New to the overflows..need help!

[Cearley]

I will be setting up an oceanic 37 gallon (close to a cube) very shortly. My previous salt water try(20 gallon tall) involved a HOB filter and a powerhead and that worked fine. This time however Id like to make it look a little cleaner and more natural in the aquarium so I'll be going with a sump and an overflow to move some water and hide the heater and stuff. I need reccomendations for the overflow, sump, and return pump as well as any advice you can give for a first timer.

I had planned on using a 15 gallon tall aquarium for my sump since it will fit under my stand. Is this a large enough size? I guess Im looking at trying to move at least 300 gph through the sump. Is this a good ammount? Thanks in advance for the help!

-Jason

[mathias]

your not doing it right till you get some water on the floor :).....


Do you have a small tube or hose to start the suction from the overflow down to the sump?

[LoneStar]

You can't go wrong with a Mag pump. Depending on how tall your stand with tank is, will determine the size pump you need, in addition to the size of the sump. The higher the 'head heighth' the more flow you will loose from the basic rating of the pump. With a sump that size, you will need some sort of baffles. Like a over, under, over setup. That will help stop any microbubbles from hitting the return pump. Throw live rock rubble in the drain side to help break up the bubbles.

It would be cool if you could drill the tank and put a calflow overflow on the back. Not sure how thick the glass is on that size of tank, or if the back wall is tempered or not. I'm sure someone here has the info on that. Otherthan that, you can buy a small overflow box online. Stay away from the ones that need a aqualifter pump. If that pump fails, you will have about 15 gallons of water on the floor :) Just look for a overflow box that has a 'j' tube.

To add some good flow, you could add a SCWD on the return line and have it split into 2 outlets. That will give some random flow to the tank. Not sure if that will make the water level fluctuate too much in the sump (with the switching motion of the outlets).

Just remember, if you are going to do it, do it right the FIRST TIME. Nothing more wastefull in this hobby than deciding to change things up a month or two down the road to what you wanted to do from the get go.

[rocketeer]

This is real basic, but you asked for basic. Two things not mentioned yet:

1: If your nozzle(s) are under water by any distance at all, drill a small hole in each just under the water level. If the pump stops, the water in the tank will siphin back into the sump until the hole gets uncovered. Then the siphon is broken. Otherwise the tank will drain all the way down to the nozzle opening. Since the sump has a smaller footprint than the tank does, the water level in the sump will go up more than the water level in the tank will go down.

2: Use a sharpie and draw a line on the sump to use as your fill level. The water should never be higher than this line when the pump is running. The line needs to be far enough from the top of the sump so that when the pump is off and the water settles, none ends up on the floor.

Tank water going down one inch can cause the sump water to go up three or more (depending on the sizes of the sump and tank).

Jack

[matt]

You should find out if your tank is tempered glass; oceanic should be able to tell you. If not, and it's probably not, you should get the tank drilled for an internal overflow. Any external overflow is likely to lose siphon at some point and cause a tank spill.

A 15 gallon sump is a little on the small side. It will work but what would be better would be to measure the inside of your stand and have an acrylic or glass sump made that fits but has the largest volume possible. The acrylic sump can also have a nice set of baffles for draining, and possibly drilled for using an external pump. If you want to use a submersible pump (it's easier to plumb) I would suggest avoiding the mag pumps and get an eheim. Mag pumps are okay, but they'll heat up your water more than the eheim. The eheims are more expensive, though. The best solution is to use an external pump like a Panworld 40PX; that's about 450gph and perfect for a tank this size. As you might expect, it's also more expensive.

A serious problem with small reef tanks is heat; if you are planning a reef with corals you'll need high intensity lighting; for this system a metal halide DE mini pendent would be perfect. But, any lighting fixture that will give you enough light to keep live corals is going to heat up uour water a little; and this makes the external return pump more attractive, because it adds very little heat. Tunze is coming out with "stream" style powerheads that are great for moving water around in small tanks. They're called "nanostreams" and they're just about to be available on the market. They are really anticipated because they move alot of water in a small space while adding almost no heat to the tank for a very low power consumption. (8 watts) Guess what; they're expensive too!!

Sorry about spending all your money...lets see, $250 for the light, $100 for the pump, $120 for a pair of the smallest nanostreams, $100 at least for the acrylic sump. There are cheaper ways of getting by, and if you only want to keep fish you can save lots of money on the lighting. If you do use a plain aquarium for your sump, you can put a little bucket in it with live rock rubble, and direct your tank drain into it. Some of the bubbles will get diffused by the live rock rubble, and the water will overflow the bucket into your sump. This is essentially a cheap way out of needing custom baffles in the sump.

Have fun!!

[Bill S]

Oceanic generally tempers the bottoms. Get your serial number and call or email them. They are very reponsive, and have someone assigned to this task.

[Cearley]

Thank you so much for all of the insight. I will look at getting a custom acrylic sump done and try to find a J-type overflow. Eheim on the return pump and try to push between 400 and 500gph split to both sides entering the tank at the top. I plan on starting with LR and just going with zoos, mushrooms and some GSP for a while so I dont have to jump up to the big lights right away. I just want a nice home for a pair of clowns and a nice dwarf angel. I currently have a 24" 65 watt current usa PC thatll keep the low light stuff alive for me until the upgrade. Didnt I remember seeing someone in MAAST that built acrylic sumps on the side?

[Bill S]

Ace (hobogato) would be the guy!

[Cearley]

update... here is what I am planning to go with:


2x Returns

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=FT0001


1x SCWD

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=3Q1111


1x Eheim 1260 (635 gph)

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=EH1260

1x Pro Clear Overflow rated at 600 gph


Then all I need is tubing and I'll be good to go. I am planning on the 635 gph at about 450 by the time it hits the wavemaker(90% eff) and about 400gph by the time it hits the tank (about 5 feet of vertical travel). The sump will temporarily be a 15 gallon. What do you think?

[Cearley]

Anybody? Does this sound ok?

[hobogato]

this type of overflow might be a better option, this design seems to be less prone to bubbles breaking the siphon and can handle a ton more flow than a j-tube style.

also, i agree with matt, the 15 gallon sump may be on the small side, but will work temporarily

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/louieoverflow-1.jpg

[Ross]

drill it....

[hobogato]

drill it....

i second that as the best option.