Will this work for my sump setup?

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808

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
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56
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Hawaii
55 gal main tank, the overflow i'm looking at says 300gph, in to a 20gal sump, with a mag 5 return pump going up 4', in to 2...maybe 3 returns. Do you guys see any problems in this setup with either the overflow or the return pump? Will i be losing too much flow and should be looking at a mag 7 or something? Just checking to make sure everything is okay before finding out the hardway that one can't handle the other.
 
808 said:
55 gal main tank, the overflow i'm looking at says 300gph, in to a 20gal sump, with a mag 5 return pump going up 4', in to 2...maybe 3 returns. Do you guys see any problems in this setup with either the overflow or the return pump? Will i be losing too much flow and should be looking at a mag 7 or something? Just checking to make sure everything is okay before finding out the hardway that one can't handle the other.

I was running a 20 gal long as a sump with a mag 950 wide open up about 4 feet across the tank 2 feet to two outlets with 600 gal overflow with no problems. if that helps.
 
That setup would work but if you haven’t bought your overflow/pump yet I would also go with a 600 gph overflow and the Mag 9.5 with your 20 gal sump .(what I use as well on 55 gal) The Mag 5 is only going to be pushing around 250-300 gph which you could just do with a ph. On Bestnest.com the 9.5 is only $16 more than the Mag 5 at $68 and you get almost twice the flow.
 
No, i haven't bought any equipment yet. All i have is the 20L sitting in my room collecting dust so far. I'll try looking around for larger overflows. Where are you guys getting yours from?
 
I just set up a 20gal high sump on my 55gal. I used a CPR CS90 overflow (1"-600 GPH) and a Mag 9.5 w/ a SCWD on the return. I'm very happy w/ it. I'm now only using 1 MJ 1200 ph in the tank and the flow is great. HTH
 
Thanks for the info...looks like i'm going for a 600gph overflow and larger mag pump then.

Since i'm on the topic of sumps, if i'm going to be using it mainly for adding water volume and hiding equipment, are there any negatives to just using the tank without any baffles or partitions? I would have my skimmer in there, and maybe i'll throw the little pieces of LR rubble i got hiding in the back of my main tank. Would it matter that it's not divided in to compartments, just overflowing, skimming and exiting all out of one compartment of water?
 
I lucked out on my overflow. I used 8x10 picture frames for $1 each to create my baffles. $3.25 for a bubble trap.



Home Depot might have some glass that is 8 x 12 that you could use for baffles. I'd look into that.
 
808 said:
Thanks for the info...looks like i'm going for a 600gph overflow and larger mag pump then.

Since i'm on the topic of sumps, if i'm going to be using it mainly for adding water volume and hiding equipment, are there any negatives to just using the tank without any baffles or partitions? I would have my skimmer in there, and maybe i'll throw the little pieces of LR rubble i got hiding in the back of my main tank. Would it matter that it's not divided in to compartments, just overflowing, skimming and exiting all out of one compartment of water?

I believe they are needed to reduce/elimanate bubbles that are created when the water from the overflow hits the water in the sump.If its going to be a sump ONLY, and you use the foam sponge that comes with the pump then you should be ok not to baffle. But the pro's might want to chime in... just make sure you use a siphon break so you dont overflow during an unexpected power outage... I learned quick...
 
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