Setting up a sump, need advice and suggestion

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match55

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
Messages
625
Location
Pleasanton CA
Putting my sump together!! Welcome comment~ ^^

Yeah!! as some member might know I ordered my overflow and return pump last week, and finally they arrived today.
Some picture of the arrival ^^
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weird placement of my sump XD
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Now I am thinking of where and how should I connect the PVC
or should I just use flex tube.
Gonna go to home depot/local store later.
Tested the return pump, powerful and quite, but don't know if its powerful enough to push all the way up to my DT XD.
can't get the overflow to work, hard to get the air out from the Utube, any suggestion?

update soon.
 
I know it might be stupid....
but I can't get this thing open..... anyone knows how?
fine I m stupid, my gf got it..she opened it for me LOL
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ok, working on them
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everythings look good, well first time doing PVC, I think it looks pretty good, just a little off here and there XD
but it looks good, just need to wait till the water test >o<
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gonna add water now~~hehe
 
To get the air out of the transfer tube you have to stick and air line tube in there and suck out the air pocket.

Also right where you lock-line attaches to you pvc you might want to drill a small hole to break the siphon incase power goes out I didnt see where you had a check valve installed.
 
Lookin good! :D

Only a few suggestions from me:
1 would be to use flex tubing for the return line (or atleast up to where you have the elbows and valve) rigid pipe looks better but the sharp bends cut down on water flow. (Don't worry about the elbow that goes over the top of the tank, not much that can be done about that lol)

2 is build a silencer for your drain line. Mine gurgles and it annoys me (same model as you have) I forgot what it's called but I know there's one thats just a cap, a bushing, and a coupler plus a little airline tubing.

That's about it xD.

Did you use plastic for your baffles or glass? If they are plastic they seem kinda thin (maybe it's just how the picture is..)
 
To get the air out of the transfer tube you have to stick and air line tube in there and suck out the air pocket.

Also right where you lock-line attaches to you pvc you might want to drill a small hole to break the siphon incase power goes out I didnt see where you had a check valve installed.

sry I m not to familiar with the terms.
where is the lock-line?
and whats a check valve?
 
Lookin good! :D

Only a few suggestions from me:
1 would be to use flex tubing for the return line (or atleast up to where you have the elbows and valve) rigid pipe looks better but the sharp bends cut down on water flow. (Don't worry about the elbow that goes over the top of the tank, not much that can be done about that lol)

2 is build a silencer for your drain line. Mine gurgles and it annoys me (same model as you have) I forgot what it's called but I know there's one thats just a cap, a bushing, and a coupler plus a little airline tubing.

That's about it xD.

Did you use plastic for your baffles or glass? If they are plastic they seem kinda thin (maybe it's just how the picture is..)


hehe thanks for the suggestions, too bad I already glue them and my parents r *****ing about my classes, so I probably won't build another one for now.

drain line? from my returen pump? I will be doing water test later tonight and see how it goes. and do u have any tut or pic of a silencer?

the divider and baffles r between 1/2 and 3/4 glass.
 
hehe thanks for the suggestions, too bad I already glue them and my parents r *****ing about my classes, so I probably won't build another one for now.

drain line? from my returen pump? I will be doing water test later tonight and see how it goes. and do u have any tut or pic of a silencer?

the divider and baffles r between 1/2 and 3/4 glass.

Same here, I haven't done anything at all to my tank LOL.

Drain line for your overflow, like the rigid pipe looks nice but it gurgles. Flex hose bends gradually meaning less noise. (from what I understand)

I'm planning on getting some PVC to make a silencer, school is more important though haha.

(link to silencer to be edited in when i find it)
 
return pump and the pipes work great, waiting the salt to dissolve and will add the overflow box XP
 
Same here, I haven't done anything at all to my tank LOL.

Drain line for your overflow, like the rigid pipe looks nice but it gurgles. Flex hose bends gradually meaning less noise. (from what I understand)

I'm planning on getting some PVC to make a silencer, school is more important though haha.

(link to silencer to be edited in when i find it)

oh I think i got the drain line that u talking about, I just forgot to upload the picture XP. I will put it on after I finish my drawings for tonight
 
after a long time sucking from my gf LOL, the overflow finally worked.
our stupid pump won't suck air >.>, anyway the sump is working perfectly and quitely XD.
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Ok, have a problem now.
I know I can drill a hole on the Utube, so when power is out, my sump won't flood, but today, the Utube suddenly stop suckin water (no idea what had happened), I m glad I was near by so I stop the return pump.


what should I do to prevent my DT to flood?

lower my DT water top line, or
suck some water out from the return section, but if I do either of that, the pump will burn out if my overflow stop working.

need help >o<
I m afriad either of that will happen again when I m not around ToT
 
The siphon break hole should be in the output in the tank just above the water line with the pump off. IMO Your output tube inside the overflow box should be higher than the partition (can't tell with the foam). If you put a hole in the "u" tube you'll need to connect it to a power head venturi.
 
The siphon break hole should be in the output in the tank just above the water line with the pump off. IMO Your output tube inside the overflow box should be higher than the partition (can't tell with the foam). If you put a hole in the "u" tube you'll need to connect it to a power head venturi.

alrite, I will do more research on it, then see if I can fix it tmr.
Thanks ^^
 
I wouldn't put a hole in the siphon tube for the overflow (if that's what your talking about lol) its best to stick an airline into it and prime it, and once its primed the flow of the pump should keep bubbles from accumulating. At least that's how it's working out in mine.

I've turned off my tank nightly for a few weeks now and it hasn't lost a siphon once (quite happy with the Eshopps box)
 
I wouldn't put a hole in the siphon tube for the overflow (if that's what your talking about lol) its best to stick an airline into it and prime it, and once its primed the flow of the pump should keep bubbles from accumulating. At least that's how it's working out in mine.

I've turned off my tank nightly for a few weeks now and it hasn't lost a siphon once (quite happy with the Eshopps box)

Are you using it like the photo above?

I just noticed that your hose from the overflow is at the bottom of the sump. Try to keep it off the bottom for better flow.
 
Which photo? xD

I have mine set up as level as possible, i think that's one of the key's to it. As long as it's level and the U tube is always submerged, the siphon will restart. The only difference between my set up and the one here is that I have rigid pipe (doesn't matter when regarding siphon failure) and instead of the foam pre filter I just have a longer stand pipe. (also doesn't matter in this case)
 
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