Using my FX5 with a Sump

[LostAcc]

Can I use my FX5 to feed water into my sump ?

I have 2x Fish Tanks, but I haven't collected the one yet (space issues).
The one I currently have @ home, isn't plumbed for a sump though (no overflow etc).

So I was thinking of using my FX5 to take water into the sump, let the sump
do it's thing, and then send it back up into the tank via an uplift pump.
Would this work, or would the FX5 be flowing too fast/too slow, etc ?

Keep in mind, the FX5 will have VERY LITTLE media in it, as I am switching over
to the dark-side with this setup. At most it will have a couple of small pieces of
Live-Rock in it.

 

[Crispy]

will be impossible to equal out the input pump (fx5) with the output pump. you need a drain. there are many styles of overflows. most are very cheap and easy to make. or just go with an overflow box. you want something that will use gravity to drain, not pump out and pump back into your tank. you'll never be able to equal out the flow.

 

[pacu mom]

Can I use my FX5 to feed water into my sump ?

I have 2x Fish Tanks, but I haven't collected the one yet (space issues).
The one I currently have @ home, isn't plumbed for a sump though (no overflow etc).

So I was thinking of using my FX5 to take water into the sump, let the sump
do it's thing, and then send it back up into the tank via an uplift pump.
Would this work, or would the FX5 be flowing too fast/too slow, etc ?

Keep in mind, the FX5 will have VERY LITTLE media in it, as I am switching over
to the dark-side with this setup. At most it will have a couple of small pieces of
Live-Rock in it.

It sounds like a dangerous proposition to me. Even if you matched the flow rate of the return pump to the flow rate of the FX5, what would happen if the return pump fails (they don't last forever). And what about the one minute rest cycle of the FX5? What happens when no water is coming into the sump, but water is leaving it? That's the beauty of an overflow system....no worries about accidentally completely draining your main tank.

 

[Mavrick813]

I use an Fx5 as a return pump from my sump. But I wouldn't risk what your suggesting too much possibility of water on the floor IMHO.

 

[smithj427]

It would be much safer to use a gravity fed overflow to your sump and have the fx5 as your return then that way gravity will be able to match the return rate of the fx5

 

[muttley000]

It can work but you will fiddle with it constanlty and wish you never tried!

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

If lack of media is the problem, how about incorporating an overhead filter to the output of your FX5?

Something like this, The FX5 would pump water through the outlet into the top of these boxes full of media and the water will rain down over the media (efficiently a W/D filter) and flow to the bottom of the boxes and back into your tank.

 

[pacu mom]

If lack of media is the problem, how about incorporating an overhead filter to the output of your FX5?

Something like this, The FX5 would pump water through the outlet into the top of these boxes full of media and the water will rain down over the media (efficiently a W/D filter) and flow to the bottom of the boxes and back into your tank.

Great idea, a great solution, with none of the risks previously mentioned.

 

[LostAcc]

Thanks guys, now that I know the risks, I have decided to rather just have an overflow box built into the tank.
In a way it would be a bit better, as it frees up the FX5 to be used on another tank as well.

@Spiritofthesoul, thanks for the advice (with an illustration), I might consider this option for one of my other tanks.
The one I am busy with now, will be in the lounge tho, so space for additional overhead filter would really be a problem.

 

[BigCountry]

It would be much safer to use a gravity fed overflow to your sump and have the fx5 as your return then that way gravity will be able to match the return rate of the fx5

/this