Will This Actual Set Up Work?

[SkiFletch]

Do you know how to use or have acecess to a lathe?

 

[ANIM4L]

no i do not have access or know how to use one

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, what I'd do if I were you is buy a couple of those hang-on isolation boxes and modify those. Basically on the box that hangs inside your tank you cut teeth out of the edge just below the water line. Then in the outside box, you cut out and silicone in place a plexiglass wall that comes up to the height of the waterline to divide the box length wise. So now you have one box in the tank, one out of the tank with two compartments in it. You then secure a bulkhead fitting into the outer portion of the outside box and attach your pipe to the sump there. Finally, with the boxes hanging, you put a thicker flexible tube between the boxes and suck all the air out of it with a small thin piece of tubing so that it constantly siphons.

This article from melevsreef.com indicates how he built his from scratch out of acryllic. I decided to build mine out of two hang-on tanks cause I think its cheaper and far less time consuming (acryllic is expensive and hard to work with).

I've made the bulhead fittings (you can conversely buy them but they're a bit pricey at $7-$10) for my box and hopefully tommorrow I'll get a chance to silicone in the wall and post up some completed pictures for you.