Simple rubbermaid sump...what am I missing?

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Moloch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2010
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Raleigh, NC
I just set up a 55g SW FOWLR. Right now I'm running a HOB skimmer but I'd like to get it into a sump. I have a 20h that won't fit under the stand and a 10g that I don't even know if it holds water.

So I'm leaning towards using an 18g rubbermaid tote sitting next to the tank. My plan is just to do a PVC overflow into the tote with a quietone4000 back to the tank, skimmer & heater running in the tote.

I think the biggest thing I'm missing is the event of overflow failure...nothing would stop the pump from overflowing the tank. So how do I get past that? Float switch in the tank?

Has anybody successfully put a sump into the stand of a 55? Its a standard store-bought style thing....a bit under 12" deep in the bottom of it.

Would I be smarter to just put baffles in my 20h and set that on the floor next to the tank instead of the tote?
 
That is why I made my 20L sump with baffles. The far left chamber in the pic will only pump about 3 gallons back to the tank if by chance the overflow stops working. If you have room next to your tank why not use some sort of cabinet to hide the sump with a door on it to change filters and maintain it. Then you won't have to look at it(unless you don't care if it sits there.) If you only have 12" under your tank it will be hard to maintain your sump. You will have to pull the whole thing out to work on it and it will be hard to run the water lines in the top.

Sump 5.JPG
 
Its 12" front to back, plenty of height to get in there and work with. Regardless, I think having it sit next to the tank will be ok. Its sort of tucked in a corner beside the couch.

I've pretty much decided to just use the 20h rather than worrying about how to effectively use the rubbermaid. So I think I need/want 3 chambers...In from the overflow > Skimmer/heater/macro-algae/liverock/whatever > pump out.

Should be simple enough. I don't want any wet-dry action or anything like that. I'm sure I'll be able to search around and find a plan to go off of, I might just have someone else nearby thats already done this sort of thing build it for me though.
 
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