Flow through sump?

[STiTCH87]

So I am moving my 29g to the other side of my room and finally putting it on a real stand. And now that it will have a stand, I have been greatly thinking about using my spare 10g tank as a sump and putting my heater and skimmer in there. My question is, what type of flow should I have moving through a 10g sump attached to a 29g DT? I don't want it so slow that the skimmer keeps skimming the same water and never picks out all the crap (literally) but I also don't want too high a flow where the water passes by the skimmer before it gets the chance to really suck it up and remove the waste. I have a AquaMaxx HOB skimmer. Not sure the GPH rating on it but could check it that would help. Would the skimmer even operate properly in a 10g sump attached to a 29g DT? I know skimmers can be picky with depth sometimes. I do know it'd fit cuz I measured already so that's good. I'd probably get a HOB overflow siphon system thing I saw once. Or are those not good? If those don't work well then i'll just ditch the whole sump idea.

 

[JasonandRay]

i heard of recommendations of 5-7 times your tank volume.

999 post

 

[MPevine11]

i have a 29 gallon biocube, with a sump/fuge in the stand

i have a mag5 for a return, with a ball valve to adjust.......so not sure on exact GPH. but seems to work very well

 

[JasonandRay]

i have a 29 gallon biocube, with a sump/fuge in the stand

i have a mag5 for a return, with a ball valve to adjust.......so not sure on exact GPH. but seems to work very well

You have to be careful with mags in a nano or other small tanks, they do warm the tank up.

 

[MPevine11]

You have to be careful with mags in a nano or other small tanks, they do warm the tank up.

i havent noticed any heat yet, ben alittle over a month. i do plan to get a better pump. but not for a while

 

[STiTCH87]

I'd probably get some sort of Sicce pump since they're a favorite brand of mine.
So anyone have any experience with overflow boxes?
Do they work well?
Are they noisy?
Do they flood during power outages or break siphon often?

 

[STiTCH87]

I see a lot of Eshopps overflow boxes on setups but they always seem loud. Are there any quiet overflow boxes?

 

[Reverond]

I have not used any of the "Over the top" or syphon overflows. But I have a 50G that i drilled and installed a overflow in. I got the kit from glass-holes.com. It comes with everything you need except the drill. I was a little scared to drill my tank at first. But it was the best thing I have done. I love having the drilled overflow. Just the piece of mind knowing that it will not fail or break syphon.

I also have a 29g tank that i am going to empty and drill using the 700 GPH overflow. Also, if you do decide to drill your 29. Think about drilling the returns also. It is the only thing I regret not doing on my 50 gal. And the return kits are cheep. Like $20 - $25. They are under Plumbing-->Return kits.

 

[STiTCH87]

Thanks for the suggestion, but my 29g is full of livestock and drilling it isn't an option for me. Lol. Otherwise that'd be my first thing to do.

 

[joanstone]

Aren't you in the process of moving it, it seems like now would be a good chance to drill it. I think you'd be very happy you did it.

 

[STiTCH87]

yes I am in the process of moving it. However to drill it I would need to empty it completely and that's not what I am doing. I am moving it to a new location in the same room that it's currently in, so i'm only removing the coral/rock/livestock and keeping the sand and roughly one inch of water in the tank during the short 8-foot move across the room. If the tank were gonna be completely emptied then i'd of drilled it but sadly that's not an option for me unless I buy another 30g tank but I really don't want to disturb my already situated sandbed.

 

[JayM]

you could easily drill the tank when it is being moved, when the water level is down to 1 inch.

while it is not optimal to drill a hole while the glass being drilled is vertical, it can be done, as long as a steady spray of water is directed to the bit.

drilling the tank is what you should definitely do. You will never have to worry about a siphon break causing a flood.

My 2c

 

[STiTCH87]

Won't little glass shards fall into the tank though?

 

[jamesdong009]

Here are a couple of links and a video

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?19914-Drilling-the-back-of-a-full-tank

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1767632

[video=youtube;OlaOl-dBniI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlaOl-dBniI[/video]

FWIW, I've heard that you should try to match the flow with the skimmer.

 

[JayM]

Won't little glass shards fall into the tank though?

all the glass dust would be outside, and would be flushed away by the spray of water.

on the inside, you could keep a shop vac running to catch anything as the hole was finished up.....

 

[STiTCH87]

Hmm... Not bad. But what do I do for an overflow box? Do I make the box out of plastic and cut teeth in it then silicone it? I'm kinda confused as to what to do once the holes are drilled.

 

[jamesdong009]

You can get a box from glass-holes.com.

 

[STiTCH87]

And then what, just silicone it into place?

 

[jamesdong009]

The overflow kits usually come with two rubber gaskets and is water tight when the bulkhead is tightened.

 

[STiTCH87]

OIC so the bulkhead holds the box tight to the aquarium. Very nifty, always though they were siliconed in place or something. I am definitely considering this big time. I may get another 29g tank to drill though because i'm now wondering if I will be able to lift and move a 29g tank full of 35lbs. of sand and however much weight in an inch of water.