One more fuge/sump ?

[natman2]

I am currently running an emperor 400 HOB one my main tank. I would like to put on the fuge to make the display tank look less cluttered with equipment. Will this ruin its effectiveness in any way? Common sense is telling me if its on the main tank it wont be removing solids from the tank. Maybe I am mistaken here though.

I am also contemplating adding a sump of some kind this weekend. It will have to be some kind of acrylic or plastic container that can only be 14 inches high due to the plumbing but can be as much as three feet wide and 3 feet long. If I do this should I move all of my filtration equipment to that. Problem is flow can only be 300 gph due to the overflow boxes limitation (I think, I am not really sure what my OFB is rated for, I do know that the drain pipe to the fuge is 1 inch PVC though) Display tank is 75 gallons.

 

[afilter]

Here is what I did:

http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=53046

I used a 30g tank for my 90g display. Works great so far. Just need to size your pump to your overflow box once you figure out the flow rate. I have never had a sump/fuge before and this was super easy for me. I built is on Wed night and it was tested and ready for instalation on Sat.

Oh best part total cost was about $75 (included new 30g tank) plus cost of whatever pump you use. I picked up a rio 3100 for $70. Much better than the $250-400 pre-fab units that do not include a fuge.

Obviously you could modify this design to fit your needs.

HTH,

 

[natman2]

Well I have figured out that with the one inch drain pipe I can go as high as 600 gph. Any kind of baffle system is unlikely for me also if I use a plastic container. I would love to get that HOB out of the main tank but still unsure if thats the way to go.

 

[afilter]

In addition to getting equipment off your the back of your display tank the biggest advantage of a sump is you are adding volume to your system. The more water volume you have the easier it is to maintain goos water quality and the healthier the fish.

If you have the room for a 30-40g container your system will then be more like a 105-115g

I posted some pics of my sump on this thread.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=62045&highlight=

I was going to use plastic, but for the money I went with a glass tank to get a better system. My sump is actually the filter. long term you could probably get rid of the HOB filter once the sump filter is established.

HTH,