The Puffer Forum

I have no experience with sumps, but i have heard from people who do they can be a pain. Especially for a tank with no holes or overflow. Drilling tempered glass is asking for a disaster

Puffer, don't buy one. I did, and now that I see what it is, they are so easy to make. Besides, YB is working with acrylic...he'll make ya one, huh yb? My sump is set up correctly and pumps are sized correctly (thanks to Jeff at lifereef..I had NOTHING to do with this). I have both my pumps on the same circuit on a strip. When I turn off the strip to do a water change, they both turn off, and my overflows drain to my sump, and I have 3" left in the sump when it's done draining. NO FLOOD. Now, if my return pump seizes and stops to work, Jeff calculated I would have less than 12 gallons on my floor (the water would continue to flow by gravity to my sump until the level in my tank is below my overflows). If a snail blocks the overflow on BOTH my overflows (why duel overflows are nice!), I have a flood again, but the amount of water that my sump level is at (which is about 20 gallons). I don't fret about 20 gallons on my floor. In my cichlid days, I had a hose pop on my Marineland Magnum. TWICE! (Wouldn't let the kids to school until the tank was filled back up, by pots of water.... I went out and bought a python.) So, 20 gallons doesn't seem that much to me....I have mag9.5's as pumps. They generate a lot of heat. This is a problem for me. because it's what Jeff uses because he feels they are the best pumps out there. So I went with his suggestion (I didn't investigate pumps, but have to admit, I haven't had a problem with them at all). Hope this helps, loco

I agree there is more of a risk with an overflow box using a syphon. I have that set up on my discus tank. But like I said above, I've had hoses pop on canister filters. I think people are afraid of the unknown. Once you get used to a sump system, it's hard to go back to HOB's.

Jager wrote:you never have to worry about overflows with sumps if you do one minor test. just fill the tank to the overflows. and put the sump in. then run your plumbing as usual and fill the upper tank til its full and the sump will fill with some water. run the system like that for a minute and mark where the water level is, and then cut it off. watch the sump and mark where the water level rises to when its off. that distance is all you need to leave in the sump to take up any excess water without flooding.

Correct. But that can be a problem with HOB overflow boxes that are adjustable. I find it necessary to clean my overflow box...for some reason, it takes some adjustment to get it right again after reattaching it...for noise and water level. It can be done, but it's not an automatic thing. Reefready tanks just make it so much easier.

Jager wrote:to lisa. you do water changes on your tanks, you dont have a sump. i have a sump with a DSB and caulerpa, i dont need to do water changes. so a sump if set up well makes a world of difference.
the 10 gallon on my 55 was actually more sump than i needed for the system considering my levels.

Whoooa buddy. You don't do water changes? If it works for you, WTG. But I see a noticeable difference in my tank when I don't do a water change and when I'm diligent and do them weekly. I wonder how much nicer/healthier/etc.. your set up would be with water changes? Just a thought

Jager wrote: to lisa. you do water changes on your tanks, you dont have a sump. i have a sump with a DSB and caulerpa, i dont need to do water changes. so a sump if set up well makes a world of difference.
the 10 gallon on my 55 was actually more sump than i needed for the system considering my levels.

I have a sump and refugium on my reef, and i do water changes on it. I have no sump on a FOWLR, and i do water changes on it too.

LOL some times you have to setup systems that cover themselves .

sure i could do a water change and have a crazy reef tank that im monitering constantly, b
ut with the way my health goes. a well balanced easy to care for tank with thriving life is much easier its alot harder to setup and start, but im not going full blown reef , just the basics.



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Wow, thanks for all the replies guys and gals.

Last night I did some more searching around for sump info. I had done this before, but at the time I didn't really know what I was looking at. It all seemed so advanced and technical to me back then. But this time I had a much better understanding.

The only thing I'm really concerned about now is getting the flowrate right and picking pumps and making sure the risk of flood is minimized (or entirely eliminated).

After seeing a few sump designs I'm tempted to make my own out of acrylic if I can't squeze in a 20gallon.

I don't plan on going reef just yet. I may be moving again in September, and this time it wouldn't be locally, so I don't want to invest too much into a complex tank if I have to tear it down right away.

Another thing is cost. If I went with just the remora pro with the surface skimming box, I wouldn't need to invest in a sump, overflow, or return pump, and wouldn't have to worry about the details. That's tempting, because the remora itself is going to cost upwards of 400$ canadian I imagine. (taxes and shipping).

It would be nice to have the sump and inline skimmer though. It definately would be the best long-term option. Oh the choices!!

A sump doesn't have to be fancy at all. You can use a Rubbermaid tub with an acrylic divider or even a tub within a tub for a very cheap and effective solution. Check the DYI section on RC for some ideas. I chose to make my own out of acrylic partially for the challenge and pride of saying that I had made it myself.

Can you run a SW tank w/o a sump? Certainly! But...you will have a heater in your main tank, a HOB skimmer (skimmers are known to overflow), lower total water volume in your system, etc. In case you haven't figured it out already, I recommend use of a sump if at all possible. Risk of overflowing? I actually think that the sump REDUCES my chances of having an overflow since my skimmer is in sump vice HOB.

Well I got some measurements of the stand. The back panel comes off entirely. It looks like I will be able to fit my 33 gallon inside.

The inside of the stand is 42" long by 24" high and over a foot deep. The 33 gallon is 36" x 18" x 12". It would be kind of tight, but it should fit. The onlyt hing I'm concerned about is clearence for the skimmer.

So my options are to either go with the remora pro HOB skimmer or with the AquaC EV-120 in sump skimmer. It's only 18" high.

Now if I went with the sump (which I'm thinking I will if I can find the funds) my questions are about plumbing.

How do I connect the overflow box tot he sump?
How do I decide what kind of return pump to get, and how do I connect it?
How do I go about putting in a devider to seperate the skimmer side from the return side?
Are there any other things you'd add to the sump?

EDIT: added link to EV-120

I just noticed this draw on the aquac website. looks like a free skimmer give away. open to US residents only though

http://www.proteinskimmer.com/drawing.htm

would be cool if someone from here won it