Finally getting a sump

[marleesan]

I have a 37 gallon fowlr tank that has been running for six months. While I currently have no fish, I will be adding new fish in a few weeks. I finally decided to add a sump, but have some questions
First, what's the best hang on back overflow for my tank? Drilling is not an option for me right now
Secondly, what size sump is best? I need it to fit my protein skimmer, HOB filter, heater and UV sterilizer

 

[GimpyFin]

I've used the eshopps hang-on overflow boxes and they work quite well and are well made if you don't have a drilled tank. I would go for as big of a sump as you have room for and it doesn't necessarily have to be anything fancy depending on what you want to spend. (It can be a bare glass tank from petco with a filter sock holder.) Also, your HOB filter is not needed with a sump. Hope that helps.

 

[Joshua00030]

Agree with GimpyFin. I have an eshopps hanging off of my tank into a bare glass sump. I added glass dividers and used silicone to keep the dividers in place. This created in intake, refugium and return pump section. I'm not sure on your UV sterilizer size But you can probably get something like a 20 gallon from petco and use that as a sump.

The main thing is to make sure your sump can fit where you want it to go. With the aquarium already in place it is more difficult to place the sump. Most stands have the middle cut out making lowering the sump into the stand easy. Lifting a 37 gallon tank filled with rock, coral and water is not my idea of fun or easy. Keep that in mind and measure the sump diagonally as you will likely have to turn it as it enters your stand.

 

[marleesan]

I've used the eshopps hang-on overflow boxes and they work quite well and are well made if you don't have a drilled tank. I would go for as big of a sump as you have room for and it doesn't necessarily have to be anything fancy depending on what you want to spend. (It can be a bare glass tank from petco with a filter sock holder.) Also, your HOB filter is not needed with a sump. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the help! Also, do I need to have a refugium?

 

[Joshua00030]

You may not NEED a refugium but they are nice. If you don't have a reason to not add one I would add it. They allow you to keep more pod intensive fish.

 

[GimpyFin]

Yes, refugiums can be a nice addition, but not necessary. If you do go that route, it might be easiest to just buy a sump that has a refugium chamber built into it. Eshopps, trigger systems, and others make some nice ones, but they do cost a little $$. I have a newer eshopps one that I like pretty well. Most everything including the filter sock and skimmer chamber are up front and easy to access. If you want an idea of what it looks like up and running, I have a picture of it in my photo album under my profile.

 

[marleesan]

I think I have made up my mind and want to run my plan by you guys
I will use a 10 gallon tank I will pick up from Petco
I will use the Eshopps PF 300 overflow box
Contents of sump:
Protein Skimmer
UV Sterilizer
Heater

I have decided not to have a refugium to save space/money
I also do not plan on using filter socks
Is this okay?

 

[GimpyFin]

That will work. Filter socks aren't needed, but I would recommend one for this. It will give you a secure holder for your drain hose and help prefilter stuff from the main tank going into the sump. I don't see a return pump listed for your sump. Do you have one already?

 

[marleesan]

That will work. Filter socks aren't needed, but I would recommend one for this. It will give you a secure holder for your drain hose and help prefilter stuff from the main tank going into the sump. I don't see a return pump listed for your sump. Do you have one already?

I do not have a return pump, where can I get one?

 

[GimpyFin]

Most any aquatic supplier will have them in one form or another. You won't need anything beefy. Eheim makes very good pumps and the compact 1000 pump would be about perfect for your tank size and overflow box. It also has a built in throttle gate in case you want to dial it down a bit. Do you have an idea for your plumbing to tie it all together?

 

[marleesan]

What do you mean what kind of plumbing? Sorry if this sounds stupid, I'm new at this

 

[GimpyFin]

No worries at all. I wasn't sure if it was your first time setting up a sump so I just thought I'd ask. Your overflow box will have a bulkhead in it to connect your drain hose into. The other end goes into your sump (I recommended a filter sock holder as it also has a bulkhead for the other end of the hose to attach to in the sump.) Your return pump will generally be at the opposite end of the sump and have tubing and or piping running from it back up to the inside of the tank. There's other little details, but that's the jist of it.

 

[marleesan]

No worries at all. I wasn't sure if it was your first time setting up a sump so I just thought I'd ask. Your overflow box will have a bulkhead in it to connect your drain hose into. The other end goes into your sump (I recommended a filter sock holder as it also has a bulkhead for the other end of the hose to attach to in the sump.) Your return pump will generally be at the opposite end of the sump and have tubing and or piping running from it back up to the inside of the tank. There's other little details, but that's the jist of it.

Thanks so much for the help! I have two more questions:
1. After doing further research, I have narrowed it down to a refugium sump or a wet dry sump. I currently have a FOWLR tank, and don't know which is better
2. Where does the return pump hose go? back into the tank or into the overflow box?