Diy sump questions for my 125 gallon tank

[drenchedgremlin]

I bought a 125 gallon aquarium last christmas off craigslist with two canister filters i believe a fluval of some sort and a filstar xp3. i Had it set up for nearly 3 months and came home and nearly 20% of the water was gone from the tank and in my carpet. I quickly drained the tank out my window (had no fish in it yet fortunatly) to avoid any more of it being in my carpet. I was led to believe it was my fluval cause it had a very slow leak but i had placed it in a small plastic tub so the small leak wouldnt get on the floor and the tub wasnt overflowing si i think it was the xp3. i moved the tank in the garage and it had been sitting for nearly 4 months now. I finally moved now and i think i have a better place to put the 125 gallon tank so im now gonna consider setting it up again and at least give it one more chance (the tank not the canister filters). I do need suggestions for a new filtration system though because for me now that i think about it, having gallons of water run through hoses less than a foot from your carpet is not the best idea. I know that the sump is not all that different of an idea but I really see a sump causing less fproblems than the canister filter. i was considering a sump until i looked at the prices of a new one and the cheaper ones look around 300 bucks. So i have some questions about possibly building a diy sump.

1) ive heard a rumor that if the power goes off, the pump will stop pumping water from the sump and the overflow hose will continue siphoning water from the tank and therefor overflowing the sump water until nearly all the water in the tank is all over your floor. I just want to clear this up to at least get it out of my head.
2) i have no way of drilling holes in my tank and would rather not risk cracking my tank when the holes are drilled. So i was wondering how big of a risk is there for getting holes drilled, whats the cost and so on.Also does it put weak spots in the glass?
ANd also is there a big disadvantage to having an overflow box instead?
3) How big would a sump have to be for GOOD filtration for a 125 gallon tank and could you recomend a good construction thread on building one?
4)anything else i need to know on sumps? Anything would be appreciated

 

[mattd390]

If you plan you sump correctly it won't overflow. You have to leave enough room in the sump and setup your overflow and return correctly. I just drilled a 50 breeder and had no problems. I bought a kit off gl*******s.com. If you don't feel comfortable, I am sure a glass shop could do it for a fee. I think you sump would basically be as large as you can fit under your tank. As long as you can fit enough bio media (bioballs, scrubbies or whatever) into the sump, it will keep up with your fish. Hope this helps bro.

 

[drenchedgremlin]

If you plan you sump correctly it won't overflow. You have to leave enough room in the sump and setup your overflow and return correctly. I just drilled a 50 breeder and had no problems. I bought a kit off gl*******s.com. If you don't feel comfortable, I am sure a glass shop could do it for a fee. I think you sump would basically be as large as you can fit under your tank. As long as you can fit enough bio media (bioballs, scrubbies or whatever) into the sump, it will keep up with your fish. Hope this helps bro.

i donno cuz the cabinet it 3 different sections so a sump may not be the best option cause i think sumps are more long not tall. I guess i could cut the wood panels in the cabinet in order to fit a long tank down there.