Help with new sump

[royalbijoyjoy.ashokan@gma]

Hello All,
I have a freshwater tank 4x2x1.5(depth) ft. My external canister started leaking since last week and so instead of buying a new one, I thought of setting up a sump instead, which I presume will kick start my FOWLR later. Can someone please post some links or any material which I can use to kick start my sump. I got a couple of questionsto start with:
1.Does the overflow box work continously without interventon? I do travel a lot (1-2 weeks) and so do not want to see a flooded room in the event the overflow box fails. Any way of fixing this?
2. How many partitions are ideal in the sump and if someone could post a pic of their partitions, that would be perfect.
3.My sump will sit below my main tank and so what gph pump do I require for the return? Is that determined bythe capacity of the overflow box?
4. Is a protein skimmer required for my freshwater setup? I know it is required when I get to the FOWLR later. Any specific type of skimmer which is recommended?( not the company but the type)
5. A pictorial representation of the sump would be perfect.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

We could discuss sumps all day and much info is available...That said..

1. Yes they will keep working so long as they do not get blocked/clogged or something else fails. There are so-call herbie and bean animal overflows that reduce or mitigate this risk. The CPR siphon overflows require a dosing pump to keep the siphon so this is a fail point as well.

2. Up to you really and how complex you want it to be. 2-3 is common.

3. Based on the overflow and the sump size and what you want to accomplish.

4. No these are only for SW.

5. See my recent thread showing complete video of my overflow and sump operation.

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/10717-Sump-and-CPR-Overview

What the heck is FOWLR????

 

[royalbijoyjoy.ashokan@gma]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Sorry, I thought FOWLR was a common terminology. Its Fish Only With Live Rocks...
I will use the expansion in the future . As I mentioned earlier, I am planning to use the sump for my marine aquarium which I may start later this month.
What would be the ideal place(partition) to keep the skimmer(Would it go in the partition where the return pump is located? )? .
My plan is to setup the whole thing for my freshwater tank and then if all goes well, start converting it to a saltwater tank....

 

[Gerryd]

Well, a protien skimmer is good for a SW tank but I thought you wanted FW. Sorry. You can use the acronym now that I know what it is

 

[Tom Barr]

Salt water hobbyists acro speak. Many in the FW side are not familiar with it.

Bag filters can pose an issue, the location where the water comes in from the mian tank needs sealed, to prevent degassing of cO2.
Prefilter can be modified etc to reduce CO2 loss also.

The area where you might put the skimmer post wet/dry tower does NOT need to be sealed, only the region where water comes crashing and a degassing in.

 

[captnphil]

External overflow are too risky for my taste.
I prefer 2 overflows 1.5 inch or more
Drilling is easy.
Melevsreef.com is the place to see sump examples and more saltwater tips & tricks

 

[royalbijoyjoy.ashokan@gma]

Thanks everyone.
Well, I came across a tank in my LFS(marine) which had the sump behind the tank. It immediately caught my attention and now, I have come up with something which I do not know is a good idea or not. The plan is to buy a rectangular glass piece with the holes drilled in and then borrow half a feet from the depth of the main display tank. This way, I get a drilled hole for the inlet and the return pump need not be powerful since it needs to pump just a feet or two high in height. Please check the attached diagram I envisage for the project. Not sure if there are any problems in this approach. I am gonna sacrifice 6 inches from the depth of the tank overall, but the benefits overweigh the loss in space(IMO). Please comment on the idea.

 

[Bill]

That's pretty common now with a lot of small tanks and it shouldn't be a problem.
I think you would want to change your inlet to the standard comb or teeth style inlet that way you can skim the water surface.