Adding sump to running aquairum

[bink177]

Hello, I’ll be adding a sump to my running aquarium soon. I’ll be hard plumbing it and I’ll be using a hang on back overflow. I’m just curious on how I should go about adding it since the tank is already running. Like if I should fill some of it up myself or let water run into it first? And also is there anything in particular I need to do with the hang on back overflow box?

 

[Llyod276]

Depends on your sump setup... generally just saltwater. Fresh saltwater that's at the same temp. Also if you are able drill the tank, just do it. Unless it's tempered. I think I had a hang on back overflow for like a week (looking back the pics, I broke the dang thing)then I did a dyi stand pipe. Then I drilled the tank when I built my sump to a 40 gallon breeder. And haven't looked back. See my build thread. Also here's a few pics.

***I'm no expert!!!***

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I would fill the sump with salt water to the baffle plus a little, add a heater and power head. Have extra salt water ready. When the temperature is up turn the system on. Add water to the sump until the level is where you want it. Keep in mind you need to leave enough room for back flow in a power outage.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I would fill the sump with salt water to the baffle plus a little, add a heater and power head. Have extra salt water ready. When the temperature is up turn the system on. Add water to the sump until the level is where you want it. Keep in mind you need to leave enough room for back flow in a power outage.

That's about it. And plan for BOTH points of failure. Failure of the return pump AND a failure to siphon.