First sump build - questions & help please

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J

jadedreams

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2011
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16
Oklahoma
Hey everyone, recently picked up a used 210 and it is reef ready with dual overflows built in the corners. Each overflow has 2 holes drilled in the bottom, one slightly larger than the other. It came with durso stand pipes for the outlets, stand pipes for the returns, as well as the bulkheads. The guy gave the saltwater sump & filtration stuff to a friend so I'm getting ready to build a sump for freshwater use.

Never built one before and been reading up on things, have questions for you all though. Since this one has dual overflows would it be better to have both outlets from the tank go into a T before the sump or should I plumb each outlet separately to the sump? Also same kind of question for the returns, should I use 2 pumps (I do have one in my pile of aquarium supplies but I'll have to look at the size of it) or should I get one bigger pump and send it to a T before returning water to the tank?

Next question, I've seen you guys use glass tanks as sumps with baffles siliconed in to separate the media, pump, etc. But I've also seen the storage drawer / rubbermaid setups with the media put in the tower of drawers. Are there pros & cons to each method? Trying to figure out which way to go, I actually have a 45 glass tank I could use for a sump but also have a rubbermaid tub handy as well. Part of me likes the drawer system since it seems handy to check on the media, but still not sure.

And lastly, what size sump should I use? I know the larger the better, but for a 210 is there a size I shouldn't go under - don't want to undersize the filtration.

Thanks for the help, sorry for the long post!
 
Question 1- its totally up to you, what ever you prefer. If you wanna put a T in and have a single outlet, it will be easier to regulate the flow to match the pump. Just be sure to put a valve in before it goes into the sump. A gate valve is easier to tune but a ball valve will work as well.

Question 2-I would use 1 pump b/c matching 2 pumps output to the inlet will be very hard and should one clog or slow down you're looking at overflowing the sump.

Question 3- Again personal preference: I like the glass tank sumps because they are easy to monitor. The plastic drawer things are cheaper. The difficulty of maintenence is about the same and filtration performance about the same as well.

Question 4- The minumum size that you should use, should be able to hold the amount of water that the overflows allow to escape the tank. Anything smaller and in the event of a power outage your sump will flood. Fill you tank to the level you will keep it. Drain the tank to the point that the overflows stop the water and measure. If it fits in the 45 with a small amount of room to spare, Great. If not, you need a larger set up, and as far as under filtration, with good media and a good flow rate, you should be fine.

I just built a 40 breeder wet/dry. Check it out if you wanna and if you have any questions I'll try and help.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?479128-40-Gal-Sump-Build-Lots-of-Pics
 
im not trying to discredit you "snowhnter" but i need to correct some of your answers to the OP questions.

question 1- you do not need to add a valve to tune the overflows that is asking for problems. you just need to make sure the overflows will handle more flow than your pump puts out. this is because the tank will only overflow as much water as the pump puts out, no more no less. only reason to use a valve on the overflow is if you are using a "herbie" style overflow seen here http://www.glassreef.com/basics_overflow.php

question 2 - up to you, if you already have one pump use it and if you need more flow add a second pump. only concern is, make sure your overflows will handle the combined flow of both pumps if you use two.

question 4 - a properly set up sump will not overflow best way to start is to fill the tank till it starts to overflow wait for the water to stop flowing then fill your sump to capacity minus an inch or so. now turn on your pump(s) and allow the tank to stabilize then mark where the water level is in your pump compartment and never add water above that line. this will insure that if the pump(s) are shut off or your loose power it is impossible to overflow the sump

hope this helps
 
rotccapt said:
im not trying to discredit you "snowhnter" but i need to correct some of your answers to the OP questions.

question 1- you do not need to add a valve to tune the overflows that is asking for problems. you just need to make sure the overflows will handle more flow than your pump puts out. this is because the tank will only overflow as much water as the pump puts out, no more no less. only reason to use a valve on the overflow is if you are using a "herbie" style overflow seen here http://www.glassreef.com/basics_overflow.php

question 2 - up to you, if you already have one pump use it and if you need more flow add a second pump. only concern is, make sure your overflows will handle the combined flow of both pumps if you use two.

question 4 - a properly set up sump will not overflow best way to start is to fill the tank till it starts to overflow wait for the water to stop flowing then fill your sump to capacity minus an inch or so. now turn on your pump(s) and allow the tank to stabilize then mark where the water level is in your pump compartment and never add water above that line. this will insure that if the pump(s) are shut off or your loose power it is impossible to overflow the sump

hope this helps
Click to expand...

My overflow sits 3" below water surface on my 150. The overflow 1 1/2" and I run a eheim 1262. There is no way that the pump can keep up with the flow. The only way that I could do as you posted, without the valve, is to drop the level of the water in the tank, if not my sump would be completly full and useless. If I did that the sound of 900gph rushing back into the tank would be awful. I do not have a drilled tank which is where the difference might come in. I am planning on getting a drilled tank soon and will keep in mind what you said. Thanks for the info.
 
Ok, thanks - each overflow box in the corner has one drain so doesn't look like the Herbie style.. Think I am going to do the T from the 2 drains to the sump and also going back to the tank, seems like it would be easier to keep up with the flow. Gotta check out the pump I have to see if it would be suitable or not. Planning on working on it this weekend as I was out of town last weekend.
 
I would not suggest doing the T from the two overflows because (a) that will cause back pressure and slow your overflow, and (b) in the event of an obstruction you might have just put both overflows out of service.

The only time you'd want a valve on your overflow is for when you are running the tank full without the sump for whatever reason, so I would include the valve but always leave it 100% open. If you have a sump problem or move away from a sump in the future, no need to worry about the tank draining or anything, just shut the valve.
 
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