Sump Question

[Matteus]

This tank is going in my living room and one in my family room (new addition) an overhead sump is not going to work.

Here is a small easy one I rigged up in my living room. It worked just wonderful. The pvc overflow that Joey tells about in the video is very inconsistent over time and came very close to flooding my living room- which didn’t work imo.

there is a spray bar that flows water over the bio ball substrate for the peace lily and pothos combination. Under the bio balls are ceramic rings that sit in the submerged area just underneath the bulkheads.

the magic trick about sumps is you need to kill the power to your tank and watch what it does. I never leave a sump unattended over night with out doing that. If you have a syphon from your pump, it can overflow. If you are too full, you can flood. The biggest benefit to an overhead sump is if the power goes out, all the water just ends up where it is supposed to be.

 

[twentyleagues]

Here is a small easy one I rigged up in my living room. It worked just wonderful. The pvc overflow that Joey tells about in the video is very inconsistent over time and came very close to flooding my living room- which didn’t work imo.

there is a spray bar that flows water over the bio ball substrate for the peace lily and pothos combination. Under the bio balls are ceramic rings that sit in the submerged area just underneath the bulkheads.

the magic trick about sumps is you need to kill the power to your tank and watch what it does. I never leave a sump unattended over night with out doing that. If you have a syphon from your pump, it can overflow. If you are too full, you can flood. The biggest benefit to an overhead sump is if the power goes out, all the water just ends up where it is supposed to be.

View attachment 1456203View attachment 1456204View attachment 1456205

This ^ very easy to do and looks very nice when done properly.

Drill the tank. DIY overflows or hob overflows are floods waiting to happen. If you use a pump in the tank to send water down to the sump when the power goes out the hose will go full syphon and continue to drain the tank and flood the sump. If a hob overflow looses syphon the sump will continue to pump water and flood the main tank. A drilled tank is safest way to run a sump. If your going to have this in the new addition of your house I’m sure you wouldn’t want to risk having a flood.

I fully agree with this.

I've tried a few of joeys builds the 5g bucket canister and the diy over flow don't work, at least not like they should/he shows. You are asking for a flood at some point. I had to do all kinds of modification to the 5g canister to get it to not leak in a power off situation and that was with just 30g of water over it. Same with the overflow design very inconsistent and it failed to restart syphon 3 out of 10 tries on a power out situation. That's 3 flooded living rooms. They sell hob overflows I've seen those fail as well.

Drill or overhead sump is the best options if you are dead set on a sump. If you drill make sure you check to see if the glass is tempered like others have said. You will need a quality polarized lens "cheep sunglasses" don't work.....ask me how I know, and a white screen on a tablet laptop or phone. To check if you have a decent polarized lens check it on a car side window say driver door. Looking through the lens turn the lens from how it would normally sit on your face (sunglasses) to "side ways" you should see "dimples" in the glass. All automotive side glass is tempered.

 

[dogofwar]

Spot on.

How an overhead filter looks is based on what the container that you use looks like. In my fishroom I use actual sumps (with a hole drilled in the front to allow water to flow back to the tank). I don't have any tanks in my house but if I did I'd use a planter or something that looks good and put plants in it.

Here is a small easy one I rigged up in my living room. It worked just wonderful. The pvc overflow that Joey tells about in the video is very inconsistent over time and came very close to flooding my living room- which didn’t work imo.

there is a spray bar that flows water over the bio ball substrate for the peace lily and pothos combination. Under the bio balls are ceramic rings that sit in the submerged area just underneath the bulkheads.

the magic trick about sumps is you need to kill the power to your tank and watch what it does. I never leave a sump unattended over night with out doing that. If you have a syphon from your pump, it can overflow. If you are too full, you can flood. The biggest benefit to an overhead sump is if the power goes out, all the water just ends up where it is supposed to be.

View attachment 1456203View attachment 1456204View attachment 1456205

 

[dogofwar]

A couple of other thoughts:
- Running the input line to the overhead filter from below (i.e. through the bottom of the planter) helps hide hoses and lines.
- You can use the output of a canister filter to supply water to the overhead filter. I really dislike canister filters (they're a PITA to clean) so adding a pre-filter to the intake of a canister is a good way to keep them "clean" (i.e. gunk out of them).

Spot on.

How an overhead filter looks is based on what the container that you use looks like. In my fishroom I use actual sumps (with a hole drilled in the front to allow water to flow back to the tank). I don't have any tanks in my house but if I did I'd use a planter or something that looks good and put plants in it.

 

[Matteus]

A couple of other thoughts:
- Running the input line to the overhead filter from below (i.e. through the bottom of the planter) helps hide hoses and lines.
- You can use the output of a canister filter to supply water to the overhead filter. I really dislike canister filters (they're a PITA to clean) so adding a pre-filter to the intake of a canister is a good way to keep them "clean" (i.e. gunk out of them).

That is exactly what I did on mine. It was kind of an experiment to be honest. I had a huge bio load for a 180g so I wanted to add more filtration and I wasn’t willing to drill such an old tank. The canister filter that was feeding the planter box had a uv sterilizer and it worked incredibly well. My only complaint was I would have uni seals over bulkheads for that thin of a planter because it was too thin of a material so it had a slight leak, but because it was sitting on top of the tank I just positioned it so the leak dropped into the water.

C Cichlid savage II I am not posting this to oppose you, but to show you a way that it can work, for dirt cheap, and super easy.

 

[dogofwar]

I enjoy DIY stuff like this. I just used PVC fittings (and plumbers tape) on mine. Any leaks go back into the tank.

That is exactly what I did on mine. It was kind of an experiment to be honest. I had a huge bio load for a 180g so I wanted to add more filtration and I wasn’t willing to drill such an old tank. The canister filter that was feeding the planter box had a uv sterilizer and it worked incredibly well. My only complaint was I would have uni seals over bulkheads for that thin of a planter because it was too thin of a material so it had a slight leak, but because it was sitting on top of the tank I just positioned it so the leak dropped into the water.

C Cichlid savage II I am not posting this to oppose you, but to show you a way that it can work, for dirt cheap, and super easy.

 

[Cichlid savage II]

That is exactly what I did on mine. It was kind of an experiment to be honest. I had a huge bio load for a 180g so I wanted to add more filtration and I wasn’t willing to drill such an old tank. The canister filter that was feeding the planter box had a uv sterilizer and it worked incredibly well. My only complaint was I would have uni seals over bulkheads for that thin of a planter because it was too thin of a material so it had a slight leak, but because it was sitting on top of the tank I just positioned it so the leak dropped into the water.

C Cichlid savage II I am not posting this to oppose you, but to show you a way that it can work, for dirt cheap, and super easy.

I don't see your post as opposition. I post threads to get differing opinions and ideas. I always want to learn as much as I can. I've been out of the hobby for a while because of a divorce. When I set my tanks up again I want them to be better than before. I had 7 tanks before. I'm planning my dream tank now. And initially 2 others as grow outs.

 

[Cichlid savage II]

Spot on.

How an overhead filter looks is based on what the container that you use looks like. In my fishroom I use actual sumps (with a hole drilled in the front to allow water to flow back to the tank). I don't have any tanks in my house but if I did I'd use a planter or something that looks good and put plants in it.

I guess then it is a matter of what you like vs whT you don't like.

 

[Cichlid savage II]

After a lot of reading, I’ve decided to drill the tank unless it’s tempered of course. If I can’t I will buy an appropriate tank that is able to be drilled or already drilled. Should a 1.5 inch hole be sufficient?

 

[twentyleagues]

After a lot of reading, I’ve decided to drill the tank unless it’s tempered of course. If I can’t I will buy an appropriate tank that is able to be drilled or already drilled. Should a 1.5 inch hole be sufficient?

Depends on the amount of flow/turn over you want through it. Eshopps sells a nice overflow series called shadow. They sell small medium and large I think. I put a medium in a 75 it good for around 1200gph I think. I've done a single hole 1.5" on a 40b and I don't think I'd do a single hole on anything bigger than that. Remember that the hole size is going to be larger then the bulkhead you are using so if you are going to buy a hole bit check and see what size bulkhead needs what size bit before you buy one.