Sump

[fatfishman]

Hello all,

As you may know from another post i want to start up a marine fish tank, i am looking to use a 4-5ft tank. And i want to use a sump tank and was just going to ask you guys a couple of questions about it.

Firstly, Does your aqaurium have to be drilled to run piping to the sump or can you just use a inlet like on an external filter ?
Also does the size of the sump matter in comparison to the size of the tank ?

That is all, Thankyou all for reading

(p.s. i know you all must get annoyed with total marine begginners like me asking stupid questions, but i really do appriciate your help, thanks everyone)

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Ideally you need to tank drilled. 2nd best option is to use an "overflow" box but these can lose the syphon which if this happens will end up emptying your sump into your display tank.

You cant just use two canister filters for example. If you had one with the input in the main tank and output in the sump this would feed water to the sump. If you then used a second one to feed the water back from teh sump to the main tank this would work (assuming they both have the same flow rate). However if the flow rate in one dropped (got clogged) or the pump failed either the display tank will empty into the sump or the sump would empty into the display tank (either way leads to a lot of salt water on the floor).

 

[fatfishman]

Cheers Barney

So really you definately need a hole drilled for the sump inlet, but im guessing it would be ok to have a hose as a return pipe am i right ?

 

[STD]

Cheers Barney

So really you definately need a hole drilled for the sump inlet, but im guessing it would be ok to have a hose as a return pipe am i right ?

As said above you can use an overflow box

If the sump is set up properly it wont cause a major problem if the syphon stops - I used one for months with no problems

Having said that getting the tank drilled is a better option and probably cheaper

As you say using a hose as the return pipe is fine

 

[fatfishman]

Cheers STD

 

[Lynden]

By the way, as SkiFletch once put it, the only stupid question is the one not asked.

 

[SkiFletch]

Amen to that . Good advice thus far and I agree, drilling really is the best option. Its much easier than you think and you can totally do it yourself. As for flowrate through the sump, usually people go with ~5 times the display tank volume per hour. So since most 4-5ft tanks are in the 90-150g range, you're talkin ~500-700gph through the sump. Pretty significant but not that difficult to do. You're gonna learn a lot of fun concepts setting up a sump

 

[fatfishman]

Cheers Guys