setting up a sump on an aquapod

S

scoobasteve

New member
Hi, i am new to this site but so far its been a great help. After about three days i have learned more about reefs than i had in six months working at PETCO. Anyway, i just bought a 12g aquapod and unfortunately boutght the fission nano skimmeralong with it. I havn't plugged in the skimmer yet and from the reviews i have read i doubt i will even put it in my tank.

What i do want to do though is try to run a 5 gallon sump tank underneath the aquapod, to give me some extra room for a decent skimer and mabye an emporer 500 or a H.O.T magnum from marineland. I have never plumbed a sump before though and i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for doing this on my aquapod with minimal dremmeling involved. What kind of return and intake pumps should i use, should they flow into and out of the aquapod's sump or into the tank itself, ect. Thanks for all the help.

One more thing--i've oticed poeple on this site tend to use the acronym "IMO" alot--a whole lot. It's not really neccessary. Unless you are citing some source, its implied that what you are saying is your opinion and not neccessarily fact. Especially if reviewing a product. Reviews are and can only ever be opinion.
 
Well though trail and error i could probably figure it out; however, i am trying to bring the trail part down as close as possible to 1 and the error part as close as possible to 0. I'm an english major so wehn it comes to syntax i've got it, but when it comes to knwoing if my return pump should be smaller or larger than my intake pump, what size pvc i should use and whether or not pizza sauce is actually neccessary for a good pizza-I am not so confident.
 
for a sump, you dont need to use a intake pump; just get a really small overflow box for the intake, and then get a maxi jet 900 or so for the return. What happens is that the return pump dictates how fast the water flows through the system, and the overflow box catches up (as long as it is the right size). If you used two pumps, the intake would push much faster (gravity assist) than the return, and the sump would overflow.
 
That makes alot of sense. If i am using an aquapod with a built in overflow box(flowing into its own small sump) how would you reccomend making the second box to flow into a seperate sump underneath the tank? Would i just run pvc from the overflow down into my sump tank using a syphon to intake water? Im really curious as to how to get the water down into the sump tank without drilling my aquapod, i know the return should be easy, but the intake seems tricky without drilling the tank.
 
The overflow is in two peices (the skimmer in the tank) and hangs on the back.

http://www.reefs.org/library/diy/img/overflow.gif

There is a problem with overflows in an aquapod because the sump is very narrow, so a standard size will not fit. I guess you will have to either special order one or make one your self.
Also, I am thinking of doing the same thing with my aquapod, so let me know how things go
 
Thanks alot for the diagram. Now that i see how it should be done, i can tell that the tank will need to be drilled to get a good flow into the sump, but again i do not want to go tha route in a brand new tank. Im thinking of using a very small pump to pump water up a pvc line, over the aquapod,s built in sump and down into the 5 gallon sump/fuge. Then to avoid your overflow scenario i was wondering if it wouldn't work to use a much stronger pump for the return, and run the return line straight into the take. That would provie excellent flow in my pod and may help compensate for the gravity assist the intake would be getting. Keep the suggestions coming, as i think more people will be interesting in sump/fuging thier pods.
 
Actually, most people turn one or more chambers into fuges/sumps because of the issue of drilling a glass tank!
 
Even if you used different sized pumps you run the risk of failure of your return pump resulting in overflow of sump.

Keep working on this as I too would love to add a sump to my AP!
 
You have a couple of problems with your 2 pump design.

Feed pump fails, return pump runs - you pump you sump dry and overflow your tank.

Return pump fails, feed pump runs - depending on how you have the gates setup you either pump the tank sump dry and burn up the pump or you pump all of your tank water into the sump, overflowing it.

The only viable solution is is to put bulkheads in the back wall, install an external durso and have a sump. I would put the return pump on a controller with a float switch in the tank so if the drain becomes clogged and the water level gets to high, it shuts the sump down. I have also considered adding a plexi refugium/sump on the back of the tank. This could be large enough to hold a small skimmer like the Tunze or Nano Aqua-C. It would be a free flow design like the current sump area of the tank. Bulkheads from the in/out tanks sump to the external sump and extend the wall in the tank sump to stop the flow there. Water would drop into the tank sump as designed flow through the bulkhead into the external sump, processed by the skimmer and flow back into the tank thrugh the other bulkhead to be returned by the current pump. You could also put macro algae in the rear area, bubble traps, etc. You would have to support the unit from the bottom as all of that water would only be supported by the bulkheads and by stress the tank back too much.
 
I don't think those are made of tempered glass, so a local glass shop should have no trouble drilling a hole in it for you. They do it around here for $25.
 
ap

ap

I just finished drilling the 12 gallon ap. I used 1"pvc for the drain and 1/2" for the return. I have a 850gph powerhead for the return. I am using a ten gallon for a sump which will hold all of my equipment. I used a dremel tool and some cheap "tool shop" diamond bits from Menards to drill the holes. The back is glass with a laminate covering. It was no problem to drill....but note I did drill the back and not the bottom.

After drilling, I have no temp issues at all. The tank maintains 78 degrees.
 
Re: ap

Re: ap

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7777637#post7777637 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sticky
I just finished drilling the 12 gallon ap. I used 1"pvc for the drain and 1/2" for the return. I have a 850gph powerhead for the return. I am using a ten gallon for a sump which will hold all of my equipment. I used a dremel tool and some cheap "tool shop" diamond bits from Menards to drill the holes. The back is glass with a laminate covering. It was no problem to drill....but note I did drill the back and not the bottom.

After drilling, I have no temp issues at all. The tank maintains 78 degrees.
Click to expand...
I would also like to do this, what chamber did you drill, how low from bottom of tank did you drill , and what did you use to seal back of tank. do you have a pic ?
thanks in advance
 
I driled directly in back of the overflow chamber. Abut 2 inches from the top and side. For the return I drilled direct in back of the return. I used bulkheads to seal the back of the tank. I will try to get some pics this afternoon.
 
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