To sump or not to sump that is the question

[J-P]

I have an aqua lifter at the moment, makes a good paper weight. Far too small for tanks over 75 gals

[SammyDee]

Why not good. I have mine on a 55g. Nice overflow thou no?

[SammyDee]

I just thought it was a nice insurance that the sump or display tank wouldn't overflow. I need that cuz I live in a apartment.

[Myaj]

That's the same brand I have, but I don't have the lifter pump. This was many years ago, but I thought that a lot of people had tons of issues using those lifter pumps? I could be remembering wrong though. I know I could have added that to mine, but didn't bother due to all the complaints (maybe noise??).

This is the one I have:
http://www.petsolutions.com/CPR-Continu ... 1+C26.aspx

The 1200 GPH one with the two 1" tubes.

[J-P]

A) if you have a power failure that "aqua lifter" won't work
B) The "aqua lifter" itself is only designed to keep the over flow primed and not used to actually pump water from one section of the tank to the next, in case of an overflow. (a glorified air pump)

Myaj's idea of a redundant over flow is a good idea. If one gets clogged, you have the back up. I'd like to see how that syphon portion works.

[SammyDee]

Oh I kno that it doesn't suck water it just pulls bubbles out that accumulate inside the syphon. If the spyon stopped at all In A powerfailure it ensures that the syphon kicks off as soon as the power comes back on. It's like a 9$ insurance policy. Just in case. It's always better to be prepared in that event. I don't want to have to check for bubbles every other day. This does that for me me. And I don't want to have to suck the tube to start the overflows syphon. And I just thought it's nice that the outlet tube allows you to use it as a drip acclimater and i don't have to unplug or move anything around. Just my new livestock right infront of the tank ready to in a few hours. I guess it is a personal preference. But if they highly recommend it it daefinetly can't hurt.

[shaner]

i assure all of you that i will be testing and retesting and then testing again, before anything goes into the tank, I will make sure that first of all the sump is large enough to handle the extra water due to a power outage, and i will have it plumbed such that it will start right back up again after the power comes back on, the trick from what i have research is in the overflow pipe itself, make it right and you have no problems, make it wrong and issues galore,

all of this will be tested, i will randomly turn the power off, wait, turn it back on, and repeat many times, just to make, sure, like i said before, 10 gallons of water on the floor not, such a big deal, 180 gallons on the floor, yeah kind of a big deal......

[J-P]

180 gallons on the floor, yeah kind of a big deal......

yep did that when the down drain cloged and the pump kept running

[shaner]

180 gallons on the floor, yeah kind of a big deal......

yep did that when the down drain cloged and the pump kept running

[RTR]

Redundancy, even with moderately pricey things like over-the-rim CLS boxes, is cheap and the best insurance. With DIY CLS, it is crazy not to have backup. The only downside is clutter over the back of the tank.

[J-P]

just found these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlaOl-dB ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMctXz7GraU&NR=1

How NOT to drill your fish tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPIoTKMa3zw&NR=1