Sump

[Reeffirefighter13]

I took everyone's advice and went to all my local fish store and no one drills tanks because of the risk of breaking. I also went to a local glass place and they said they don't drill tanks so I went back to the sump idea and I have pics of the progress. I have had it running in the garage for 6 days now and haven't had one problem so far. The filer chamber still isn't done and I am wait on some parts for the used sump I got from a friend but other than that it seem to work good. So once my over flow I ordered arrives I will move it under my tank into its new home.

[bskerrichard27]

Why don't u get the stuff from bulkreef supply and drill it your self its easy

[Hondatek]

I see that return section getting run dry from evaporation . It isn't big at all. I still think a turf scrubber would be better than all that extra stuff.

[Hondachico]

Originally Posted by Reeffirefighter13

I took everyone's advice and went to all my local fish store and no one drills tanks because of the risk of breaking. I also went to a local glass place and they said they don't drill tanks so I went back to the sump idea and I have pics of the progress. I have had it running in the garage for 6 days now and haven't had one problem so far. The filer chamber still isn't done and I am wait on some parts for the used sump I got from a friend but other than that it seem to work good. So once my over flow I ordered arrives I will move it under my tank into its new home.

How do you get water from one tank to the other, I see the pipes but how does the water rise through them

[Sniperhank]

By a return pump.

[Hondachico]

So just with the pump it will suck from the other tank?

[Reeffirefighter13]

Water will move from one tank to the other using a syphon. I researched a lot about this and have test many different problems and found a lot more people do this than you would think. My over flow box doesn't get here till Friday so I Am still testing and tweaking things everyday.

[MacDracor]

By having two PVC U-Tubes, you allow for a lot of flow from one tank to the other. Likely much more than you realize. If your return pump isn't rated fairly close, the flow through the tubes could be too slow to keep siphon.
I would test it out with one tube. A transparent tube would be better. Also, drilling a small hole at the very top of the bend and gluing a piece of airline tubing into it, connected to a powerhead, will ensure air doesn't get trapped in the bend.

[Reeffirefighter13]

Thanks for the advice. I have tried it with both 1 tube and 2. With one tube it doesn't pull enough water over to keep up with the return pump. Two seems to be just right. And do you mean connecting the air line into a pump like a Venturi you'd have on a skimmer?

[mr_X]

I believe he means an aqualifter pump. One that sucks air out of the J tubes so they will never lose siphon. Maybe many folks do this J tube double sump thing, but none that I have ever met or heard of except you.

[MacDracor]

This is what I mean.

Image not my own, it's from Aquaspot world. Some powerheads have the little intake so you can have them shoot bubbles in. Undesirable in a reef, but ok in fresh. It would always be sucking a tiny amount of water from the top of the tube, and if any air collected, pull that out right away. I've seen people do this before.

[Hondachico]

I used one of those in my first tank as a power head, I took off the little tube.

[MacDracor]

I think most SW people remove the tubes. I know I do. But for this, it could be useful.

[somethingsfishy]

I'm thinking by the time you make this setup fail safe you could have drilled the tanks yourself or got a single tank from Craigslist.