Sump Questions

[Lorna]

Okay a plumber I am not.......and really I can weild a saw only so so.....but I am going to attempt to build my own sump/refugium. My plan is to get a 20g long and have the baffles cut from acrylic at home depot or lowes? I am planning to use my aqua remora pro skimmer and set the pump down on the floor ( I will probably need to upgrade the pump to a mag5). Does anyone have any suggestions for overflows? A weir or a u tube? also diameter...3/4 or 1 inch? and how about the return pump size I was thinking a mag 7 would be okay? also opinions, flex tube or pvc? When I was trying to calculate the flow back to the sump I think it was 3 gallons? does this sound reasonable?

If anyone has made a sump out of a 20L or any other size glass aquarium under a 75g stand a picture of your setup would be appreciated....thanks.

Kaluzza didn't you build one? you once had a great diagram somewhere?????

 

[Mahamotorworks]

The hard thing is getting the return flow Rate the same as the siphon to goes to the sump. They make Hang on Over flow boxes. Overflow Box - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store would upgrade to a mag 7 they can lift water higher. Here is a page with a flow chart of the mag drives. Danner Supreme Mag-Drive Aquarium Water Pump/Powerhead - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store

As far as size I dont know I have built one.

MAHA

 

[kevin4052002]

I'd suggest PVC, but you plan on upgrading the 75. Once you get your next tank I would put PVC. For now, flex tubing will do.

Don't know much about sumps outta glass. I just buy them premade.

 

[nealio]

I am going to try to hard plumb my 55G this weekend. I plan on using Durso Standpipes.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

I heard they are less noisy and they flow can be controlled with some slight modifications to the top cap. I will post some pic’s and let you know how it goes.

The only problem I see is with the flexing of the walls of the tank when it fills. When I cement the overflow to the tank I hope the stress doesn’t crack it. I was also thinking about getting a larger dia. Acrylic tube from Tap Plastics and using that as an over flow box . The only point it would have contact with the tank is the bottom of the tank, that way the flexing will have less effect on it.


Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[Lorna]

Okay I have been doing a tremendous amount of reading. I am thinking of using a 30L and placing the inflow on the far right the return in the mid section and the refugium on the far left. I will split the inflow to the fuge and the inflow skimmer area.....with both flowing back to the return area. I have an awesome design for a pvc overflow that looks like it will work and I saw a cool adjustable baffle system set up on another site that will allow you to move the baffles around, they are suctioned to the side with a sort of marine weather stripping.....we shall see how this all turns out. The overflow drains at about 500 gph and I will match that to a mag7 return at 4' of head.

 

[nealio]

Nice, I can't wait to see how it turns out. I didn't get a chance to work on my overflow this weekend, but I did a little more research and decided to change my idea a bit.

I think I am going to drill two bulkheads about two inches down from the water line. One for the return and the other one for the intake. Then I'm going to put a T valve on the bulkhead that’s returning from my tank and put a cap on that with a small hole to prevent a siphon. On the end that is in the tank I have a plan to make an overflow box that sticks to the top/back of the tank but it isn't welded onto the tank. It’s kinda like a durso that isn't piped all the way in the tank. I visited a couple LFS's and two of them had this same set up. If it works for 10 of their tanks, I'm hoping it will work for me.

Ill post some pic’s once my plumbing comes in.