how to rubbermaid sump?

[Fuegofish777]

hello everyone,
im trying to figure out plans for a rubbermaid sump. i would need to put in an overflow, do the cpr ones work well? someone please just explain to me how to set one up and maybe just a littl ebit about them, i would really like it to not flood my room im not new to the hobby but never delt with sumps, please help me out.

 

[mg426]

A 10 gallon or even fifteen gallon tank can be had pretty cheap, and would make a suitable sump. I would be a lot easier to attach compartments to it than a rubbermaid container. if you are just putting a skimmer and a return pump then a rubbermaid will work Fine. purchase your overflow place the feed from the overflow in your sump. Then its a matter of picking out a suitable return pump. For a 60 gallon a mag 5 or a mag 7 should be fine. Get everything in place and running then do a loss of power test, and see what that tells you. You can drill siphon break holes in your return line a half inch below the water level. This will stop the siphon effect when you lose power.

 

[Fuegofish777]

ya i was opting for the rubbermaid because it would be soley for the skimmer and it needs to be bigger than a 10 gal. how do you figure out how many gph you need for the pump? my circulation is perfect right now so i dont need any excess flow. ( i finaly got good currents) also, can you explain the syphon break holes to me a little more?
-thanks!

 

[mg426]

3 to 5 times tank volume is normal through a sump. A 60 gal tank would want 180 to 300 gallons per hr through the sump.Assuming you have around 4ft of head a Mag 5 would come in around 250 gallons or so. A siphon break is just a way to prevent your return line from becoming a (siphon line in the event of a power failure) Where ever your return line enters the water, drill a small eigth inch hole half an inch below the water line. When a power failure occurs the return line will become a siphon and begin to fill your sump, however with the siphon break hole in place the level will only drop as far as the siphon break hole. The hole will break the siphon effect and no more water will siphon into your tank. hope this helps.

 

[Fuegofish777]

oh alright, i got the syphon break thing. i was jus confused on where to put the hole. alright, on to the next question, which overflows work better, the u-tube design or ones like the CPR w/ an air lifter pump.

 

[mg426]

I have allways used a u-tube type. I have never had any problems with it. I have never used a CPR type but have heard good things about them.

 

[Fuegofish777]

alright, thanks! so since i would only use the sump for a skimmer, it doesnt matter where i put the line in from my overflow does it? and would i have to worry about any baffles?

 

[kingtoad]

Use an aquarium. When Rubbermaid containers are heated up they release toxins that are used to hold the container together into your tank.

 

[Fuegofish777]

really?...thats lame! how heated does it have to get before toxins are released, just curious. seem to be working for an aweful lot of people though. can i ask where you found thout from?

 

[REEFKEEPA]

Check the DIY forum for vtons of info.

 

[Fuegofish777]

ya im checkin it out right now, cant beleive i didnt think of it earlier

 

[REEFKEEPA]

You will be impressed.

 

[sdexcalibur1]

Check this out Lots of reading
Sumpage

 

[Fuegofish777]

thanks!