Scared Of Overflowing A Sump!!

[ChiTownRomeo]

Hi I'm a newbie here and love the site!! I have a 46 gallon bow front aquarium and I really want a sump but I am terrified of the thought of it overflowing on my floor. I am on the 3rd floor apartment and don't wanna mess up the floor down stairs. I plan on using a eshopps overflow unit to a aqueon sump sitting under the stand. Is it a myth that they can overflow if the pump fails or the power goes out. I have a sea clear acrylic aquarium and it sucks cause the space is limited cause it only has a few cut outs for stuff. Am I just paranoid? Can someone give me some tips on how not to over flow the water? Also what size power heads should I be using on a 46 gallon bow front with 50 pounds of live rock and 60 pounds of live sand. Thanks!!

 

[Grizz]

plumb the sump let the water flow into the sump from overflows untill it stops (breaks siphon) then fill return area of sump with water turn on pump untill most of the water is gone then shut off return pump let it siphon untill it stops then fill the sump 2/3 full turn return pump back on and let run. Water level in the return area will be lower than rest of sump mark that level Max fill. For flow i'd use two koralia 750's

 

[mfdrookie516]

It's not overflowing your sump that you have to worry about. It's the siphon breaking while the pump is running and overflowing your DT that can happen. No personal experience with that happening, but because of the design, it's certainly a possibility (probability perhaps?)

 

[spoonman]

Depending on how you design the sump, you will only pump out the return section of the sump, then the pump will run dry. There is no way my setup would flood, whether the drain or the return plugged up.

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

I guess I'm just extra paranoid. Might just run a Aqua C Remora & a Aqua Clear Hob lol

 

[crister13]

If you do it right it's not going to overflow. You have to check it.

 

[Sniperhank]

As long as the siphon doesn't break you will be fine. I got a CPR overflow with an aqualifter on my tank to ensure it doesn't happen. I lost siphone once, because my aqualifter died. Luckily it didn't overflow my DT...not sure how.

Side note, don't waste your money on the aqueon sump. I had one and it is way overpriced for what you get. You can make one yourself for under 60 dollars that will be a thousand times better. When I started I said I couldn't do it, but I did and it only took me about 10 minutes.

 

[Bkmrsteel]

You want to brake the return pump siphon, but you could over flow if your drain siphon broke.

What you can do if very concerned about over flowing the sump is to set two water marks on the sump (get a high and low).

Low will be how little water you can have in the tank with it continuing to run.

high, you want to get the aquarium running. Cut the pump off, and let your water drain down. Fill the sump as high as you would want it if there was a loss of power, then kick the system up again. mark the water line after it then drops and levels ourt.

If you don't go over your line when doing top offs, you should never have a problem. Connect a power backup as well, so the fish never knew what happen.

 

[crister13]

Sniper, I would love to make my own sump. But not sure how. Could you post something about how you did it? Sorry to butt in but it would probably help the op too.

 

[200 gallon reef]

Chitown . . . The flow and number of power heads depends an what you are planning on putting in the tank. What sort of setup are you looking to do?

 

[ChiTownRomeo]

Is This Aqua Scape Ok?

Just finished adding the Tropic Eden Reef Flakes Sand and rinsed all the dead base rock. I tried to add as many caves as I could. Would this "Scape" Be ok for good flow? I also ordered 10 pounds of Fiji Cured Live rock from Premium Aquatics to seed the base rock. Should I put the life rock right on top of the base rock or just near by it to seed it? Excuse the cloudy water, I just added the sand.

 

[Grizz]

place the live rock on the base rock a small piece on the sand is good too Nice job on the rockscape

 

[lovefishys]

Your not paranoid. We made a big mistake with our sump. The power went out and leaked about 10 gallons on the floor and down to the basement before I stopped it. It's fixed now so we won't have that problem again