To Sump or Not To Sump

[johndirst]

That would work well, just have one pump per side.

Also just drill a small hole just below the water line on the return line of both. A little water will come out but it won't affect flow much and if the power does shut off that hole will break the siphon once the tank drains down a little bit. This prevents the need for 1 way valves on the returns and is more fool proof to me.

Nice. I was thinking about 1-way valves, but that is simple enough it just might work

Any suggestions on what brand/model for a pump?
I will admit I haven't surfed these forums much on what brands are the best, but a quick point in the right direction would be appreciated

 

[polish]

I use both Quiet One and ViaAqua pumps - both work well. There are many other good brands too... I went with these brands because amount of flow compared to wattage used is very good.

As for sizes it depends on how much turnover you want. I run a semi low turnover compared to many... 200g has about 600gph turnover and 400g has about 1,200gph. So only about 3x per hour through the sump. They both have power heads for circulation as well.

 

[johndirst]

At first glance I am think two Quietone 6000 would work.

With 6 feet of head, each one will output about 1000GPH.
Combined that is about 2000GPH and would be roughly a 5x turnover.

My only concern is with a 75 gallon sump, will the overflow be able to feed the sump fast enough? 2000 GPH ~= 33GPM, so every minute or so the sump tank will be emptied twice (not physically emptied of course)... sounds like a lot. I really want to house the filter under my tank in the stand for a clean look, but I may have to pull it out if my sump tank needs to be bigger.

 

[Pharaoh]

The sump will be fine, it is the plumbing size for the drain lines that you have to be concerned about. What size are they? You need to make sure that they will flow that much water.


Regarding the smaller holes being at the bottom, just plumb them to go out of the overflow box with loc-line or PVC and you should be in business.

 

[johndirst]

The sump will be fine, it is the plumbing size for the drain lines that you have to be concerned about. What size are they? You need to make sure that they will flow that much water.

The bulkhead for the overflow 3.5" diameter... big enough?

I was more concerned about the flow inside the sump tank and the impedance of the media and such (I am a total sump noob )

 

[Pharaoh]

The bulkhead for the overflow 3.5" diameter... big enough?

I was more concerned about the flow inside the sump tank and the impedance of the media and such (I am a total sump noob )

What is the internal measurement, i.e. what size PVC is it for?

I'm running about the same on my 75 sump and it works well.

 

[johndirst]

The threads on the bulkhead take a 3.5" diameter fitting that would then go to PVC. I havent looked into this yet, but I imagine you could get a 3.5" threaded fitting that converts to some size PVC (3.5 presumably or 3...).

I am thinking about having two return pumps as well to get to the desire 2000GPH mark.

 

[Pharaoh]

You should be OK then. 3" will flow plenty of water.

 

[polish]

Yup that all sounds good to me. Those two pumps would be great.