Need help with sump plumbing plz

[Duzzy]

Hi there,

new to the forum but been around fish and tanks for a good while. Have decided to build my first sump. I understand how to make the sump but its plumbing it to the tank that is troubling me. I cant put holes in the tank that is not feasable option for me at this time but would still like to have a sump.

My problem is once how do i get water to and from the tank and to and from the sump, and how to I calculate what size pumps I need or is there a better way, any links, articles help would be great.

My tank is 130 liters (32gal)

Regards Darren

[dobejazz]

Welcome to TRT

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! You can buy a hang over the back overflow/skimmer box and a hose down to your sump.Then a pump with a hose on the other end of the tank to pump it back up to the tank.How far below your tank is called head pressure to get it to pump up to your tank,determine what sixe pump.

[frankandmaura]

Welcome! Yes you need to tell us how far below the tank you plan to have your sump. Is it going to be sitting in a stand under the tank? If so...you could probably get away with something like a Mag 3 or Mag 5. Really depends on what skimmer you are using and the amount of head you are talking about.

[crvz]

With that size tank, you really don't need a whole lot of flow for the return pump. Before giving any specific advice, we'd have to know a little more about what you're putting in the sump. Is it for a skimmer, refugium, reactor media, auto top-off, heater...? A good rule of thumb is somewhere around 4-8 times tank turnover per hour (after calculating head loss), but without knowing a bit more about the setup it's hard to say.

And welcome to TRT!!!

[audge27]

Hey! I'm sorta in your shoes too...and someone gave me this link:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/fa..._sump_articles

which is awesome!...everything you ever wanted to know about sumps!

[motorslave]

Yup, need the tank size! A hang on back overflow will work fine for you. Get a u-tube type not the kind from CPR that require a pump. Post a link to it here before you buy it. A standard 1" u-tube will flow about 400 GPH and that will work fine. As Chris said you don't want more water flowing through the sump than what you skimmer will process. Also a low flow through the sump will allow detritus to settle out for easy removal as apposed to settling in the tank where it can saturate the sand bed. Once the pump required is determined, get a little bigger and you can put a valve on the exit side of the pump and throttle it down a bit. (never restrict a pump on the intake side) Now don't worry about having to match the flow of the pump to the capacity of the overflow, it will balance out as the tank can only overflow the amount of water pumped into it. You will want to move a little less than the max capacity of the overflow so you have a little cushion of safety! Some people say that hang on overflows are a flood waiting to happen, if you get the right one and set it up properly (not hard) you wont have any problems even in a power outage. When you build your sump, you need to make sure that it will handle the amount of water that will drain down when the power stops (shouldn't be too much) this will prevent a flood!

And most important of all, WELCOME to TRT!!!!!