[e_baer]

so, heres the scoop. I have a 55g tank and i want a 10g sump/fige....mostly fuge. How do I get the water siphening out of the 55 back to the 55 at the same rate of speed? What pumps would you all recomend? What size tubing should I use? Should I use PVC pipe or flexible tubing?Should I have any valves? The bottom of the 55 is about...oooo....2-3 feet from where the sump will be. Im looking to do everything my self, so Im not looking to spend loads of money on this.

[Cela Vie]

IMO a 10g is sump too small for a 55 especially with part of it being a fuge? IMO, you should bump that up to a 20g and keep the 10g for QT. With respect to the rest of your questions, it depends on your drain flow. How much is that going to be? Based on that and the height of your tank, you can calculate the head loss and figure out what pump you need. With respect to pvc w/ or w/o valves vs tubing, that's up to you. You can go either way, tubing will be cheaper because there would not be any need to fittings, but the pvc setup would look really clean and professional...

[e_baer]

alrihgt, I will only be making it a fuge basically....and ill also throw the skimemr in ther, but that is hang on. I dont know anything about anything on this, so IYO what should the tube size be for the drain? I basically only want water to go through there so it gets to the cheato ill have in there and then go back into the main tank. Im not trying to make this a big fancy shmancy thing, just a simple DIY easy fuge for 50$ or so. I was thinking a 1" drain.....think thats good?

[e_baer]

What if i use my fluval 405 canister filter forthe return pump...it pumps water at 340 gph. The top of the tank is about 4' off the ground. Would this work? I think im getting an idea!

[reefdaddy725]

The first question is do you have an overflow box? If so single or double? I used to have a 40+ gal with a double overflow I ended up blocking one off and using a single U tube with a 350 gph return and that kept things flowing nicely it was also going to a fuge with a skimmer in it. The only thing is I used a 15 tall tank just to have enough room in case of a power outage. As far as plumbing you could use either.... I like pvc better and you could put a shut off on the return to slow the water down if you have a bigger pump around. clear tubing is easier and I use that on my 125 reef I like to be able to see that it is clear. So let us see the end result.... Good luck

[e_baer]

I am actually making an overflow box....i had posted it in another thread. So, what size tubing would you say would be good.....i was thinking 1/2 inch, because i can slow down or speed up the filter (return pump) and if i have the drain line pvc, then i can hav a valve and slow down or speed that up. so, think 1/2 is good or should i go for more or less?

[Cela Vie]

Are you going to be growing pods in your fuge? If so, make sure the water is skimmer before it goes to the fuge, not after. Else, you'll end up killing most of the pods. My original sump setup was: intake/skimmer section-->fuge section-->return section. I am moving towards: intake/skimmer section-->return section<--fuge section. In either case, the fuge dumps directly to the return section.

[e_baer]

i just want to grow cheato mainly, i dont really plan on growing things in there, if they do its fine, but thats not my whole purpose of having one.

[Cela Vie]

Umkay...I still think you should go for a bigger sump in case of power outage...

[e_baer]

hmmm...would it work to get 2 10's and glue them together to make a 20 do you think?

[Cela Vie]

Sounds like more work (cost) than what it's worth...well, you could raise one above the other (but next to it) and have it dump into the second one via a pump or bulkhead, but again...more work (cost) than what it's worth IMO.

[e_baer]

well, its would be easy to do...im just not sure if i can even fit it uner my tank.

[reefdaddy725]

You know for the price of a 20 gal I think it would be money well spent. Because if the power goes out you will continue to siphon out of the overflow untill you reach the bottom of your intake grill wich could be 5 gal right there. Then 9 out of 10 you have a wet floor it's worth the 20-30 bucks on a biger tank right there.(Take it from me I have watered down a fwe floors with my experimients).... Making the overflow.... I have done that as well you can make it work. I had 2 of those big 3/4 U tubes on there and couldn't get the flow and return in sink so I removed one of the U tubes and pluged one of the one inch drains (MADE THE BOX WITH 2) I used 1 inch pvc for the drain and had a shut off on it and I used 3/4 on the return also with a shut off. It turned out that both of them were left full open all of the time 1/2 inch might be a little small. It's one of those things that you are going to have to mess around with in the begining to get it adjusted right.

[e_baer]

so, what if i used a 3/4 inch drain and had a valve i can open and close to slow it down....or would gunk get caught up in there? I think i might got for the 20......i guess it would be worth it!

[reefdaddy725]

I have never had a problem with shut off valves getting gunked up. i used to run them all the time. I don't have any on my tank now but only ecause it's a RR tank and it just works.

[e_baer]

alright, then ill do the 3/4 inch with a valve to shut off...ill use a 20 gallon tank for the fuge and ill use the fluval 405 for the return. I thihk that covers everything.

[Cela Vie]

Post pics when done

[e_baer]

allright ill post pics of the whole process

[blind1993]

show us alot of pics

[e_baer]

alright will do!

[e_baer]

alright, here is an update. i glued 2 10g tanks together using some silicon sealant stuff. here is the process.

You get 2 10g tanks from walmart for 9.89 each (plus tax)

and then you rip all the black outline stuff off and take one side of the tank off.


when taking the sides off, be very careful! as you can see i had cracked the glass. it is a very delicate process that takes a while! also, watch out for the sharp corners of the glass!!!!!

After you do that, take each tank seperately and put it under your display. It is a little tricky to fit, but it will. The tank i have is a 55g.

after the 10s are under the tnak, make sure they fit together. i had to put mine up on some blocks of wood so theyu would fit together nicely. when they fit, glue them with the silicone stuff. make sure you use a lot so it doesnt leak! i am currently testing for leaks now, so ill update in another 24 hours or so.

[Cela Vie]

Okay. Between the lion fish and this sump/fuge, you are going to need to invest in a good thick pair of chain link mesh gloves (stainless steel of course, we're dealing with saltwater here). What happened to the plastic container again? Did I tell you my idea about stacking the two 10-gallon tanks next to each other (one, the fuge section, higher with a bulkhead dumping into the other, the return section). Are you going to fix that glass?

[e_baer]

i thought about that, but i decided not to go with the gluing instead. yes, i do need to invest in a nice pair of gloves. u decided not to og with the [plastic container, because upon further measuring, i discovered it was about na inch too big. besides, i didnt want to take down my entire tank just to get it in there. the glass, yes i fixed most of it, i still have a little repairing to do. i have some extra glass im gonne glue there from the sides. oh, and i also make my own overflow box, and it DOESNT LEAK! i just need to drill the hole in it and get the bulkhead. i used a large speciman container for the outside part, and i glued some acrylic stuff for the inseide part. i used pvs and some old u-tube i found for the siphons. i ttested it, and it works very well.

[eldouble]

I bought a 20 gallon long (same size a 2-10gal's together) for $25 at Petsmart. Looks like a ton of work (and blood) to save $5. I set it up as 2/5ths fuge, 3/5ths sump. Just glued in a peice of plexiglass (scrap on hand = $free) with slits in the top for the overflow. Ran the output from the UV thats in the sump, to the fuge and it flows right back in the sump. Used a shop light pendant ($10 Walmart) with a 100 watt equivalent srew-in CF ($5 Walmart). Total cost= $40. Total build time ~1 hour (not including glue drying) Working great.

[e_baer]

well, i alreqady have my tank set up, and a 20l wouldnt be able to fit under my tank unless i take the entire thing down.