Sump and Plumbing for my 535. Need help

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Not sure if you are considering this, but keep in mind the true amount of water you have in the tank. When I did this for my 180g tank, I figure out that I really only have like 150g or less in it. Ultimately I considered the following:
- Internal dimensions of the tank
- Where my water line is running. If your tank is 30in tall, internal dimensions is probably 28in and then you are probably running your water like 1/2in to 1in below the top regardless.
- How much decorations you have. If you have lots of substrate, rocks, etc you are never going to hit the full amount

That may give you more piece of mind. If you have room/space you can always put an emergency drain at the top of the sump that goes to another container or drains somewhere. If you do this you just need to make sure you always have enough water to prevent your pumps from running dry.
 
Not sure if you are considering this, but keep in mind the true amount of water you have in the tank. When I did this for my 180g tank, I figure out that I really only have like 150g or less in it. Ultimately I considered the following:
- Internal dimensions of the tank
- Where my water line is running. If your tank is 30in tall, internal dimensions is probably 28in and then you are probably running your water like 1/2in to 1in below the top regardless.
- How much decorations you have. If you have lots of substrate, rocks, etc you are never going to hit the full amount

That may give you more piece of mind. If you have room/space you can always put an emergency drain at the top of the sump that goes to another container or drains somewhere. If you do this you just need to make sure you always have enough water to prevent your pumps from running dry.

Thank you. The internal volume is 535 and I calculated based on 28.25” inside height to give me the volume of 4” at around 76 gallons. I’ll have to figure out if I do an overflow box or use an elbow and cut it. Do you think drilling two 3” holes on the top where the overflow box will compromise the structural integrity of my tank? They’ll be drilled one inch from the back panel on the top piece of acrylic.
 
Thank you. The internal volume is 535 and I calculated based on 28.25” inside height to give me the volume of 4” at around 76 gallons. I’ll have to figure out if I do an overflow box or use an elbow and cut it. Do you think drilling two 3” holes on the top where the overflow box will compromise the structural integrity of my tank? They’ll be drilled one inch from the back panel on the top piece of acrylic.

Don't know the answer to your question about integrity. I was forced to do an upturned 90 degree elbow for my drip system. Personally I am not a fan of it, and really wish I just drilled higher. To me it is weird having this random elbow in your tank. However, it would stink to lose a lot of room to overflow boxes.
 
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I hear you about losing space to a box. Going to brainstorm on this. I want to maximize my sump space without dropping my water line too much.
Don't know the answer to your question about integrity. I was forced to do an upturned 90 degree elbow for my drip system. Personally I am not a fan of it, and really wish I just drilled higher. To me it is weird having this random elbow in your tank. However, it would stink to lose a lot of room to overflow boxes.
 
I hear you about losing space to a box. Going to brainstorm on this. I want to maximize my sump space without dropping my water line too much.
Don't know the answer to your question about integrity. I was forced to do an upturned 90 degree elbow for my drip system. Personally I am not a fan of it, and really wish I just drilled higher. To me it is weird having this random elbow in your tank. However, it would stink to lose a lot of room to overflow boxes.
 
I think the box will work just fine. It’s just a lot of work and expense compared to an upturned elbow. I am not sure about the integrity of the top after drilling the holes. Maybe wednesday13 wednesday13 can answer that. If it were me though, I would just install the bulkhead first. Then, I would install the overflow box and leave the top alone. I would wait to drill it unless you actually needed to for some reason.

You would be installing one of those overflow boxes at each point where you have bulkheads, wouldn’t you?
 
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I think the box will work just fine. It’s just a lot of work and expense compared to an upturned elbow. I am not sure about the integrity of the top after drilling the holes. Maybe wednesday13 wednesday13 can answer that. If it were me though, I would just install the bulkhead first. Then, I would install the overflow box and leave the top alone. I would wait to drill it unless you actually needed to for some reason.

You would be installing one of those overflow boxes at each point where you have bulkheads, wouldn’t you?
I plan to use a long 17” one to cover the two bulkheads. Supposedly 3500 gph
 
I think the box will work just fine. It’s just a lot of work and expense compared to an upturned elbow. I am not sure about the integrity of the top after drilling the holes. Maybe wednesday13 wednesday13 can answer that. If it were me though, I would just install the bulkhead first. Then, I would install the overflow box and leave the top alone. I would wait to drill it unless you actually needed to for some reason.

You would be installing one of those overflow boxes at each point where you have bulkheads, wouldn’t you?


Alot of people run their return lines through the top sheet of acrylic. Could it handle a cple 3" holes, most likely no prob. Im assuming u just need access to attach ur plumbing? Personally im not a fan of overflow boxes.. any that survive over here during setup end up being cut out down the road, but thats just me. If your drilling the back wall id just use the flush strainers as others are saying for on an elbow or use it flush in the bulkhead flat on the back wall. IMO only a "coast to coast" style box will actually "skim" the surface. Any normal box ive used isnt all that great for suction of debris/turn over. i have a cple tanks with the flush strainers right in the bulkheads on the back wall. water lever rides about 3/4" up or pretty close to the top of the bulkhead/pipe.

Best way to eliminate ur sump overflowing during power off is too use enough drains in the tank. Water shouldnt be "stacking up" in the tank very much if ur drains are strong enough...in turn not much will drain out when the pumps go off. Took me a while to figure this out myself as u really need multiple 2"+ pipe drains to achieve this sometimes...esp with strainers restricting the drain flow.

Other fail safe for that issue is install an autodrip setup, ull have a bulkhead in the sump for ur overflow drain which comes in handy power off. Im able to run very deep sumps that way. Heck even without an autodrip u can still install an "emergency" bulkhead in the sump for power off ran into pvc sent outside or to a drain.
 
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Alot of people run their return lines through the top sheet of acrylic. Could it handle a cple 3" holes, most likely no prob. Im assuming u just need access to attach ur plumbing? Personally im not a fan of overflow boxes.. any that survive over here during setup end up being cut out down the road, but thats just me. If your drilling the back wall id just use the flush strainers as others are saying for on an elbow or use it flush in the bulkhead flat on the back wall. IMO only a "coast to coast" style box will actually "skim" the surface. Any normal box ive used isnt all that great for suction of debris/turn over. i have a cple tanks with the flush strainers right in the bulkheads on the back wall. water lever rides about 3/4" up or pretty close to the top of the bulkhead/pipe.

Best way to eliminate ur sump overflowing during power off is too use enough drains in the tank. Water shouldnt be "stacking up" in the tank very much if ur drains are strong enough...in turn not much will drain out when the pumps go off. Took me a while to figure this out myself as u really need multiple 2"+ pipe drains to achieve this sometimes...esp with strainers restricting the drain flow.

Other fail safe for that issue is install an autodrip setup, ull have a bulkhead in the sump for ur overflow drain which comes in handy power off. Im able to run very deep sumps that way. Heck even without an autodrip u can still install an "emergency" bulkhead in the sump for power off ran into pvc sent outside or to a drain.

Thank you sir. Just added a whole new layer of consideration into this project. Dragon Hunter Dragon Hunter vame by last night and I think I decided to run black ABS 45 degree elbows pointing upward with a low profile strainer attached to them. This will “buy me around an inch or a little more and thus eliminate my issue. Have to go source the pieces now.
 
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