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So everyone uses drilled tanks as its the most efficient and compact method of getting water to the sump, some people use syphon systems, but no one ever talks about the gravity drain sump. This is for those people that end up with a tempered glass tank or just don't want to drill their tank and want to add a sump. I still prefer a traditional overflow and sump but definitely prefer the gravity drain sump over a syphon system. I had a syphon setup fail before so I just plain don't trust them.
So how it works is a pump goes in the display tank, you can hide it behind a a plastic gaurd or something to hide it if you don't like the look. That pumps the water into the sump which has to be higher up than the tank. The water level only needs to be an inch or so a over the water level in the tank so it doesn't need to be mounted super high. The sump will however need a drilled overflow. I drilled a little 15g cube to make mine. Water will then flow directly into the tank from there.
Pros:
-don't have to drill the main tank
-can't fail or break syphon
-can add any size sump
Cons:
-sump water level must above the tank water level, meaning sump must be placed high up on a shelf or stand
-takes up more space
-needs an addtional solution for surface skimming either by a hob skimmer or filter.
Now on to my personal set up, I have a 75g, with 3 fish and a big moray. (upgrading tanks soon) I was originally just running my algae scrubber and skimmer but I needed more nutrient export cause my moray poops too much and nitrates and phosphates were going through the roof even with water changes. So I designed this setup to add a refugium to my tank. The refugium would be the gravity drain sump in this case.
Water is pumped by a sicce 450gph pump, through a 25watt uv, then into the algae scrubber which flows into the refugium, which then flows back into the tank. I use a reef octopus 2000 hob for a skimmer and sea chem tidal hob for media like carbon or gfo when needed.
So how it works is a pump goes in the display tank, you can hide it behind a a plastic gaurd or something to hide it if you don't like the look. That pumps the water into the sump which has to be higher up than the tank. The water level only needs to be an inch or so a over the water level in the tank so it doesn't need to be mounted super high. The sump will however need a drilled overflow. I drilled a little 15g cube to make mine. Water will then flow directly into the tank from there.
Pros:
-don't have to drill the main tank
-can't fail or break syphon
-can add any size sump
Cons:
-sump water level must above the tank water level, meaning sump must be placed high up on a shelf or stand
-takes up more space
-needs an addtional solution for surface skimming either by a hob skimmer or filter.
Now on to my personal set up, I have a 75g, with 3 fish and a big moray. (upgrading tanks soon) I was originally just running my algae scrubber and skimmer but I needed more nutrient export cause my moray poops too much and nitrates and phosphates were going through the roof even with water changes. So I designed this setup to add a refugium to my tank. The refugium would be the gravity drain sump in this case.
Water is pumped by a sicce 450gph pump, through a 25watt uv, then into the algae scrubber which flows into the refugium, which then flows back into the tank. I use a reef octopus 2000 hob for a skimmer and sea chem tidal hob for media like carbon or gfo when needed.
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