sump in f/w tank

[buzzy]

hi im thinking of putting a sump on my 4ft tank what will i need?, has anyone got one setup that can ell me what ill need and how to set it up?

[Ira]

Google for durso standpipe and overflows in marine tanks. Should come up with heaps.

I don't think there will be any difference between one for a marine tank and a FW. You might want to be a lot more careful about keeping the overflow combs clean though, because I'd imagine if the tank is planted you risk having the combs blocked by leaves. So, set up the sump so the pump is in a small enough chamber on its on that it won't overflow the tank or maybe even make the top of the overflow half an inch or so from top of the tank so it's totally open in case of an emergency.

[Caryl]

We will be setting up our 4ft as a sump for the 6ft replacing it. Still working on the details :lol:

[morf]

out of curiosity - are you thinking of growing plants/algae in the sump to use up nitrates in a natural fashion?

that seems to be the craze over here just now

[Thunderstorm]

Hiya Buzzy.

On my 6FT im building im having a sump.

See pic below.

Water comes in the top from tank, over the drop plates then into the first chamber which will be filled with scoria, then out the bottom of that chamber to the next one which will be filled with basiclly the stuff from inside a duvet, Dacron is it?, then it over flows into the next chamber which will have a planted section of crypty stuff then out that hole to the pump. I still have to plumb it all up but should work well

Thanx

Peter

[buzzy]

cheers for that Peter, i get the idea of how it works will you have an overflow on the tank to set the water into the sump?

[Caryl]

Never thought of plants in the sump. Mine will be inside the solid wooden stand so wouldn't grow too well unless I put lights in it.

[Thunderstorm]

hiya.

Yes i have an overflow in my tank, what i have is some tube up the inside of the tank about an inch from the top. This runs through the bottom of the tank, Im still playing with different overflow ideas and returns, my best one so far is my split tube overflow / return spray bar. I dont have a pic of it but i do the tank. It should display below so you can see the tubes through the tank.

Ignore the date on the pic, camera date is wrong

One on the left is the overflow, the right one is the return, both go through the bottom.

My combined spraybar / overflow idea i was goning to put driftwood over hte tube as it would basicly be a hoop and then plant java fern or something to it.

On an exisitng non drilled tank, maybe use a over the side overflow and use a valve on the pump to match the flow.

Caryl - Yup, when i change plants and fish from the 2ft the light will go over the plant section on the sump. YEars ago i made a plant filter, basicly it was a thing that sat on top of the tank and had channels in it that i had plants in, the water flowed in these channels and hten overflowed back into the tank, worked really well, was hte only filtering i had on that tank. So i just thought i would combine all that into a sump and see how it goes.

Thanx

Peter