ok so i did a little bit of research on the type of overflow that i have and it seems that i have kinda a diy coast to coast system. it is basicly a long pvc pipe that runs most of the length of the tank that has slits cut in the top. im not really a fan of the look but i am trying to figure out how to maybe conceal it or possibly redo the system. i like the coast to coast idea ind would like to try to keep it. is there possibly some paint that will be ok to be in the tank that will stick to pvc?
Im new to the sump thing! Please help me!
- Thread starter lunker65
- Start date
Theirs a paint that I use krylon fusion its spray can from walmart for 2$ let dry for 48 hours and its fine. I love ot
Some pictures would really help us figure out what you've got and how to set it up!
As for the size of the sump, the design will partially determine the size, and also the amount of "skim" that the sump needs to hold when the pump switches off. The skim will be determined by the footprint of your tank and how much water sits above the height of the overflow with the pump running, so a wide low tank with a big footprint will have more "skim" than a tall narrow tank of the same volume (assuming all other factors are equal).
As for the design of the sump, there are two basic functions that you will want it to perform; mechanical filtration and biologial filtration. There are countless ways to do this, the simplest [imo] is with suspended filter socks and media such as matrix or ceramic noodles sitting in there in large mesh bags (Aldiaz33's set up is a great example of this), you don't even need to add any baffles. There are many other options, trickle towers, K1 moving media, refugium/plants, filter pads/floss/Poret foam, etc etc, but at the end of the day you just need something to catch the physical waste and something to provide surface area for the bacteria to grow on.
As for the size of the sump, the design will partially determine the size, and also the amount of "skim" that the sump needs to hold when the pump switches off. The skim will be determined by the footprint of your tank and how much water sits above the height of the overflow with the pump running, so a wide low tank with a big footprint will have more "skim" than a tall narrow tank of the same volume (assuming all other factors are equal).
As for the design of the sump, there are two basic functions that you will want it to perform; mechanical filtration and biologial filtration. There are countless ways to do this, the simplest [imo] is with suspended filter socks and media such as matrix or ceramic noodles sitting in there in large mesh bags (Aldiaz33's set up is a great example of this), you don't even need to add any baffles. There are many other options, trickle towers, K1 moving media, refugium/plants, filter pads/floss/Poret foam, etc etc, but at the end of the day you just need something to catch the physical waste and something to provide surface area for the bacteria to grow on.
im gonna try to get some more pics soon. this is all i have for now and i know they are terrible. the surface area of the tank measures 96x24. i think that i need like 30 gallons to handle a outage. i dont know how far my inlet is below the water yet but i just used two inches as a safe guess. as far as the design of the filter, i think that i want to go with a wet/dry trickle system.
Interesting looking set up, it's basically just a giant manifold. I'm not a fan of that kind of system, all it takes is one small leak in the plumbing or bulkhead and you're going to drain half your tank. If it were me I'd look at building overflow boxed around the drains and getting rid of the pipe structure.
Oh wow I thought that cat was driftwood lol. Anyways, I actually kinda like the coast to coast concept. If you painted the pvc black like your background it would be a lot less noticeable. Not sure how HoB overflows would work with your existing drain pipes though unless u plugged the bulkheads and cut everything off leading from the back... kinda defeats the purpose of having a drilled tank. A custom overflow box would be the best solution if you really want to hide them (either horizontal or 3 vertical boxes if u modify the pipes) but I think just painting them black would look fine
There is another option I recall seeing it on a DIY build here somewhere, the bulkhead was well below the water level in the tank but the pipe came up the back of the tank and had a T piece with an open top to set the water level. Kinda hard to explain and I couldn't be bothered searching thru countless threads to find it, so here's a very rough MSPaint drawing to try show what I mean...
^^^This with 3 vertical overflow boxes would be perfect. Might even have better skimming capability than the holes drilled in that coast to coast pipe, but it would take a decent amount of work and materials changing out the plumbing on both sides
