Sump question please help

[Tobykourtney]

So I was looking to do a 20 gallon sump for my 55 gallon freshwater tank and it will not fit in my cabinet so I was wondering could I set the 20 gallon on a stand beside it and use 2 of the exact same pumps and put one in my 55 for the intake into the sump then use the other pump as a return in the sump to pump water back into the display tank. In theory it should work since the exact same amount of water is being pumped in as is being pumped out right? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DannyBWell]

An aquarium should turn over about 6 times and hour so for your 55x6=330 so you should probably get a 350 gph pump you put that in the sump going into the tank and either build a overflow or buy an overflow box/weir for the intake to the sump

 

[Tobykourtney]

An aquarium should turn over about 6 times and hour so for your 55x6=330 so you should probably get a 350 gph pump you put that in the sump going into the tank and either build a overflow or buy an overflow box/weir for the intake to the sump

But if the tank is at the same height as the sump an overflow won't work because its gravity fed right?so if I just got a pump to push water into the sump that pump 350 gph and a return pump that pumps 350 gph would that work?

 

[Terrance]

It wont work. You are not accounting for gravity, diameter of pump line, and pump gph stated vs actual.

You need an overflow for the water in the 55g to drain into the 20g, then place a pump to return the water from the 20g to the 55g.

 

[Tobykourtney]

It wont work. You are not accounting for gravity, diameter of pump line, and pump gph stated vs actual.

You need an overflow for the water in the 55g to drain into the 20g, then place a pump to return the water from the 20g to the 55g.

But how would I be able to do this if it won't fit under the cabinet or would a 10 gallon be a big enough sump for a 55 gallon tank as long as I use a pump with 350 or more gph?

 

[Terrance]

You can have the 20g right next to your 55g.

I have a big 33g trashcan water reservoir for auto-top-off sitting right next to my 120g. I'm going to build a small stand to hide the trashcan inside of it. You can do the same. Sumps don't always have to be under the stand. Many are hiding in the basement, another room, or even over the display tank.

 

[Tobykourtney]

You can have the 20g right next to your 55g.

I have a big 33g trashcan water reservoir for auto-top-off sitting right next to my 120g. I'm going to build a small stand to hide the trashcan inside of it. You can do the same. Sumps don't always have to be under the stand. Many are hiding in the basement, another room, or even over the display tank.

Then how does the overflow work I'm confused isn't the overflow box strictly gravity fed into the sump?

 

[Terrance]

Overflow is a way for the water to get out of the aquarium after reaching a certain point.

Sometimes people put the sump above the display tank (although rarely)- using a pump to pump water out of the display and into the sump sitting above, then water overflows from the sump and back into the display.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Overflow is a way for the water to get out of the aquarium after reaching a certain point.

Sometimes people put the sump above the display tank (although rarely)- using a pump to pump water out of the display and into the sump sitting above, then water overflows from the sump and back into the display.

I think I'm going to do a 10 gallon sump for my 55 gallon tank so the sump is out of sight would this be enough?

 

[Terrance]

Very little room for error with a 10g sump. You will have to be extremely precise for your first time setup.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Very little room for error with a 10g sump. You will have to be extremely precise for your first time setup.

They have a wet dry 10 gallon with everything but the tank return pump and overflow box and ill put 2 pumps on the end one with 295 gph and the other with 110 gph and have the outflow at the end and middle of the back of the tank I figure those 2 return pumps combined will probably give an actual return around 300 gph and ill get the overflow box that is rated for 300 goh. This is going to be a long project so any advice would be appreciated greatly.

 

[Terrance]

Seems like more plumbing than needed, but it can work. Just use 1 pump if you want 2 return line.

Read carefully about the negatives of hob overflow.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Seems like more plumbing than needed, but it can work. Just use 1 pump if you want 2 return line.

Read carefully about the negatives of hob overflow.

I need one low flow pump for the uv sterilizer and what are the negatives to a hob overflow

 

[Terrance]

Use a gate or ball valve to decrease the flow of the line with uv sterilizer.

Also why use uv sterilizer?

Do a google research about hob overflow from users review. I usually read the bad reviews first, then the good.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Seems like more plumbing than needed, but it can work. Just use 1 pump if you want 2 return line.

Read carefully about the negatives of hob overflow.

I need one low flow pump for the uv sterilizer and what are the negatives to a hob overflow

 

[Tobykourtney]

Use a gate or ball valve to decrease the flow of the line with uv sterilizer.

Also why use uv sterilizer?

Do a google research about hob overflow from users review. I usually read the bad reviews first, then the good.

Breeding and I want the water as clean of bacteria as possible

 

[Tobykourtney]

Seems like more plumbing than needed, but it can work. Just use 1 pump if you want 2 return line.

Read carefully about the negatives of hob overflow.

So just read the reviews carefully because some of them are known to lose siphon and burn up your pumps?

 

[Tobykourtney]

Seems like more plumbing than needed, but it can work. Just use 1 pump if you want 2 return line.

Read carefully about the negatives of hob overflow.

Thinking the CPR continuous overflow box sounds pretty good what do you think? If I use it with the aqua lifter if I have a power outage as soon as the lights come back on the lifter will start the siphon back up again.

 

[Terrance]

Cpr with the aqualifters are nice. The aqualifters sometimes fail. If you lose siphon, then your floor will be flooded. I cant remember how to prevent this, so its up to you to research it. Seems way easier to drill, which is what i did.

If you use the valve mentioned above, then you can use 1 pump. Just T off from the return pump to create 2 return line.

 

[Tobykourtney]

Cpr with the aqualifters are nice. The aqualifters sometimes fail. If you lose siphon, then your floor will be flooded. I cant remember how to prevent this, so its up to you to research it. Seems way easier to drill, which is what i did.

If you use the valve mentioned above, then you can use 1 pump. Just T off from the return pump to create 2 return line.

I read the reviews and the main reason they fail is because people try to run them without the filter