Top mounted sump

David Abbott · Jun 14, 2019

I live in Panama, central america and we experience weekly power outages. so, my question is would a top mounted sump be better for my area. There is a gravel here that is black about the size of a sugar cube. It is used for flower beds, would that be acceptable to use in my 100 gal. tank THANKS

Mjrenz · Jun 14, 2019

Welcome to the forum! You could do a top mounted sump if that's what you want but any sump you have, regardless of your power situation, should be designed so it doesn't overflow if you have an outage. A battery backup would be a wise investment to at least keep water moving when you do lose power. As far as the rocks I would be very careful about adding them unless you know what they're composed of, there's a lot of things in certain rocks that could be toxic or cause unwanted reactions to your water chemistry

Brett S · Jun 14, 2019

A top mounted sump definitely can be done, but it’s not ideal and I’m not sure I see any benefit that a top mounted sump would provide in an area with frequent power failures. Can you tell us why you were thinking that might be best?

A top mounted sump has a number of inconveniences... the return pump needs to be in the display take and the input needs to be protected so nothing gets sucked onto it. And the water level in the display tank will vary with evaporation instead of the display keeping a constant water level and having the water level in the sump vary.

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

Mjrenz said:
Welcome to the forum! You could do a top mounted sump if that's what you want but any sump you have, regardless of your power situation, should be designed so it doesn't overflow if you have an outage. A battery backup would be a wise investment to at least keep water moving when you do lose power. As far as the rocks I would be very careful about adding them unless you know what they're composed of, there's a lot of things in certain rocks that could be toxic or cause unwanted reactions to your water chemistry

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

My understanding is that with a top mounted sump the water stops circulating when the electric goes off??? and my electricity can be off sometimes for 6/8 hrs.

Brett S · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
My understanding is that with a top mounted sump the water stops circulating when the electric goes off???

With any sump the water stops circulating when the power goes off since they rely on an electric pump to keep the water circulating.

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

Brett S said:
A top mounted sump definitely can be done, but it’s not ideal and I’m not sure I see any benefit that a top mounted sump would provide in an area with frequent power failures. Can you tell us why you were thinking that might be best?

A top mounted sump has a number of inconveniences... the return pump needs to be in the display take and the input needs to be protected so nothing gets sucked onto it. And the water level in the display tank will vary with evaporation instead of the display keeping a constant water level and having the water level in the sump vary.

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

I saw a video on u tube about a guy was starting a tank and was worried about overflow of his tank. he demonstrated by turning off the electric and the water flow stopped. That got my attention. also with a top mounted sump, the thing I don't like is the cabinet would need to be very long!! please excuse me this is my first try at this. I'm 73 and not as quick as i used to be. Could you recommend a video that would show me just the basic tank set up???

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
I saw a video on u tube about a guy was starting a tank and was worried about overflow of his tank. he demonstrated by turning off the electric and the water flow stopped. That got my attention. also with a top mounted sump, the thing I don't like is the cabinet would need to be very long!! please excuse me this is my first try at this. I'm 73 and not as quick as i used to be. Could you recommend a video that would show me just the basic tank set up???

With the minimum equipment needed. THANKS

Brett S · Jun 15, 2019

With a normal bottom sump the water would be pumped into the display tank with a pump, called a return pump, in the sump. As water enters the display tank the water level raises until it is higher than the overflow. The water will then run into the overflow where there is a drain that takes the water back to the sump. The return pump will send the water back to the main tank and the cycle continues indefinitely.

If the power fails a small amount of the water from the main tank will drain into the sump... until the water level in the display tank is even with the top of the overflow. It will remain like this until the power comes back on and the return pump starts again.

With a top sump the roles are just reversed. It operates exactly the same way, but the overflow and drain are in the sump and the return pump would be in the display tank. When the power fails a small amount of water would drain from the top sump into the display tank and it would remain like that until the power came back on and the return pump started again.

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

OK, so a bottom sump would require 2 pumps. One to get the water to the sump and another to get water back to the tank, Or the overflow works on gravity and the sump requires a pump to get the water back to the tank

Brett S · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
OK, so a bottom sump would require 2 pumps. One to get the water to the sump and another to tha tank for a bottom mounted sump. Or the overflow works on gravity and the sump requires a pump to get the water back to the tank

Just one pump in the lower tank (whether that’s a bottom mounted sump or the display tank with a top mounted sump) Gravity returns the water to the lower tank.

Mjrenz · Jun 15, 2019

Here's a YouTube video that will help you understand how it works

KrisReef · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
I saw a video on u tube about a guy was starting a tank and was worried about overflow of his tank. he demonstrated by turning off the electric and the water flow stopped. That got my attention. also with a top mounted sump, the thing I don't like is the cabinet would need to be very long!! please excuse me this is my first try at this. I'm 73 and not as quick as i used to be. Could you recommend a video that would show me just the basic tank set up???

Hope this helps :
Edit: Woops, @Mjrenz beat me with a video.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

Great video, very simple to understand. OK I guess my next question is can I use lexan or acrylic for the bottom of my tank. Will regular silicon work with acrylic or lexan and glass combination?? Here where I live it would be almost impossible to get the bottom of my tank drilled. I will have to do this myself using lexan or acrylic

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

Mjrenz said:
Here's a YouTube video that will help you understand how it works

Thanks you guys VERY helpful!!!!

Mjrenz · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
Great video, very simple to understand. OK I guess my next question is can I use lexan or acrylic for the bottom of my tank. Will regular silicon work with acrylic or lexan and glass combination?? Here where I live it would be almost impossible to get the bottom of my tank drilled. I will have to do this myself using lexan or acrylic

Are you talking about replacing the glass bottom of your tank with lexan or acrylic?

David Abbott · Jun 15, 2019

No, I'm starting from scratch. There is a store that sell glass but they don't do drilling, that's why I asked can I use lexan or acrylic for the bottom and glass fo all the sides. Will regular silicone adhere to glass and lexan or acrylic to get a water tight fit???

Mjrenz · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
No, I'm starting from scratch. There is a store that sell glass but they don't do drilling, that's why I asked can I use lexan or acrylic for the bottom and glass fo all the sides. Will regular silicone adhere to glass and lexan or acrylic to get a water tight fit???

Unfortunately it won't adhere properly. Glass is actually easier to drill yourself than you'd think

Brett S · Jun 15, 2019

David Abbott said:
No, I'm starting from scratch. There is a store that sell glass but they don't do drilling, that's why I asked can I use lexan or acrylic for the bottom and glass fo all the sides. Will regular silicone adhere to glass and lexan or acrylic to get a water tight fit???

Unfortunately there is nothing that will be able to attach and seal a joint between glass and acrylic. Glass isn’t really so hard to drill (as long as it’s not tempered) or you could get an all acrylic tank. There is also the option of an external overflow box which wouldn’t require a drilled tank at all.