Drilling a sump in place

[Mrramsey]

Hi all- I have convinced myself that I want to switch from my mag24 pump to a Reeflo dart hybrid external. Kicking myself in the arse for not doing it to begin with but the mag24 was new and part of a package buy but that's another story. So now the tank is up and running for 8 weeks and the cycle is done. I decided to do this before any stock is added.

Is it safe to drill the sump in place? I'm thinking I can just pump out the return chamber and drill. The sump is a 55g aqueon which to the best of my knowledge and research only has a tempered bottom glass. My sump is a center return so I will be drilling the front glass.

 

[Mrramsey]

Well ****... I called Aqueon to get a confirmation on the glass on the 55g being tempered. The spec sheets on their website say only the bottom however after calling they confirmed this... Since I bought the 55 as a boxed starter kit(a couple years ago), she told me that ALL of the boxed aquarium starter kids are tempered glass on all sides.

So now my options are even more limited. Now I am considering plumbing up over the top of the sump. I know there are risks in doing this but mu set up is slightly different.

The depth of water in the return operates at 10-3/4" the level fluctuates by only 1/8". power off WL is 13" plus the pump would be another 4" or so below the sump. Thinking of doing this. (sorry for the crudeness).

 

[karimwassef]

Maybe use an aqualift to initiate the siphon?

Every 90degree elbow is a huge reduction. If you can, make a second sump, drill it, etc...
Then take a day to swap it in and sell your current sump.

 

[Mrramsey]

Maybe use an aqualift to initiate the siphon?

Every 90degree elbow is a huge reduction. If you can, make a second sump, drill it, etc...
Then take a day to swap it in and sell your current sump.

Initiating the siphon will be the easy part.

As far as the reductions I guess that the benefit to the Snapper / Dart pump. I was initially going to configure as the snapper but with the increased reductions and head height I can run it as the dart and still use half of the energy as the mag24.

I really don't want to rebuild a new sump until I decide that the current one no longer meets the need or it breaks. That's what I get for reusing my old tank in a new build. Or I can go with another submersible but trying to find one that puts out as much as the mag24 is limiting.

 

[karimwassef]

Can it initiate a siphon when you're away on vacation and the power goes out for 30 seconds?

Paranoia is healthy...

 

[Mrramsey]

Can it initiate a siphon when you're away on vacation and the power goes out for 30 seconds?

Paranoia is healthy...

Short of there being extremely low water level in the return chamber I don't see how it would ever lose the prime once created. The pump is low enough that it is almost certainly not going to suck air from the return side. But like anything there is always some amount of risk involved. I am also looking at the Sicce Synchra HF 10 and 12 pumps and just keeping it internal as I don't have a ton of space in my fish room either. Trying to figure out my exact head loss now.

 

[mighties_keeper]

Why not remove the sump and trade it for a tank you could drill? If you have no livestock in it you could put water and rock in a temporary container. Do it right now or fix many problems later.

 

[Mrramsey]

I have talked to Chris at Reeflo about the situation and he agreed with my logic. There would be clear tubing as a visual to see if there is any accumulated trapped air at any given time. The only real way the pump could suck air would be if the tank had so much evaporation or a leak that the water level dropped. At that point there are bigger problems.