120 Gal drilled tank help

[Jay S.]

Hey folks,

I just picked up a 120 Gallon drilled tank.

There is a couple things that I was wondering if you could help me on.

Ok, the tank belonged to an X husband in which the lady knows nothing about aquariums.. it has a sump. and I guess for the water return motor he was using a 802 powerhead with a big hose connected to the output and I guess he had it sitting in the tank part of the sump.. will this be ok?

I have the big house with connecter that attaches to the left hand bottom corner where the water falls down and into the sump and it has a adjustment valve where I could slow down the flow or even turn it off.

I just want to make extra sure that this 802 will do the job for me. It is only single trap meaning that just the left hand corner is where the water would fall.

thanks for any help!

Jay

P.S. could I use a 55 Gallon tank for the tank of my sump?

 

[dattack]

Try this image.

http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/plumbing.gif

A drilled tank is the best way to go for a large tank!  Good deal.

So is the sump drilled or not?  

For a 120 G tank, I think a powerhead 802 is too weak for a return.

Next question.

Do you want a submersible pump or an external pump?  Submersible heats the tank by a couple of degree.  External pumps are usually more powerful and heat the tank less but you will need a bulkhead in your sump.

Yes, you can use the 55 gallon as your sump.  You can use anything that holds water to be your sump such as a rubbermaid container.

 

[Jay S.]

THanks for the prompt reply.

Yes! I got a smoken deal on the setup.

As for the sump.. it is a homemade glass box with a couple layers in it with orange bio balls.. and then it sits in a tank.. there are no connections for an actual hose to clamp onto.. I believe that the hose just sits ontop of the box and shoots water into it and then it comes into the tank part of the sumpe and then the 802 powerhead sits in the water in the tank part of the sump and pumps the water back up to the tank.

My question is, CAN I get away with using this for the time being? I take it that the guy that owned the tank before was using this as the big hose is fixed to the output of the 802. If I were to say turn the valve of the incoming water flow down a little would this be OK?

thanks again bud!

 

[Jay S.]

oh yes.. the left hand corner is a little wall in the corner and it has the eggcrate style stuff at the top in which the water flows down, and there is a plastic fitting under the tank for where the hose connects to.

Hope this helps

 

[dattack]

When you have a drill tank with an overflow, you never turn down the valve at the overflow.  Just let it flow.  He probably placed the valve there just in case he needs to turn it off completely to do some replumbing.

The water flowing from the overflow will equal to the water you pump into it.  That is, if you have an overflow that handles 1200 gph and your 802 powerheads pumps up 300 gph, the water coming from the overflow is only 300 gph like your pump.   If you use a powerful pump that puts out 1200 gph, then your overflow will put out 1200 gph.

But the catch is if you buy a pump that puts out 2000 gph, your overflow is too slow and you main tank will spill over with too much water.

 

[Jay S.]

hey thanks man! I never knew that!

So just say if I had a 100gph pump it the overflow would only throw in 100gph? kewl! I understand now

So the 802 will work for me until I get something bigger and better, sweet!

thanks a million Dattack!  ;D ;D ;D ;D