Sump Filter Queries???

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Kaya

Feeder Fish
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Oct 17, 2009
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Madurai, Tamilnadu, India
Hey ppl, Hope all ya fishies and ya doing good :) ok i have a few queries about sumps.. i've been planning on building a sump with a 30 gallon tank.. this will be for a 120 gallon tank. now all my tanks are glass and i'm a little jittery about drilling the glass to make overflows et all.. and i dont think i can keep the sump beneath the tank stand.. there is an extra column in the stand we built outta cement and bricks :) so i have to keep it beside the tank.. ok to my question..

1. Can i use power heads to push water to the sump and another from the sump to push it back into the tank?

2. i have some old power heads at home ( and i'm stingy not to spend on new power heads :) ) and they have different flow rates.. one is around 700, another 600 and another 500.. now do the power heads in the sump and the tank have to have the same flow rate or a 100 liter difference would / would'nt screw it up..

please let me know.. cheers ppl.. thanks in advance..
 
A power head for a return pump will give poor results at best. One very important thing to remember is:
What the pump discharges at (x) head?
eg; pump is said to discharge 600gph. Is that at 0' of head, 4' of head 6' of head...etc.
Powerheads are generally used for circulation, aeration(as in veturi produced air bubbles in a protein skimmer) and the occasional fluidized sandbed or chemical reactor. They simply dont move water against pressure very well. A return pump should be able to move enough water to acheive a proper turnover in the aquarium.
Turnover for you tank should approach 5-6 times per hour minimum. That would mean a pump that could discharge 750-900 gph AFTER it has overcome the vertical height from the floor(sump) to the top and over into the tank.

As far as plumbing more than one pump together into the same line...not recommended either.
The differences in discharge pressure for each pump will cause them to work against each other. Even two pumps of equal flow can work against each. There are always going to be minor differences in output even from the same manufacture.
Your best bet is to pony up the cash and get either two smaller pumps plumbed separatly, or one big pump. Buy a PUMP not a powerhead. Think about what the pump will do as well...is it going to just dump into the tank? Or is it going to be plumbed through some nozzles for tank circulation? Do you want it to be submersible(inside the sump) or external? Some can be both.

Good Luck.:)
Just my 2¢
 
boldtogether;4520210; said:
A power head for a return pump will give poor results at best. One very important thing to remember is:
What the pump discharges at (x) head?
eg; pump is said to discharge 600gph. Is that at 0' of head, 4' of head 6' of head...etc.
Powerheads are generally used for circulation, aeration(as in veturi produced air bubbles in a protein skimmer) and the occasional fluidized sandbed or chemical reactor. They simply dont move water against pressure very well. A return pump should be able to move enough water to acheive a proper turnover in the aquarium.
Turnover for you tank should approach 5-6 times per hour minimum. That would mean a pump that could discharge 750-900 gph AFTER it has overcome the vertical height from the floor(sump) to the top and over into the tank.

As far as plumbing more than one pump together into the same line...not recommended either.
The differences in discharge pressure for each pump will cause them to work against each other. Even two pumps of equal flow can work against each. There are always going to be minor differences in output even from the same manufacture.
Your best bet is to pony up the cash and get either two smaller pumps plumbed separatly, or one big pump. Buy a PUMP not a powerhead. Think about what the pump will do as well...is it going to just dump into the tank? Or is it going to be plumbed through some nozzles for tank circulation? Do you want it to be submersible(inside the sump) or external? Some can be both.

Good Luck.:)
Just my 2¢
Click to expand...

:) thanks.. not like i'm strapped for dough.. jus being stingy and thought i could put these power heads to some use.. so effectively you'd recommend getting two centrifugal pumps(is that the pump i should be looking for??) of equal flow rate and try this? i didnt understand the bit about plumbing two pumps onto the same line??

Say i put one of the pumps into one corner of the tank and this pull water out to the sump and from the sump another pump returns the water to another corner of the tank.. the sucking action of one pump and the water flowing in from another, would that be enough circulation?
 
If I have understood your question I think you are suggesting pumping water from the top tank to the bottom tank and then pumping back up again....if so....this will not work.

When the power fails the pumps will continue to siphon and flood the sump, you will also never balance the flow and the sump will flood.

You can buy some hang on the back boxes to run siphons but Have never seen one working.

The best thing to do is to stop being stingy and buy a new drilled tank OR pump the water up put of the main tank and create a siphon back down from an over flow....kind of like a pond filter above the tank.
 
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