Sump/Fuge Design Help Please

[Nikon_Guy]

I’m getting ready to cut glass to add to a 45-gallon aquarium for a fuge/sump. I want to make sure that I cut the proper dimensions and allow enough room in the sump for overflow from the display tank should the return pump ever fail.

I did some math on this but being as math is NOT my strong suit I was hoping one of you geniuses could double check my figures.

Main tank is 72” by 18” by 26” , according to my calculations (which are circumspect) that should give me about 5.6 US gallons of water per inch in the display.

The sump/fuge is 48” by 12 ½ by 16”, here I’m thinking it should hold 2.6 US gallons per inch of tank space.

So, if calculations are correct, if I mount the prefilter/overflow box three inches below the water line, I would need to allow about 7 inches of empty tank space in the sump/fuge to be safe in a pump or power failure.

Anyone care to double-check my figures.

 

[bassnman11]

sump design

sump design

The height of the overflow box determine the height of the water in the tank.The drain down or possible siphon from the returns is what will flood your sump. drill a 3/16 hole in each return a inch or so below the water line. The holes should point down or to the side as a small stream will come out when the pump is running. When the pump is shut off, the the holes will break the siphon, stopping the water drain. With the pump stopped, the water will drain untill it is below the lip of the overflow box.