Newbie Sump/Overflow Idea...

[rsandelius]

Now, I don't know if this has been discussed, but I thought I'd throw the idea out there...

Would using a pair of powerheads with plastic tubing connecting your regular tank to an overflow tank work? I've always used just powerheads and filters to circulate the water in the tank, and the idea of having an overflow to do water changes/medicate/etc. in is very attractive.

Here's the idea... two powerheads, one in each tank. Let's use a Tank A and Tank B example (Tank A being the main tank, Tank B being the overflow tank). Tank A sucks water from itself and sends it via plastic tubing to Tank B. Tank B's powerhead sucks the water back up (after mixing it with pre-existing water) and sends it back up to Tank A.

Downside... what if one power head burns out? Could/would either tank overflow? Is there any way to regulate this?

Sorry for the extreme newb question... I'm just really curious.

 

[rsandelius]

Another thought... maybe just using a one-way powerhead from Tank B going up to Tank A with an on/off switch... that way, it'd send the water and fill it without disturbing the fish, and it would be much easier to manage that way... hmmmmm... it wouldn't have nearly as many options as a regular sump system, but that'd be awesome for water changes! lol

Think the powerhead would be able to drive the water through the tube and up 3' vertically? Would fixing the extension tube (going to Tank A) so that it was underwater (kinda going with the siphon idea) lessen the effort on the powerhead pump?

Hmmmmm... so many ideas... hmmmm....

 

[Oddball]

This has been covered before and will not work. Even if both powerheads could be adjusted for perfect circulation, it wouldn't last long. Any flow imbalance will cause one side to overflow. The only open-filter drain that will work is a gravity drain. Whether the pump is in the sump returning water to the tank or if the pump is in the tank sending water to the filter (as when the filter is above the tank - then, the gravity drain becomes the tank return)

 

[rsandelius]

Ok... sorry about bringing it up again. I just didn't see it during my searching. Do you think my second idea is feasable, though? My 29 gallon evaporates a good 2-3 inches a week...

Or maybe just use the two power head idea, only doing it one way at a time. Maybe put the powerhead for Tank A down near the bottom, dump the crappy water down to a bucket (make it so that the tube can go to Tank B or the bucket), shut that powerhead down, then use the powerhead in Tank B to send good water up to Tank A.

What do you think? Sorry to bug you on this... since I've been adding more plants to my tank, cleaning the bottom of the tank has been becoming less and less of a necessity and water changes are becoming more or less the only maintainance that I've been needing to perform...

 

[Oddball]

It's probably just me. I do over 4000gals of water changes a week so, when I see someone having trouble with a 29 gal, it confuses me.
If your tank is near a freshwater pipe, you can tap the pipe, install a 1/4" teflon line to a 3-stage filter system (about $80 - removes chlorine and trace metals), Then run the line from the outlet of the tap filter to a float valve mounted to a guppy breeder trap. Hang the trap on the inside back of your tank and the float valve will turn the water on whenever the water level drops. It'll all be automatic. You'll still have to remove water once a week as a routine water change but, the float valve will kick the fill plumbing on and refill the tank automatically. To remove water, you can omit the bucket by draining out of a window (like I do) to water garden plants. You can also run the drain hose to a toilet if you want to forgo the bucket-carry.

 

[rsandelius]

See... here's the rub. I live in an apartment, so I can't alter the plumbing (not that I'd want to... it's held together by bubblegum anyways...) and the nearest toilet is probably about 40-50' of tubing away....

 

[mark.]

Ok... sorry about bringing it up again. I just didn't see it during my searching. Do you think my second idea is feasable, though? My 29 gallon evaporates a good 2-3 inches a week...

put a lid on it and you wont evaporate as much.

 

[Lil_Stinker]

Ok... sorry about bringing it up again. I just didn't see it during my searching. Do you think my second idea is feasable, though? My 29 gallon evaporates a good 2-3 inches a week...

I have 2 cats that drink 2-3 inches per week out of one of my 10s, they don't touch the fish though.

If you have it covered & loose that much water you might want to check the floor..

The tap is fairly discreet, you might be able to pull it off in the apt., where is the tank w/respect to an H2O line?