced. I wish I wish I had went bigger on the sump just for more room for equipment. When your ready to design/build the sump, give a shout. There is a lot of little tricks.

[mutts]

okay... i have somewhere to go now.

i will let you know when i start to build

i just got news that a school is getting rid of their 55 gal and all the equipment... maybe i could fit a 55 under my 75??? lol

[Whoyah]

A 55 would be an awesome sump/fuge for a 75. I was thinking of a 40 long. Same length and width just shorter.

[mutts]

the sumps wouldn't be all the way full would it? it would be just half full, unless I added more top off water or somthing?

[dakar]

The best results would be keeping as much water as possible in the sump (just adding to the total water volume), however you should leave enough extra room to handle the water that will be pulled off int he event of a power failure.