Sump for 75g

[Krismo962]

I'm getting a new 75 next year and I have a few questions about sumps.
Would 1 x 1" hole suffice as an overflow?
Would a 30" x 15' x 15" sump be big enough for this setup?
Do I need baffles?
Flowrate for the return pump?
PVC or flexible tubing?
Do I need access to the back of the tank once it's installed? (it'll be placed infront of a wall)

 

[duanes]

There are no concrete, one size fits all answers to most of these questions, unless we know more.
First off, what kind of fish are you intending to keep in the tank?
And how concerned are you with providing habitat close to the fishes preferred type?
Flow rate for different species are not the same when you really get persnickety....
Flow rates for fish like angelfish, bettas, discus or other oxbow fish that like placid waters, are different than for Geophagus or other rheophillic species that need a fast flow and plenty of oxygenation.
This can determine pump size, and size of the hole(s) is determined by flow rate, and pump size.
Are you going to keep plants? Plant debris can plug up overflow holes, so often size, and number of overflow holes is important.

I don't use baffles, but many aquarists feel the are needed.
One standard that is universal.....its always good to be able to get to the back.

 

[duanes]

above is an example of what I mean, over night a pair of my cichlids decided to spawn, and ripped up all plants in the area, almost creating an overflow of the tank to the floor.
The diameter of this overflow pipe is 1.5", but there were two, which gave me time to clear the pipe before a disaster.
By the way PVC or other materials is a personal choice.
I happen to like PVC because of the way it solidly goes together, but I have used both. I use PVC unions to allow easy detachability for clean out, and other maintenance.
I now use a 125 gal tank as a sump for my 185 as opposed to the two small sumps in the video below (they were just not keeping up with the flow I needed.
Because I keep reophillic, riverine species that require lots of flow, my pump is 1500gph, and I use large overflow holes, and redundancy.
Flow

 

[celebrist]

I am a big fan of idiot proofing my systems, and even then... lol

 

[Gpdriftwood]

I had a 75gal plumed to a sump last year. (2) 1" overflows would not keep up with a 80gal an hour submersible pump. But as stated above, what Lind of flow rate are u going for?

 

[Krismo962]

First off, what kind of fish are you intending to keep in the tank?

Only bichirs.No plants.

what Lind of flow rate are u going for?

I'm looking into getting a 1188 GPH pump, would that be too strong?

 

[duanes]

Bichirs are not rheophillic fish, they come from swamps, and placid water habitats.
A pump that created a 5 times per hour turn around (500 gph) would be adequate.
imgres

 

[Krismo962]

How many drains and what size would I need them to be If I were to run a 660GPH pump? (head max -2.7Metres).

Bichirs are not rheophillic fish, they come from swamps, and placid water habitats.
A pump that created a 5 times per hour turn around (500 gph) would be adequate.
imgres

 

[Backfromthedead]

How many drains and what size would I need them to be If I were to run a 660GPH pump? (head max -2.7Metres).

Imo, you're gonna want a more powerful pump than that. With head and plumbing restrictions that 660 gph rated pump will only move around 200-300 gph at the return. That 1188 gph rated pump you were mentioning sounds much better to me, maybe even go for more power.

I would go with one 1" main drain and one 1" emergency drain for your overflow

I tend to use a larger pump than "needed". There are many advantages to this, primarily that you can run as much flow as your overflow can handle if you so desire to. Ideally, you will want to set your drain to the desired flow then tune your pump to match it to get a silent overflow. Running your pump around half power is quite often quieter and more efficient and can extend the service life of the pump, so you're gonna want plenty of power to play with.

 

[Krismo962]

I know next to nothing about overflows,my LFS makes custom tanks with these built in overflows.Do they work well?