Overflow To A Sump Equal To Ex Filter

[Peter C]

Right il try and explain this as best I can

got 4 tanks, 3 tropical and 1 empty and iv been really wanting to get a smallish marine tank set up

Iv been doing a lot of research over the last few months

Looked into everything and the only problem I can see is getting the water to the sump tank

Was thinking of 2 ideas,

1st idea was of using 2 identical filters, filter 1 intake in main tank, filter 1 output sump, filter 2 intake sump, output main tank

Idea 2 was a diy pvc piping / tubing overflow system in the main tank with a filter as the pump taking the water from the sump to the tank

Would idea 1 work or is it too awkward?

Idea 2 if I used a tetratec ex1200 would it be advisable to have the PVC tubing the same diameter as the rubber hosing on the filter so to try and match the volume of water going through each hour?


Cheers people

 

[Donya]

Anything using two pumps without some kind of shutoff valve system will be at risk of overflowing something or running dry and damaging the pumps, particularly if one pump gets messed up in a power outage or fluctuation. I'm assuming you don't want to drill a tank to get water out of it and into something else? If so, there are overflow boxes designed to handle that part of a sump system without drilling. You use the overflow box to siphon down with gravity and then pump back up.

 

[Chad]

Here's what I used http/www.eshopps.com/?page=PF_300. I have a built in overflow now, but back in the day this thing worked wonders. It never failed on me once.

 

[gregswimm]

2 pumps is a big no no. PVC overflow in the display (here is a nice vid: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DFk4bnIxEg ) and 1 pump in the sump. HOB overflows are a rip-off and the siphon tube collects micro-bubbles that will eventually break the siphon. IMO their design looks too flawed for me to ever consider one.

The easiest way would be to drill the tank....

 

[Chad]

I have to disagree. Though some models do produce microbubbles that can break the siphon not all do. This is why I chose eshopps. I used it for years and it never failed on me once. Also the pre-skimmer box used on the intakes is very beneficial. Certainly DIY ideas work great too. For me I also like the polished look of an off the shelf product and the preoverflow sponges.

 

[gregswimm]

Yup, they do look clean. I have seen people give the pvc a rough sanding and cover it with polyps or coraline

 

[Chad]

Black PVC might also be a nice way to fancy it up.