So i've been wanting to put a sump on my 46 bowfront because it doesnt take long to fill it up with equipment. I was leary about an overflow because of the idea of coming home to water all in my living room. So I thought why not just put the sump ABOVE the aquarium and in the garage. Run pvc plumbing through the wall. One pump in the tank would push water through and up to the sump, then i could bulkhead through the side of the sump (rubbermaid diy) and run a line back to the tank....gravity fed. this way should prevent an overflow if the power is lost because there is no siphon. Or I could build an internal overflow in the sump with a dorso. Which way would be better? Would it work ok. With the dorso if there was an overflow due to loss of siphon it would be in the garage...I can live with that. I want that constant water level in my main tank that comes from having a sump as well as the ability to add my supplements and top off water without upsetting the display....ideas and input?
the biggest problem with this theory is trapping microbubbles that will be in the dt. other then that it will work fine. that was what i was going to do in my set up.
The first method is exactly how my refug works. I have a mag drive 500 in my sump that pumps water to the refug and it gravity flows back to a different chamber in the sump. Just install the bulkhead fittings at the same height in the tub at whatever water level you want to have, that way if you have a power failure there is very little back flow. I have bulkhead fittings in the end of the tub, one on each side. I use a little bigger hose on the return side. Put an inline pvc valve on the feed side to control the flow rate. I have a piece of sponge against the end of the return hose to control micro bubbles.
You might look at the super sucker siphon here in the DIY forum. That way you don't have to have the sump at the same height. I am using it on three tanks at the moment and the water level stays at a constant level all the time and it will restart on its on in case of a power failure.
Grimmet, couple of questions maybe you can answer. Have you faked power outages and tested it? It seems to me that the siphon action would pull all the water out of the inlet tube and only leave water in the siphon protection loop thing. In which case you would have to get water started over the top loop of the tank to get the siphon started again, but I guess that's not the case. Does the inlet tube stay full all the way over the top and down to the siphon bend at the bottom if the power goes out? Guess I'm just really freaked about coming home to a flooded living room. Is it loud? Where did you get the black PVC...do they make it that color or did you paint and if so what paint is safe? I am just deathly scared of siphon overflows but I think Im gonna give it a try. I don't want my equipment showing and I like the constant water level without adding to the tank directly. I think it's much safer not adding supplements and water directly to the tank. Plus I want that buffer of extra gallons in case of an accidental dosing error or anything.
I fake power outages every night when I feed the tank.The intake tube stays full of water when it drains the black ABS pipe.What happens is when the water level drops in the black pipe the siphon slows and the trap on the outside of the tank is the trick, the height of the top of the trap is where the water level will be in the black overflow at its lowest point. Did you watch the video that schiller street reef posted it might help you understand how the siphon works. If you want to see it working give me a call sometime and you can come over if you live close enough to drive (I live in benton). My number is 501-920-6012 you can call me any time. We might even build it if you know the mesurement of where you want the water level to be in the tank. If you could drill the tank that would be the best but you need to know for sure that its not tempered or bad things will happen and you'll need a tank very quick. I hope this helps. Oh yeah the pipe came from lowes
I would love to see it work, unfortunately I live in DeQueen....way down here. I'll take you guys word for it...if it works, then it works. I'm gonna give it a shot. If I wind up with we carpet I'm comin' for ya.....lol.
