Setting up my first sump

[SLPMonkey]

Hi everyone! I am located in Monroe, CT. I have had a tank running for about a year with a HOB filter and have been getting all the pieces to start running a 75 gallon with a sump! I have (almost) all the pieces now, but am struggling with how to put it all together properly. I'm worried about doing something wrong and ending up with 75+ gallons of water all over my floor! Does anyone in this group do home tank set-ups/know anyone who does? It doesn't have to be a professional, just someone who knows what they are doing and doesn't mind teaching me along the way!

Thanks!
-Sarah

 

[Forsaken77]

Hi everyone! I am located in Monroe, CT. I have had a tank running for about a year with a HOB filter and have been getting all the pieces to start running a 75 gallon with a sump! I have (almost) all the pieces now, but am struggling with how to put it all together properly. I'm worried about doing something wrong and ending up with 75+ gallons of water all over my floor! Does anyone in this group do home tank set-ups/know anyone who does? It doesn't have to be a professional, just someone who knows what they are doing and doesn't mind teaching me along the way!

Thanks!
-Sarah

You may want to go to your local fish store and see if they offer services like that. Most do. Because if your tank isn't already drilled, then you're going to have to use an over-the-back syphon type of box, which someone should actually show you the cons associated with that type of setup and make sure your sump is big enough to drain the water in a power outage.

People may be able to give you pointers, but having a pre-drilled tank with overflows is a lot easier to start with.

Is this a new tank with overflow, or are you converting your current tank with no overflow?

 

[SLPMonkey]

The tank has an overflow. Predrilled with 2 drilled holes in the bottom of the tank.

 

[wilecyote007]

You are good to go then. All you need to worry about to prevent water spill is water volume in both tank and sump. Your display tank will of course only fill to where water starts to go behind overflow and down to sump. Now your sump needs to be at a level to be at a water level that can pump all water content in your sump to dt without overfilling dt. This could happen if drain to sump clogs or something of that nature. This would mean no water is leaving dt but sump is still pumping water up to it. For example if my dt held 80 gal and i had a 20 gal sump i would keep my dt at 70 gal volume and only 10 gal in my sump so worst case sump empties to dt its full but no spillage. Burnt up pump way cheaper than house damage.

 

[wilecyote007]

By the way i leave more wiggle room for dt filling. I have a 75 gal dt. 10 gal sump. So i keep about 65 gal in dt and 6 to 7 gal in sump. So 71 gal is the max that will go to dt.

 

[kgstei]

Hang tight Sarah. I'm sure someone in the club on that side of the state will be able to help.

 

[SLPMonkey]

Thanks! And I am not in a rush! I am learning to be patient in this hobby

 

[paul spinn]

the first thing i would do is get new bulk heads for the drain n return to start fresh...r u gunna hard plumb or use nylon type of tubing for the drain n return pump....make sure u have a good enough return pump to pump the water back up to the tank

 

[gar732]

I'd suggest attending the next meeting and just talking to a few people. Everyone in the club is great and friendly and it will be good to pick people's brains in person and get you headed in the right direction. You might even meet someone close to you that can give you a hand. Until then look at some tank builds to get some ideas and ask questions here as the they come up. Also listing what you have and what you intend to get might save from making some mistakes as well. Good luck with the build.

 

[kgstei]

How did you make out on this?