How to add a sump without drilling or syphon drain.

TheDragonsReef

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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.

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ca1ore

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I ran a large ‘gravity drain’ refugium years ago .... not because I couldn’t use a standard overflow on the main display but because I wanted to get plankton from the refugium to the display without running it through a pump impeller. I would not personally do the sump that way. The other major disadvantage that you omitted is the lack of surface skimming in the display. That’s a big one IMO/E.
 
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TheDragonsReef

TheDragonsReef

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I ran a large ‘gravity drain’ refugium years ago .... not because I couldn’t use a standard overflow on the main display but because I want to get plankton from the regugium to the display without running it through a pump impeller. I would not personally do the sump that way. The other major disadvantage that you omitted is the lack of surface skimming in the display. That’s a big one IMO/E.
Yes you are correct. I run a hang on skimmer for the surface skimming, and a tidal hob for media and stuff that also skims the surface. I would not run just the pump to the sump without some way to skin the water, I'll add that to the op. I am also not claiming it as the best method, simply another option.
 

ca1ore

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No, I think it’s a good ‘out of the box’ idea. I still think about the gravity fed refugium. I’d have to scrap the kitchen to do that on my current system. Probably not a family friendly move :(
 

theMeat

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Left out a biggy con. Having a pump in display pulls water from below water surface. With an overflow it skims the surface which is where the dirtiest water is on a saltwater tank
 

theMeat

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Yeah I still recommend an hob skimmer for that
Missed the point, A hob skimmer doesn’t skim the display tank’s water neither. On a saltwater tank proteins float to surface. With pump feeding sump you miss that chance of having dirtiest water from tank going to sump
 

mdb_talon

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I saw a setup similar to this once other than he setup a corner overflow. The pump was in the overflow so he still got benefit of surface skimming. Wish i had pictures it was a sweet setup. In his case he plumbed through the wall and his sump was above his washer and dryer in laundry room....right where he had water drain, rodi, etc. Was quite a setup.
 

mightynova63

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if your looking for a overflow that skims this might be what your looking for?
hob overflow box
Missed the point, A hob skimmer doesn’t skim the display tank’s water neither. On a saltwater tank proteins float to surface. With pump feeding sump you miss that chance of having dirtiest water from tank going to sump
 

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Biokabe

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Basically, in doing this, you swap the normal positions of your sump and tank, meaning that your DT will have a variable water level while the water level in your sump remains more or less constant. Additionally, in the event of a power outage, the water will flow into the DT until they equalize in height, so it's very important to not have the sump elevated too high above the DT, especially since the DT will typically have much less empty space above the water line. You'll also need to set up the ATO in the DT instead of the sump.

Not so much a con as it is something to be aware of and plan around. I effectively ran my kitchen tank (7.5 gallon) this way until I replaced it with a larger AIO tank, using a HOB refugium as a de facto gravity-fed sump.
 
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TheDragonsReef

TheDragonsReef

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Basically, in doing this, you swap the normal positions of your sump and tank, meaning that your DT will have a variable water level while the water level in your sump remains more or less constant. Additionally, in the event of a power outage, the water will flow into the DT until they equalize in height, so it's very important to not have the sump elevated too high above the DT, especially since the DT will typically have much less empty space above the water line. You'll also need to set up the ATO in the DT instead of the sump.

Not so much a con as it is something to be aware of and plan around. I effectively ran my kitchen tank (7.5 gallon) this way until I replaced it with a larger AIO tank, using a HOB refugium as a de facto gravity-fed sump.
It doesn't matter the height when the pump shuts off only a small amount of water leaves the refugium/sump area due to the overflow. But yes the ato must be hooked up to the main tank.
 

mdb_talon

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Additionally, in the event of a power outage, the water will flow into the DT until they equalize in height

Not if you do it right. It is the same concept(but opposite) as having a sump below the tank. Setup correctly your sump does not overflow in a power outage and the tank wont in this case either.
 

Biokabe

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Not if you do it right. It is the same concept(but opposite) as having a sump below the tank. Setup correctly your sump does not overflow in a power outage and the tank wont in this case either.
Basically exactly what I was saying. The water will flow down from the sump into the DT, so you just have to set your water levels and heights to account for that fact.
 

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