DIY Sump 20 High or 20 Long?

[Faccia di Pesce]

reading up on this and I am seeing a lot of people are against HOB overflow due to syphon break and flooding. Can I drill a hole in my tank without emptying it completely? Drill two holes at top one for drain to sump and one for return? is that too risky? Or, I am thinking of buying a new 40 gallon breeder and drilling holes and moving all my rock sand and fish into new tank and use old 40Gallon breeder as sump? New 40G cost 50.00

Any suggestions?

 

[TDEcoral]

Drill a hole in your return right at or above the water line in your tank for siphon break. 1/8" should do it... That will minimize the amount of water that gets dumped into the sump from the return. You will still have some drain in from your overflow..

That really only works if your return line goes over the top of the tank, not so much if it's drilled through the back.

 

[TDEcoral]

reading up on this and I am seeing a lot of people are against HOB overflow due to syphon break and flooding. Can I drill a hole in my tank without emptying it completely? Drill two holes at top one for drain to sump and one for return? is that too risky? Or, I am thinking of buying a new 40 gallon breeder and drilling holes and moving all my rock sand and fish into new tank and use old 40Gallon breeder as sump? New 40G cost 50.00

Any suggestions?

Yeah I wouldn't use a HOB overflow. It would be best to just buy a new 40b, drill your holes, then switch it out with your current tank. That way you can take your time with it and if something goes wrong you won't have to worry about what to do with your corals/fish/ live rock while trying to find a new tank on short notice. Before drilling anything, decide which overflow you want to use (e.g. glass holes, modular marine). The overflow is going to determine size/location/number of the holes. You'll also need to decide if you want a return that goes over the top of the tank, or through a bulkhead in the back. If through the back, you'll need to choose your pipe and bulkhead size. I have a 40b and if I were you I'd do 3/4" pvc for both overflow and return pipes with a modular marine overflow set up in the bean animal style. If you can fit a 40b in your stand, then using your current tank for the sump is a great idea.

 

[TDEcoral]

Oh and if you do use a modular marine overflow, I would ask for bulkheads in the drain box rather than the uniseals. I got one with uniseals and they are a pain in the butt in my opinion. It's much easier to test fit and perfect your plumbing with bulkheads.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Now I am so confused. Went to lFS. They told me I don’t need an overflow. Just bulkhead to pvc to sump. Showed me their tanks all of them have that. So do I need an overflow? So confused.

 

[TDEcoral]

Yeah you can do that, but it'll likely be loud, won't look good, not as efficient at surface skimming, easier for things to get sucked into the drain, and no redundancy in case of a clog.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Yeah you can do that, but it'll likely be loud, won't look good, not as efficient at surface skimming, easier for things to get sucked into the drain, and no redundancy in case of a clog.

so I am going to buy a tank that is already predrilled with 1 1/2 inch bulkheads installed. Can I install an overflow with that size?

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Ok so I was going to buy an oceanic 60 gallon tank with holes already cut. Went to see it and way too many scratches. Back to the 40 gallon lol

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

This is so difficult lol. Can I use an hob overflow

 

[GaryE]

I've been using hob overflows forever. As have a lot of people. If done correctly, they will not over fill your sump. But, you will have to maintain them...

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

I've been using hob overflows forever. As have a lot of people. If done correctly, they will not over fill your sump. But, you will have to maintain them...

how do you handle the problem with flooding regarding HOB overflow?

 

[GaryE]

proper water level in the sump is the first step. then I have a 1/8" siphon break on my hang on back return that is above the water line so I only get about 1/2 a gallon of water returned into the sump on that side. the HOB overflow will usually dump about another 5 or 6 gallons into the sump before it stops flowing.

You do have to keep that siphon break hole clean on the return line, as salt creep can close it up. But it's just part of the regular maintenance of the tank to check and clean it.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

At this point I am ready to just sell my tank and give up on this LOL. So confusing and not really any info out there to help newbies walk step by step to understand what you are taking about . Frustrating.

I can either drill my tank and add bulkheads and an external overflow. But I don't know how big to drill or what overflow works. I see boxes that have two tubes and don't understand why?

Eclipse S Overflow Box (600 GPH)

Quiet, Slim, Plug & Play The Eclipse aquarium overflow system consists of a slim black box that is mounted inside of your tank and a clear external box that mounts outside of your tank, to transport water down to your sump with as little noise generated as possible. The DIY project only takes a...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Then there is the return line which I am reading that you have to make sure that you are not pumping back in more water than your overflow can handle. Yet not much info to help a newbie really choose the right option.

If I don't drill I can use an HOB overflow but don't know what is good or what will work or not really understanding the whole siphon thing or the potential for flooding the tank and or flooding the sump.

Don't really know anyone personally that has a reef so stuck trying to get tips on a forum or online where there is so much conflicting info. Oy Vey! At this point this is not an enjoyable hobby but a pain in the neck LOL!

 

[GaryE]

I have an 800 gal per hour over flow, I paired it with a 1200 gph return pump. Then tuned my return so that I don't drain the sump faster than my overflow box can refill it.

It's really not hard.

 

[TDEcoral]

The modular marine overflow literally includes a hole saw and template for hole placement. It doesn't really get any easier than that. Buy your new 40b, watch some vids on YouTube about drilling glass, and get to it. Then just use a pump that is rated for less GPH than the overflow can handle, which is simple because you don't need 800 or 1200 GPH flowing through the sump anyways. If you don't want to also drill a hole for the return, then just plumb it to go over the top of the aquarium with vinyl or silicone tubing and some barbed elbows. Get the size of sump you want, then go to ebay and search for a sump kit, buy it, then silicone it into place.
All the info you need is in this thread or on this forum, you just might have to search for it. Using the term "bean animal" will get you started. I think you might be over-thinking this a bit, making it seem more difficult than it is. I promise it's not too hard and you can figure it out.

 

[Faccia di Pesce]

Thanks all. Decided to go with Eshopps PF-300. Just don't want to go through the process of removing everything from tank into another one. Appreciate all the insights.