rr or overflow

laredo300c

New member
ok i own a 55g sumpless, and will be upgrading to a 120g or maybe a 210g .....i have never had a sump and live in laredo, tx, 2 hrs from san antonio, and have no lfs in town, so i have always had a panic about leaks....would i run more of a chance to get a leak with a drilled tank, or with overflows.........doing research on overflows and seems simple except how does one get the water back into the tank if it has overflows....thanks
 
I run a non drilled tank. I have every pecaution that I had think of installed, and have never had a flood. I have run this way for close to 6 years. However if I was setting up a tank and had the option (I dont have that now) there is no way I would not get it drilled.
 
You use a return pump in the return section of your sump

The water runs through the overflow into the first section which usually has a skimmer in it, After this, it goes through a bubble trap into a refugium which is for housing tiny food critters and growing macro algea for nutrient export. Then it flows into a return chamber with a pump in it that sends the water back up.

There is alot of info in the DIY section or look up Melevs reef on google. His DIY section is loaded with different sumps
 
usually the overflows have holes drilled in the bottom glass inside it. Some tanks have two holes, one for the return, one for the drain. Some that only have one hole are for the drain only. Water gets back to the tank from a pump either inside or outside the sump, and the pipe goes either behind the tank or through the second bulkhead (hole) in the overflow. This site will help understand it better as well http://www.melevsreef.com/index.html
 
I think rr is far better then a hob overflow. Looks cleaner. In my opinion safer then hob when it comes to flooding. Can put the tank closer to the wall.
 
thanks guys rr is the way i think i will go, is an asm g4x good for this tank, what return pump would you guys recommend
 
My tank is corner drilled. Best move I made. it is cleaner looking and safer in my opinion. If the water height in the sump is set correctly it is nearly impossible to flood the room. I run my return pump from the sump through a chiller and into the returns on the overflow. i use a MagDrive 9.5 to get the job done. which pump size you use depends on distance the water has to go to get back to the tank, etc...
 
That skimmer is rated for a 450 gal tank. Unless you plan on going even bigger later I would get an asm g3. Im running an asm g3 on my 220 gal with a 75 gal sump and it works great. As for a return pump that would depend on a few things. What size pipe are you going to plumb it with? Whats your head hight? Do you want an internal or external pump?
 
internal pump, flexable tubing..spaflex black tubing...the asm 3 was my first choice but was worried that it might not be enough for a mid stocked 210gallon ......thinking of two corner drains....but was wondering if one corner overflow would be enough for a 210 gallon
 
I'd drill the tank yourself and use something like a GlassHoles setup. If you've never had a RR tank leak at the bulkhead while you're away - you're in a for a treat! I like having the holes up high in the tank rather than the bottom so, if a leak does happen, it doesn't have the potential to empty the entire tank. Plus, as one poster said, if you set your sump up correctly, you should never have an overflow.
 
well i'm actually not worried about the overflow of sump, but worried about a bulkhead leak.......www.marineland.com has a tank setup with explains the correct setup of a sump.....even though their equipment is not to my liking, that video is the reason i decided to go for a sump
 
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