Diy sump

[Nate5154]

Hello! I currently have a tank that’s just a nano with a heater, skimmer, and canister filter in it and it looks very crowded. My idea was to try and make a sump to fix this. I would have a small tank under my tank and get a small hang on overflow box and then have my skimmer heater and some rocks in the tank, and then with the intake part of the canister, have it filter the sump water, and with the return part of the canister have it in the tank. Would this technically work and what would be the cons to this? I know that it would probably be very hard to get the hang on overflow to be at the same exact flow rate as the canister. Just trying to get all the ugly stuff out of the tank,Thanks!

 

[Quietman]

I don't think the HOB overflow will be a problem as long as you don't exceed maximum flow rate as they'll adjust to whatever you push in the tank.

So you're going to use the canister filter as the return pump? That should work assuming it can pull the suction. Canisters are typically fed with gravity siphon. Unless you're going to have it under the sump, which might work as well. Yeah, thinking about it having it below the sump would work. It'd be similar to external return pump. Make sure you still have a return section in your sump to limit how much water can be pushed to your tank if the overflow fails.

Recommend quality overflow. LIfereef has an exceptional reputation for minimal maintenance reliable overflow. If you're going with square box type make sure you monitor the air bubble as that can cause issues. They can be very reliable and safe but understand their limitations and maintenance needed. And make sure your sump is designed just in case failure occurs. Save you much heart ache.

Good luck.