Can you work a small sump off a canister filter?

[Jenn]

Will a canister be able to bring the water down into the sump/refugium

and then I'd have to plumb it and get a pump that would pump it back up to the tank.

Any one ever do this ?

Thinking it would be extra area for filer media instead of drilling the tank

Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks

Jenn

 

[redfishbluefish]

Jenn, why not have gravity take the water down to your sump.  Throw an overflow box on the tank and plumb it to you sump and now use a return pump to bring it back up.  Here’s a pic of one type of overflow boxes:

The canister filter is just a nitrate factory on saltwater tanks…get rid of it or use it to dose your tank…not to filter.

 

[onefish2fish]

well canister filters can work to "filter" if properly kept clean frequently.

the issue i see is one of the 2 pumps failing. either the canister or the return and that means the display or sump is overflowing.

 

[Jenn]

oh , I see , having two pumps keeping the circle going , if one stops

thats a mess cause it keeps going.

If there is only one pump and it stops then no mess just shuts down.

Are over flow boxes trusty ?

What is the preferd over flow box to use ?

Do fish/ snails get stuck or sucked down into them ?

Can they over flow if power goes off ?

 

[onefish2fish]

overflow boxes work by siphon so if the power stops the water will drain down until it sucks in air. this is why you will want alittle extra room in your sump to take the extra water that drains from your plumbing and alittle from your tank. also when the power kicks back on the sihpon will be lost so you will want to hook a aqualifter to it so it automatically starts back up.

i only get stomatalla snails in mine as they are soft shelled but its no big deal, they are all over my refugium and display.

 

[Jenn]

If you had the choise:

would you rather use an over flow

or

Have the tank drilled ?

Whats the pros and cons , if any

 

[onefish2fish]

honestly ive never had a drilled tank.
off the top of my head (im sure others can chime in with more)

pros of overflow:
-easier to clean
-takes up less room inside tank

cons of overflow:
-a pump is required to be plugged in (aqualifter)
-your tank has to be "x" amount of space from wall due to however much of the overflow "overhangs"

 

[Jenn]

I guess another pro is ,
If I decide down the road to change to a bigger tank it can come off and onto the new tank.

Are there different size overflow boxes for different size set up?

If so , Should I over size?

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

i would rather have my tank drilled, but if the tank is already established, then an overflow would be my second choice. for the simple reason of having one less component

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

the main difference between the different size overflows is not only the physical dimension, but also the size drain that goes to the sump. some have a larger line for the bigger sizes, some have 2 smaller lines

 

[Jenn]

If it's drilled
How does it work...
Dose the hole get drilled in top back of the glass for the water to drain down
and then Where are How does the water come back into the tank
I know a pump will pump the water back up there ,
so, I'm guessing it goes through another hole in back top of the tank to re-enter.
Is this how it works?

 

[Patriot76]

Will a canister be able to bring the water down into the sump/refugium

and then I'd have to plumb it and get a pump that would pump it back up to the tank.

Any one ever do this ?

Thinking it would be extra area for filer media instead of drilling the tank

Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks

Jenn

jenn, this idea will not work. because the return pump from the sump and the pump inside the canister are two different speeds, you are going to end up flood either the tank or the sump. even if they were rated at the same gph, b/c of head loss there would we a difference. and over time the result would be the same.

i never used an overflow box. the day i decided i wanted a sump was day i went out and bought my first reef ready tank. i have since upgrade and bought another RR tank. i would never buy another tank that is not drilled.

 

[calaxa]

There are overflow boxes that will keep the siphon even after power failure. Water gets sucked down until there's air but it holds the siphon in place and will start again once the water goes above the level (when power restarts). A large enough overflow will not have problems with snails getting caught. (The anti-siphon holes are a different story...make sure they are big enough). A pre-drilled tank will have the holes on bottom of tank. One for the drain and one for the return. Of course, there can be more for largers systems. As most glass tanks are tempered on bottom, you cannot drill there aftermarket. People will usually drill in the side for a drain and one for return (or plumb it over the back)

 

[ricwilli]

overflow boxes work by siphon so if the power stops the water will drain down until it sucks in air. this is why you will want alittle extra room in your sump to take the extra water that drains from your plumbing and alittle from your tank. also when the power kicks back on the sihpon will be lost so you will want to hook a aqualifter to it so it automatically starts back up.

i only get stomatalla snails in mine as they are soft shelled but its no big deal, they are all over my refugium and display.

This is not entirely true. Overflows nowadays do not loose siphone. I've used one for years and never did it overflow nor loose siphone. The overflow that I used, uses a U-TUBE. The overflow box is made to keep both ends of the U-Tube submerged in water. This keeps the U-Tube filled with water. So you can turn off and on the return pump as many times as you want and keep the siphon. You will need to account for extra space in ALL sumps. When you turn off the return pump, there will be extra water in the plumbing and water from the main display that will trickle down until 1) the siphon is lost by the siphon hole made just above the water line in the display tank or 2) the check valves on the pluming stops the water. To prevent any critters from going into ANY overflow, you place some type of netting or cover on the overflow.

 

[Jenn]

I'm going call around to see how much a reef ready tank would cost.

Was going to buy and then have tank drilled or buy an over flow to save $$$

Space for the overflow is an issue also as I'm not needing a long big tank cause it's for seahorses.

I was planing on using an aqua clear 70 to fit chemi & filters so will also hang off the back also , or... I guess I can hang the aquaclear off the sump

decisions... decisions...

 

[redfishbluefish]

Try finding a used tank on craigslist in your area. Use search words like “reef” or “aquarium”. Should be able to pick up one fairly cheap.

 

[Jenn]

Whats the deal with the medicine?

If there was ever meds added into a tank ,filter , piping , ect
and then the tank , filter , piping , ect was cleaned,
and now you reset everything up.

Will the old remains of the meds still hurt the corals in the new setup ?

 

[reeferwanabe]

same answer as on page one

 

[sgarron]

If you decide to go with a hang on tank overflow, here is the Lifereef overflow/prefilter box. I had one on my 65 with no issues. It does not require an aqualifter.

http://www.lifereef.com/frame.html