30 gallon tank / 10 gallon sump

[reefguy210]

im about to upgrade the filtration and lighting in my 30 gallon reef.

id like to turn the 10 gallon tank i have lying around into a sump. i currently have a canister filter on my tank. one question i have is can i use the existing canister filter to pump water into the sump, and then use some sort of pump to push water back into the tank?

would that be a good or bad idea?

also, i searched with little results on plans for a DIY 10 gallon sump. does anyone have any they'd care to share?

my tank measures 29 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches (thats the measure on the trim, not the glass).

[LoneStar]

Here is Melev's Reef website. He is from the Dallas area and one of the 'big boys' on Reef Central. His website offers a lot of great information on sumps and how to build them (in addition to other usefull info).

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

[Ping]

Mlevsreef is a great website. To help summarize to answer your question; using any type of pumping device as an overflow to the sump, is a wet floor waiting to happen. We should only pump from the sump to the tank.

[reefguy210]

so i should go with an acryllic overflow then, right?

last thing i want is a wet floor again.

[ratboy]

You could probably do it if you had a short intake tube on the filter, that way if your return pump stopped your filter would only drain the tank until it drains the tank to your intake level. Then again a overflow is cheaper than new carpet and I want floor drains in all the rooms in my dream house...

[reefguy210]

see thats what im really worried about. something happens to the return pump and i come home to a flooded home. my intake tube is adjustable, but i think i may just go ahead and use the tubing from both the intake and output of the canister as makeshift U tubes and drain directly into the sump. ill build an overflow eventually, or have someone on here build me one.