Return pumps.

[Charley tay tay]

Or you can just drill for the drain and build a "U" tube for the return, that's what I did and it works pretty good.

Easiest is to buy the hang on back overflow.

Safest is to drill the tank, gravity doesn't fail (usually)

You can drill the tank yourself for a total of maybe 30 bucks including the bulkhead fitting.

What do you mean by "U" tube? Do you not have a overflow box? Do you have any pictures? Just give me an idea of what I'm looking at? And Hmm... I really wanna save money especially if all it is, is work. Because I'm a teenager. I really don't have anything else better to do.

 

[Charley tay tay]

Thanks ya'll for sticking with me so far btw.

 

[nos2074]

I'm sure you've seen them in LFS and never paid attention to them. what is hes talking about is just connecting 3 pieces of pvc with 2 90 elbows into the shape of a U. U can put a tip or another 45 or 90 on the end in the tank to direct the water where you want it.

 

[steved13]

Mkayy. The one thing I'm a little worried about HOB overflow box is. What if a fish gets stuck in the suction chamber then clogs it? And the return pump, pumps to much water up into my aquarium causing the aquarium to overflow?

Sizing everything properly is the key. If you drill the tank...suppose something clogs the drilled drain, you have the same problem.

When you size everything make sure you leave room in the tank so that if the sump empties it doesn't overflow the tank...if the pump fails and the tank partially drains it can't overflow the sump. So if you have a 25 gallon sump you run it with 10 gallons of water, and make sure no more than 10 gallons can drain from the tank, and that you have 15 less gallons in the tank from overflow. Then 10 gallons of water can't overflow 15 gallons of capacity in either direction. By the way if you drilled the tank and had a catastrophic failure in the internal overflow, you'd have a much bigger flood than with hang on overflow. Maybe less likely but still possible.

 

[Charley tay tay]

Sizing everything properly is the key. If you drill the tank...suppose something clogs the drilled drain, you have the same problem.

When you size everything make sure you leave room in the tank so that if the sump empties it doesn't overflow the tank...if the pump fails and the tank partially drains it can't overflow the sump. So if you have a 25 gallon sump you run it with 10 gallons of water, and make sure no more than 10 gallons can drain from the tank, and that you have 15 less gallons in the tank from overflow. Then 10 gallons of water can't overflow 15 gallons of capacity in either direction. By the way if you drilled the tank and had a catastrophic failure in the internal overflow, you'd have a much bigger flood than with hang on overflow. Maybe less likely but still possible.

Google Image Result for http://www.tsunamiaquatic.com/i/plumbing/Utube.jpg

Is this what he's talking about?

 

[Alien2100]

Yes that's what partypalooza 5 was talking about, you can also make one like nos2074 mentioned.
Between the U-tube and overflow box you don't have to drill the tank at all.

 

[partypalooza5]

Yes that's what partypalooza 5 was talking about, you can also make one like nos2074 mentioned.
Between the U-tube and overflow box you don't have to drill the tank at all.

xD Yes that was what I was taking about. You can make your own easily with a few PVC fittings.

You don't have to do anything. You could just go sumpless.

Just pick an option that works best for your application.

 

[PIMPALA]

LGS here (local glass stores, lol) will drill holes for $20 each. Then you just spend $15 on some plumbing, and you are done. no need to drill for return. You can easily make, or buy a overflow box, and seal it to the glass... its just a cleaner look. both can easily have failures, and both can cause a flood in either the tank, or the sump. keeping the flood to a minimum is the key!

now... grabbing a HOB overflow box, and tossing it over the edge is for sure the easiest way to go, but i recommend one with an aqualifter (although its not NEEDED, its just better). if you cant get one, just buy an air pump, and a barb fitting, and put it in yourself. it takes like 30 seconds to install.

as was said before, your drain size is something you just want to be large. larger than you ever plan on pumping back into the tank. the overflow will only drain however much your return pump is pumping into the tank. you can always overpower it, but not really under power it (the drain).

 

[Charley tay tay]

Alrighty. And for me a sump is a must have I wish to do things with my aquarium such as keeping more difficult corals and such. So I would like to have the extra gallons in my system and I kinda like aquariums that don't look like science experiments.

So yeah 20 bucks for a hole in my opinion its worth it. Any idea of how big the hole should be drilled? Or when I can get more information?

 

[PIMPALA]

go buy the plumbing first. the size of the bulkhead determines the size of the hole.

 

[Charley tay tay]

Alrighty so, but still I'm going to need information on plumbing like how to figure out my GPH of the water leaving the aquarium into the sump. and also is there such thing as reef safe Pvc pipe? And what about keeping the pipe together? like dangit I can't even remember what its called? Do I use silicon? Anything will help. Thanks... AGAIN!

Charley

 

[PIMPALA]

lol. you may want to try to find a local reefer with experience to help, but just get the white PVC, and a bottle of PVC glue. other than that, its just straight runs, and connecting fittings like 90 degree or 45 degree bends (always best to avoid 90 degree and do 45s when you can, but its not always an option) and what pump do you plan on using? IMO, its difficult to oversize your drain pipe so big that it causes an issue, but you can easily under size it.

with a 20gal tank, and 15gal sump... you are going to have say, maybe 25-27 gallons in the whole system, possibly as many as 29-30 of course, depending on how shallow your sand bed is, how much LR you have, what all is in your sump, etc etc. i'd plumb it with 1" or 1.25" ID, keep the flow fairly low to allow the water in the sump/fuge to have time to take advantage of the - whatever you decide on in the fuge, and the skimmer to work, and still create some return flow, but not too crazy, then add powerhead(s) to keep the water moving, and avoid any dead spots.

as for 30 gallons of water, the general rule of thumb would be that you need a 200ish GPH pump, plus a powerhead or two, to turn over the water 10x per hour.

however, this is before you factor in all the resistance from the plumbing, bends, valves, T's, and the like.





sorry...to make a long story short:

I'd get a 300gph pump, and 1" plumbing for return, and 1" or 1.25" for drain. throw in a powerhead, or two small powerheads, and keep the water moving. lol



is it a 20L? 20H? Standard 20?

 

[Charley tay tay]

YES! I like this! So now where can I find the information in finding how much resistance in such for the 90 degree stuff and such?. And I just went and pick up a 10 gallon aqueon aquarium for 12.99. The 15 gallon they had at petco was 39.99... I didn't feel like spending the much more for 5 more gallons. Maybe I'm stingy idk. It just didn't seem worth it. So I went with 10 gallon. My guess on how much water that will actually be in the system is 20 gallons. I wanted a little more, but can't have everything. So yeah. Thanks again!

 

[PIMPALA]

i wouldnt worry about it too much, as yours should be fairly simple as far as plumbing goes.

everything is more of a guideline than a rule. a sump isnt even a requirement, nor is a skimmer. i know of plenty of long term, successful tanks with neither, so dont over think it!

just hook it all up, and enjoy.

 

[Charley tay tay]

i wouldnt worry about it too much, as yours should be fairly simple as far as plumbing goes.

everything is more of a guideline than a rule. a sump isnt even a requirement, nor is a skimmer. i know of plenty of long term, successful tanks with neither, so dont over think it!

just hook it all up, and enjoy.

Hook it all up, and enjoy it... I don't like that lolz. I don't want to have a oversized pump. You see I have no clue what so ever how much water will be leaving my tank...