To explain in another way.
so your tank is going to have some sort of overflow or is going to have a drilled bulkhead that drains water into your sump. Let’s say just for numbers sake your drain drains 500 gallons per hour into the sump.
the first section on the sump when water drains into usually has a filter sock attached to catch any floaters from the display tank (floaters as in detritus and anything else floating)
the water then goes over a baffle into a second section which generally is used as an area for a skimmer and a spot for a reactor if you went down that road.
next is another set of baffles sometimes referred to as a bubble trap.
Then another area of open water where your return pump goes.
Now the fun part. Remember the 500 gallons that drains into the sump? Let’s say you get a pump rated at 500 GPH (gallons per hour). You will flood your floor if you think that it will push 500 GPH up some plumbing into the tank. There’s a thing called “head pressure”. Basically this means the pump is pushing against gravity with the water along with around bends in your plumbing which reduces the amount of water your pump will push. Usually you have to buy a higher rated pump and calculate how far the water will travel upward and look at the chart the pump usually comes with to see how much water it will push up a certain distance. Here’s the HEAD chart for Ecotech pumps
To overcome head pressure you can do two things, one have a gate valve NOT a ball valve on your drain into the sump and adjust the amount of water flowing into your sump to where your pump keeps a constant level of water in its chamber OR you can buy a pumps more than 500 GPH and use a valve to reduce the amount of water it pushes (AC pump only). If you get a DC pump they have a controller where you can adjust the amount of flow with some sort of controller they provide.
Now let’s say you run your pump full blast and it’s pushing too much water into your tank to what drains. As stated aboveyou don’t want to run your pump dry so in this case you’re pumping to much water to fast and it’s sucking air along with some water. One you’re eventually going to ruin the pump and two it’ll be load AF and put a bunch of air bubbles in the tank. Another way to run dry is evaporation. Throughout the day your tank will evaporate and your sump will continue to push water into it, but lowers the level of water in the return pump area. Once too much evaporates the return area becomes to low and you’re pumping are and exposing the pump and running “dry”.
To avoid running dry from evaporation I suggest getting your water level where you want it (few inches above pump) and mark the glass with a label or sharpie. Then make a second mark about an inch or wherever you feel comfortable to where your pump is still fully under water. Either everyday check this marking and add fresh water to reach the top mark or wait until it hits the bottom mark and refill. They make things that do this automatically for you but that’s a future topic.
here’s a very basic sump. This one is
My opinion in a nutshell. You will have to spend probably a little more than 100$ for a return as this is basically the heart of your tank as it is pumping all your filtration and promoting gas exchange. Here’s some links to in my opinion good return pumps.
Why does BRS recommend this? The Syncra Silent line of pumps come in many different sizes and will fit most tank needs. Sicce uses high quality magnets in their pumps, which allows them to spin smoother with less noise than almost all other pumps in their price category. If your tank needs a...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Reef Octopus VarioS DC pumps give you enhanced performance and precise control of flow through your aquarium's reactors, sump, or closed-loop system. With complete control through the VarioS Controller, you can control the flow of the pump, enter feed modes (15 or 60 minutes), add a safety float...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Not saying those are perfect size for you but those two brands are pretty good bang for your buck on a budget. You could also look in the dry goods forum here and find some cheaper.
