Remote Sump Advice

[Malign Reefer]

Hello All,

I'm planning a fairly large system build as soon as the snow melts outside, lol.

What I'm looking to do is place my sump in a remote location near the display tank but not directly under the tank. Doing so will make gravity feed impossible.

Does anyone here have any pics and advice on remote location sumps?

The display tank will be 530 gallons with a display sump of 100 gallons. And advice on pumps and plumbing would be awesome.

Thanks in advance.
-John

 

[mcgyvr]

Gravity feed?
Huh?
A sump on the ground to the left of a display is no different than a sump right below it..

Maybe you mean sump water level and display water level being the same?

 

[Malign Reefer]

Gravity feed?
Huh?
A sump on the ground to the left of a display is no different than a sump right below it..

Maybe you mean sump water level and display water level being the same?

A remote sump, not on the ground. In fact, the sump will be located about 10 feet away from the tank on a stand/Table like the display tank.

 

[ca1ore]

A remote sump is simply one that is a distance away from the tank. Ask your questions more clearly. A sump that does not enable gravity drains (or have at least some differential water height) is functionally impossible - or at least impractical enough to be impossible. About the only way to do it would be to balance two pumps - but they wouldn't stay in balance. I don't recall anyone here on RC doing that (and I wouldn't think it a good idea if they were).

 

[mcgyvr]

Well.. You only need a very minor difference in water levels to sustain a siphon..
Not sure of the heights of the sump and display.. Any difference in water levels will allow a normal overflow/return pump setup to work

 

[Malign Reefer]

A remote sump is simply one that is a distance away from the tank. Ask your questions more clearly. A sump that does not enable gravity drains (or have at least some differential water height) is functionally impossible - or at least impractical enough to be impossible. About the only way to do it would be to balance two pumps - but they wouldn't stay in balance. I don't recall anyone here on RC doing that (and I wouldn't think it a good idea if they were).

I know what a remote sump is, how is it functionally impossible with a pump that is driving the water from the overflow to the sump?

 

[matthemmings]

You could technically do it with two controllable pumps with water detectors in the overflow to dial up / down each individual pump. Though that's quite a bit of faff compared to a rethink of the height of each one.

Sent from my X12 using Tapatalk

 

[ca1ore]

I know what a remote sump is, how is it functionally impossible with a pump that is driving the water from the overflow to the sump?

Right, pump your water to the sump. How are you getting it back to the display? Another pump? How will you ensure the pumps stay in perfect unison? Functionally impractical!

So please articulate precisely what it is you want to do and then it's easier to offer advice. For example, will the water surface of the display be higher, the same as, or lower than the sump? If it is the same, then the only way to do it is to run two matching pumps, which is really difficult to do. I know, because I tried it years ago and ultimately deemed it a failure.. If there is some height differences between the water surfaces, then a gravity drain is possible, though getting substantial flow requires a large diameter drain.