kind of new here

[tgauger]

Hey everyone just thought i would make an official intro for myself (been a lurker here for a while) I am in waterloo and i have a 55 that i am am trying to make successful as economically as posssible (AKA cheap) I have a couple of clowns and a zoo colony ( so graciously donated by Craig- Thanx again man I know its been a while...) I dont have a sump on my tank system yet and am trying to plan the best posssible plumbing solution to my tank not being drilled wether that be a weir overflow or direct pump from the tank to the sump and back any ideas would be great as i really am just trying to learn the basics still

 

[xroads]

Hey buddy long time no see. About time you came out of the closet.

Where do you want to put the sump? An over flow will be best for safety reasons. You hafta think of power failures, lost suction & so forth so you dont get a wet floor. Jeremy would prob have a few ideas since he has had a ton of wet floors.

 

[Coralfreak]

I would agree with Xroads, if possible go with an over flow, many great reefers in your area that can help out.

 

[tgauger]

Any particular one or how difficult would it be to build my own?

 

[xroads]

They are relatively in expensive. Would be a pain in the butt to build. I believe the key item is to have the return pump high enough in the sump so that if the overflow lost its prime all the water from your sump doesnt end up on the floor. I havent had to mess with that so others probably has more insight then me. Going to frag auction in 2 weeks?

 

[tgauger]

I was kind of thinking about trying to plumb an old hang on style power filter to be my over flow, using its existing impeller to drive the flow rather than just having a siphon feed... any thoughts on how well that might work? dont know if it would flow enough though

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

tring to match your return pump with the HOB filter will be very hard. some ppl have tried it and it failed after a while

 

[tgauger]

how do you mean match the pump? what i was thinking was to use a float switch to run the return pump so if it get ahead of theover flow it would shut off then come back on when the level in the sump back up. What problems have others run into doing this?

 

[Coralfreak]

Just buy an overflow box, in the end it will be less expensive and you can avoid water on the floor. I cant really recommend one as I havent used one, maybe someone here has some input on this?

I cant seem to find much other than the CPR overflows, which would work fine, be sure to get an Aqualifter pump to keep air out of the siphon tube.

 

[jtesdall]

I use a homemade PVC over flow on one of my tanks. They are easy to build but air naturally collects in the top. If you ignore this it will stop and your tank will overflow. I have not drilled an aqua lifter in yet. I also used only 1" PVC and the GPH is pretty low. With the positioning of this tank I cannot use a standard HOB overflow.

For a standard setup I would highly recommend buying a used HOB from a member here or from the for sale forum. You will get a much higher GPH and have more piece of mind. There are quite a few on Ebay as well but they are expensive. Make sure you get one with an aqualifter.

BTW: I have all three - A drilled tank, an HOB and a Homemade. Their quality is in that order with drilled being the best of course.