[Reefer769]

i was looking at some sites for building a sump, and i came across this drawing, and just let me know if im correct with this.


-the first pic is a drawing the the site had:
and it had no pump, pumping water from the tank to the sump.

-the second pic is a drawing i did:
i drew the pump that the site didnt have, because i was wondering, wouldnt i need a pump to pump water from the 30gal to the 10gal sump?
please correct me if im wrong with this.

[Reefer769]

Heres a drawing of the sump how it will look when i have everything finished.
-please if anyone has an concerns or suggestions please feel free to comment.

[Ninong]

You would NEVER pump water from the aquarium to the sump. Water from the aquarium drains into the sump and is pumped from the sump back up to the aquarium.

[Reefer769]

so how would i go about doing this? since i cant pump the water out of the 30gal with a powerhead your saying, then how do i get water into the sump?

or how would i drain it into the sump?

but other then that, what do you think of the drawing?

[Ninong]

You can either drill your tank or you can stick a siphon overflow box on it. Either way you would be draining by gravity from the main tank into the sump below and then returning the water with a system return pump.

[Reefer769]

ummm wow , now im pretty much lost... i have no idea what you just said, could you please explain about that a little better?

so your saying that i cant just hook up a PVC return pipe and attach a power head at one end to create a suction? and since i cant do that then how do i let gravity drain the water down to the sump, and drilling is not an option.

[Calfire]

so your saying that i cant just hook up a PVC return pipe and attach a power head at one end to create a suction? and since i cant do that then how do i let gravity drain the water down to the sump, and drilling is not an option.[/quote]

OK he is saying that for you the option would be a overflow suction here is a pictuer of what one looks like this is a CPR Continuos Siphon Overflow/Prefilter

Gravity and you sucking on the hose starts the suction and as it flows through the sump and into the chamber where the return pump. the pump then sends it back to the tank to a discharge ie. a sea swerl or a spray bar.


Jason

[Reefer769]

cool thanks, but theres a problem, i dunno if i have enough room in the back of my tank for this hang on overflow.

[Calfire]

Originally Posted by Reefer769

cool thanks, but theres a problem, i dunno if i have enough room in the back of my tank for this hang on overflow.

The one i showed is 6 1/2" and the rest that CPR offers are between 8 and 10 ".
Know these are just from one retailer there are many more kinds out there and i am sure that someone has done a DIY one.

Jason

[Reefer769]

i still have a couple more questions.

-for the return pump, can i use a powerhead to suction the water back into the tank?

-and i really dont want to spend 60$ on that overflow... can you explain to me why i cant just hook up a powerhead to the PVC pipe that that goes to down to the 10gal, why would that be such a problem?

-ill try to sketch something out to get a better understanding of what im talking about unless you already understand. thanks!

[Reefer769]

heres the sketch of both tanks, and how i thought i could do it:


feel free to comment, and please tell me why this wouldnt work.

[Poseidon]

THe reason you don't PUMP water form the main to sump, is so that if POWER ever fails. The water would continue to drain from the main to the Sump, over filling the sump and spilling onto the floor... Plus it would continue to drain from the tank till teh water level got below the powerhead in the tank...BIG MESS!!!

[Reefer769]

how could the water keep draining if the power goes out? the powerhead plugs into an outlet, so if the electricity goes out then the powerhead shuts off, and the flow would stop, would it?

[Reefer769]

oh and if the water would flow back down the tube into the 10gal and flood, wouldnt it do the same for both pipes? i dunno im really really confused right now so ANY help would be AWSOME! thanks!

[Meric]

You would have to match the water flow between the 2 pumps to exactly the same GPH, otherwise you will either overfill the sump or the 30 Gallon tank creating a mess or end up running either the powerhead or the pump dry and ruining it. If there is a power outage some powerheads cannot restart on their own if they have any air in the impeller, which could cause the sump pump to pump all the sump water into your Tank, possibly overfilling it or at the very least causing your sump pump to run dry and damaging it.

Also you just need a return pump that can pump water at the GPH you want at the height you need. ie: A MAG 5 can pump at 500GPH, however if you attach a hose to it and run it up for 4 feet, the water coming out at the end is only 300GPH.

For all the effort you would need and possible damage you can do to your system, $60.00 for an overflow is not that expensive. Besides you can get a 300GPH overflow on Ebay for around $30.00

[Meric]

Originally Posted by Reefer769

oh and if the water would flow back down the tube into the 10gal and flood, wouldnt it do the same for both pipes? i dunno im really really confused right now so ANY help would be AWSOME! thanks!

You would need a check valve on the return side. This allows water to travel in one direction. It has a small lid in it that closes when water start to run in the opposite direction.

And no you cannot use a check valve on the drain side of the tank.

[Meric]

Originally Posted by Reefer769

how could the water keep draining if the power goes out? the powerhead plugs into an outlet, so if the electricity goes out then the powerhead shuts off, and the flow would stop, would it?

Gravity... Just like when you do a water change and you stick the hose in the water and start siphoning the water out. Once it is started it doesn't stop until you pull the hose out or all the water is gone.

[Reefer769]

alright ill go with the overflow on the side were the water is drained from the 30gal to the sump, and on the return side, i will just use a powerhead to get the water from the sump to the 30gal, would that at least be okay?

[Reefer769]

if its not to much to ask, could you also get me the link to that 300gph overflow? thanks alot meric!

[Calfire]

you have a pm with the link