[Andreiuta]

Hi - just wanted to say hi to everyone, as this is my first post. I'm very new with reef aquariums and I was looking for some advice on how to set up the sump.

I have a 36-gal tank and I'm looking to turn an old 10-gal tank into the sump. Can you please advise about a good overflow and return pump? I was considering not to do a sump at all. But once I put the skimmer in the tank and saw how terrible it looks, I changed my mind pretty fast. As I said, this is my very first saltwater tank, so I can use any advice. Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

[map95003]

Hi Andreiuta, welcome to RB. Tell us some more about your tank, the return pump you choose will be limited by the flow rate of your overflow. Since it's a small tank you probably don't need a big pump. To avoid a flood, your overflow has to be able to handle more than the flow-rate of the return pump you choose (IMO, just incase it gets clogged up a bit, even though you should design it so you sump would handle this situation without a flood). Is the tank drilled (if so, what size bulkhead), or do you have an exteral overflow that would require a syphon? If it's an external overflow do you know it's gph rating? Also, what would be the vertical distance from the bottom of the sump to the top of our display tank (head) ?

If you don't have any of this don't worry about it, lets start from scratch.

[Andreiuta]

Hi again and thank you for your reply. To answer your main questions, I haven’t decided yet either on the pump or on the overflow. Also, the tank is not drilled. I was thinking to go for this overflow, but I just started reading about this so I'm open to any suggestions: CPR Aquatics CS50 Siphon Overflow | MarineAndReef. The drop between the top of the tank and the bottom of the sump is maybe ~4.25 ft. It’s just my educated guess, as I’m at work now, so I can’t give you an exact size.

I read somewhere that the type of corals matters in choosing the pump power too. Since this is my first reef tank, I’ll probably stay away of any hard corals. I’m considering getting at some point some sea fans though and I think they need a bigger water flow.

Thanks and have a great day!