Planning a sump--lots of questions

[cplawrence]

I have a 29 gallon tank that has been running for about 8 months and I am now considering setting up a sump and I have a lot of questions:
1) As the tank is already set up, I am looking into HOB overflows. From what I have seen, the general consensus seems to be that the U-tube style overflow is the better way to go--correct?

2) Can someone explain why the Lifereef overflows are so much better than say:
http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=416
It seems that many of their claims about their overflow would be true of other U-tube style boxes. The one thing that seems to stand out is that their box provides greater flow. However, since I am putting this on a 29, that seems less of a concern. If a compelling reason is offered, I am more than willing to pay the extra; I am just not seeing it though.

3) Along those lines, safety is a big concern in planning this. If I understand correctly, floods can be caused if:
a) the power goes out, the pipes drain into the sump, and not enough room was left to accomodate the extra water -- easily preventable
b) the overflow stops flowing for whatever reason and the return pumps overflows the main -- preventable with a float switch controlling the pump
c) the power goes out and the flow from the siphon tube changes directions -- preventable with a check valve
Anything else?

4) Due to the design of the stand, the largest tank I seem to be able to fit without taking the thing apart is a standard 10 gallon. I had really hoped to have both a skimmer (Coralife 65--4.25" x 5.5") and a small refugium in the sump. To try and accomodate that desire, I had thought about dividing the sump into three compartments (on the order of 6" each) leaving a couple of inches for a bubble trap. One idea was to have the skimmer in the same area as the return pump, but have the output of the skimmer diverted to the area in which the sump drains to eliminate bubbles. That is,
Drain -> Bubble trap -> Skimmer + Return <- Refugium. The other alternative I had considered was to have a small corner setup for the drain which would then flow into the skimmer region (see picture).



Are either of these ideas remotely reasonable or should I abandon the idea of getting both a skimmer and a refugium in there?

Thanks for your help,
Chris

 

[ckmn101]

Is there any way you could fit a 20g tall- only 24" wide. With a 10g the operating capacity would probably only be 5 or 6 gal. bigger the better---but by far I'm no expert---- you could custom make one or have someone make a custom one for you- check ebay

 

[cplawrence]

I understand what you are saying about the capacity. The problem is that the way I got the 10 in the stand (for comparison) was to turn it 90° and slide it through the door of the stand. Once inside, there was enough room to rotate it back. It was pretty tight, though, and I don't think I would be able to manage that with a larger tank....

 

[ckmn101]

Depending on what you were turning it on end to get around, and if you wanted to go through all this hassle, look at what this guy did to get a sump under his tank (about 1/2 way down the page) http://www.melevsreef.com/55g/55sump.html

 

[tecwzrd]

Is your stand bottomless? If so you could remove your rock and drain the tank 2/3rdrds and with a friend remove it to get the larger sump below. Tank would weigh around 100-140 lbs with sand/water remaining but is still pretty manageable with two people IMO.

I did it with a friends 55 gal to get a larger sump through the bottom and it was considerably heavier but we had 3 people to help move it.

One idea was to have the skimmer in the same area as the return pump, but have the output of the skimmer diverted to the area in which the sump drains to eliminate bubbles.

I can’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work as long as you had enough space between the bubble traps to allow for adequate flow from both your skimmer and overflow.

Personally I like the CPR overflows and use a Maxijet Turbo Venturi Kit hooked up to a Maxi-Jet 1200 kept in the sump to keep the siphon if I loose power.

Tons of people swear by the U-Tube overflows as well and their failure is very minimal but I like the backup pump for peace of mind.

 

[cplawrence]

Depending on what you were turning it on end to get around, and if you wanted to go through all this hassle, look at what this guy did to get a sump under his tank (about 1/2 way down the page) http://www.melevsreef.com/55g/55sump.html

Yeah, I had seen that too. Unfortunately, it is not a center brace that I am trying to work around, but the opening in the front is simply that narrow.

Is your stand bottomless? If so you could remove your rock and drain the tank 2/3rdrds and with a friend remove it to get the larger sump below. Tank would weigh around 100-140 lbs with sand/water remaining but is still pretty manageable with two people IMO.

That could be a possibility. The stand isn't bottomless, but if I did move the tank, I could fit a larger sump through the back of the stand. Thanks for the feedback on the overflow as well. By the way, I seem to remember that you had mentioned having a split sump in which the refugium was separate container that fed into the rest of the sump. If that is correct, do you have any pictures available?

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[cplawrence]

Bump in the hopes of a bit more feedback.
TIA

 

[boardsurfer]

I'm curious to see more responses as well...

 

[ckmn101]

Sorry I can't be of any more help

 

[Ksnell]

www.aquacrylics.com is a good cheap place to get an overflow box. Just got one last week and it works great.