I want a sump but...

[BullyBee]

in addition you the check you should drill a siphon break in the return in DT just below the water line. It’ll keep a back siphon from happening in the event your check valve gets stuck open.

I’m gonna have to giggle that. I am a visual learner.

What would I use? A pump with a gph 10x my tank size?

 

[X-37B]

My 120 with 40 breeder sump.
The return is near the surface.
No check valve on return, not needed.
When return pump is shut down the sump level only rises an inch.
Set it up right and nothing to worry about.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I’m gonna have to giggle that. I am a visual learner.

You just make a small hole in your return jet line, just below the waterline of the display tank. It’ll break the siphon as soon as the water line drops below that little hole

 

[Daquan44]

A few things will determine your drainage rate. The overflow box/weir capacity, and your drain pipe diameter...

 

[homer1475]

You just make a small hole in your return jet line, just below the waterline of the display tank. It’ll break the siphon as soon as the water line drops below that little hole

Did this exact thing, but I have a center tower overflow so I drilled the hole in there. Not only does it break the siphon, but it fill my tower faster. 2 for 1 deal!

 

[BullyBee]

I was thinking the same thing, until I priced acrylic.

I built my own a long time ago, very labor intensive.

This time I bought a Trigger Systems 26" Sapphire.

Just need that check valve for my return and I'm good to go..

I’m thinking I would go for the EShopps one.

Eshopps RS-75 Oceana Reef Sump

Eshopps RS-75 4th Generation Reef Sump

www.reefsupplies.ca

 

[BullyBee]

A few things will determine your drainage rate. The overflow box/weir capacity, and your drain pipe diameter...

Eshopps Oceana Power FLow 300 Overflow Box - 30-75g Single

Eshopps PF-300 Overflow Box - 30-75g Single

www.reefsupplies.ca

Thats the overflow box

 

[lilgrounchuck]

That’s a pretty slick little method there. It would actually provide some adjustment too.

Thanks. I’m moving soon and my wife wants the tank in the living room (awesome!) Right now it’s in the basement and has an HOB filter,HOB skimmer, and the dosing pump is sitting on top, along with three chems. Not the best looking setup. I have to hide the mess. I’ve got an overflow, pump, and in sump skimmer. The piece of furniture she wants the tank on won’t accommodate a tank sump, so I’ve been figuring out how to do it with a 5 gal bucket. The snorkel was born of a baffle idea, along with a Russian doll style drain pipe setup to work as a bubble trap

 

[Daquan44]

Looks like your return pump should be no more than 300 gph.

PF-300	6" x 3" x 10"	300 GPH
PF-800	8" x 3" x 10"	800 GPH
PF-1000	9" x 3" x 10"	1000 GPH

 

[BullyBee]

Looks like your return pump should be no more than 300 gph.

PF-300	6" x 3" x 10"	300 GPH
PF-800	8" x 3" x 10"	800 GPH
PF-1000	9" x 3" x 10"	1000 GPH

Thank you

 

[Daquan44]

My system is 200 gallons and I have about 3.5x turnover thorugh my sump, so with a 300 gph return on your system you will have 7.5x which is more than enough.

 

[BullyBee]

My system is 200 gallons and I have about 3.5x turnover thorugh my sump, so with a 300 gph return on your system you will have 7.5x which is more than enough.

Does it have to be 300 and no more or can I do 354?

 

[Ding2daDong]

Does it have to be 300 and no more or can I do 354?

You can but just put a ball valve on your return line to lower the flow to what you want.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I would never rely on a check valve. Just make sure the return is only about a half an inch or so from the surface of the display, that way it is only possible for a half an inch of water (maybe a couple gallons) to back siphon into the sump in the event of a power failure. And then test it by turning off the return pump.

 

[Daquan44]

With his sump size and overflow box, it would be very difficult to overflow the sump.

 

[Water Dog]

Make sure you calculate for head pressure loss. A pump rated for 324 gph will not push 324 gph up to your tank’s 3 or so feet of vertical plumbing height and 90 degree elbows used to reach the tank’s return nozzles.

 

[Crustaceon]

A pump rated at 324gph would be a great match for your system because after having to pump vertically from the sump and into the tank, it’s likely going to put out less than what your overflow is rated for. I’m sure there’s a chart out there for this but I wouldn't be surprised if it lost around 50gph of flow per vertical foot of head height.

 

[Dom]

I wanna do a sump but I’m afraid I’m afraid it’s gonna overflow. I can’t afford to come home from work and manage a flood

I'm guessing you are worried in the event of a power failure...

Your sump only needs to hold enough extra water to accommodate what is above the overflow. Once the water level drops below the overflow, the rest will remain in the display tank.

 

[Water Dog]

Don’t underestimate the effects that head pressure will have on flow rates, especially when it comes to small pumps. I doubt a small 324 gph pump would even make it up to the tank. DC pumps aren’t that great with head pressure either.

Some food for thought...

Apex reporting return flow at 250gph with a Vectra S1 return pump

So are these Vecta pumps extremely over rated or do the flow meters restrict flow by a fair amount? I just setup my new Vectra S1 with a 1in flow meter on a reefer525 and apex is reporting a max GPH of 252... This flow report on a 140gal tank is causing me concern. I've adjusted the FMM to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Water Dog]

If flooding is of critical concern, I would ditch the HOB style single drain overflow and explore drilling the tank for a ghost style overflow kit like one of the small Eshopps Eclipse, Modular Marine or Fiji Cube set ups. With those kits, you can use either a Herbie or Beananimal drain set up that will use secondary and/or emergency drains for added redundancy and flood prevention.