Overflow box?

[hookedonfish]

Hi I am new in here and just got into the SW hobbie and i really need some advice. I am building a sump for my 40 gallon tank and want to know If I need a overflow box? Is my sump able to take in the extra water if my pump goes off. I plan on drilling a hole roughly 1-2 inches from the top of the tank so if the pump goes off it wont drain all the water right?? Any input on where I should drill the holes, am I drilling it at the right place?? And one more thing I plan on drilling a hole for my bulkhead with a 1 1/2 inch hole, how big of a return pump do I need to handle the flow? Should I drill more holes as well? Any input would be great! Thanks for your help!

[Geoff]

if you are drilling the tank you do not need to have an overflow box. all you need is a strainer on the drain hole. i used an elbow on ours so i can adjust the water height by rotating the drain. my drain hole is about 3" below the edge of the tank. this gave me plenty of room for the bulkhead and the elbow.

pulling water is a lot different than if the water was gravity fed. with a 1.5" bulkhead you can handle way into the thousand of gph. now this is if we are talking about a CLS. for a gravity drain system a 1.5" will handle a little over 1200gph.

G~

[hookedonfish]

Thank you for the advice Geoff! Just one more thing what is an elbow and how can it adjust the water flow? Sorry I have never built a sump before and I want to do it right. Thanks again!

[wanareef]

Hey - There is a "club" here in Portland PNWMS our x-mas mtg is next weekend, sunday. Come on over

Look in the reef club forum