Sump plans?

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piranhaman00

piranhaman00

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 15, 2009
1,920
559
150
Wisconsin
are these sump plans ok? i just want something simple to put my heater and filters in.

Question
1. How do you start a syphon to get the water in the sump? What do you use?(tubing?)
2. How do you even out the water syphon rate and the water pumping back to the tank rate so that they are equal so the water level stays the same?


Thanks a lot
 

Attachments

If you have an overflow, valve the output of the pump. Just the water level in the sump will change
 
Ok thanks

I dont want to do an overflow but i am wondering still how to actually start the syphon...
 
i used to have a sump system for my 3ft tank WITHOUT an overflow. i used a powerhead with an airtube attached as flow regulator of the syphon. when the surface of the water touches the airtube, the airtube will start taking in water, increasing the outflow and reducing the water level to under the airtube. the powerhead does not have any power: the water flows to the sump through gravity. it took me quite some time, and some mopping, to get the system running smooth. good luck with the trial and errors! :D
 
piranhaman00 said:
Ok thanks

I dont want to do an overflow but i am wondering still how to actually start the syphon...
Click to expand...

Quick thought.........Put the sump on top of the tank....have a powerhead blow the water up PVC piping or flex tubing......The water then filters through the sump media and falls through a hole into the water...........
 
Thanks guys..

I was thinking of just having a pvc tube in the water and starting a syphon with that just to get water into the sump and have it go throw then get pumped back up
 
You need an overflow, sure you could probably half ass it with a syphon. But if power goes out they is no way to stop the siphon unless you break it. If you break the syphon then power comes back then the syphon does not start automatically. This is not the case with an overflow.
 
Bderick67 said:
You need an overflow, sure you could probably half ass it with a syphon. But if power goes out they is no way to stop the siphon unless you break it. If you break the syphon then power comes back then the syphon does not start automatically. This is not the case with an overflow.
Click to expand...

Agreed. You can half ass a setup w/o an overflow but it's going to be a huge pain. If power goes out nothing breaks siphon till the tube is below water level. This is easily fixed w/ a simple drill hole below surface to release air and break siphon. Of course then you have to deal w/ starting a siphon every water change as opposed to a regular overflow setup where you just unplug the pump, do your wc, and plug it back in. Also it'll be tricky matching a pump to the flow off a siphon when in a regular setup your tank drains as fast as the pump from the sump fills the tank to go over into the overflow. Overflow+sump=a good sump setup.
 
Ok thanks guys...

I have a 180 gallon tank what should I do/use for the overflow box? Is there like a diy overflow box or should I buy one? Do you have to drill anything with an overflow box?

Thanks a lot guys

Edit-could you explain to me how if the power goes out the siphon will stop with an overflow? I picture the water flowing over And overflowing the sump..any help please?

Sorry that I don't know what's going on lol
 
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