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Sump/ refugium without drilling tank

DYIguy

DYIguy

NJRC Member
Trying to get thing moving forward for my 75 gal. @Salted and @mwil79 both said they have done sumps without drilling their tanks- I can't find any info online how to do it and what equipment I need. Looking for help on this - otherwise I'm back to doing the in tank sumps
 
r2reyzer

r2reyzer

I’ve used overflows as well without issues. But curious, what’s the hesitation to drilling your tank? Bigger tanks like 75’s have thicker glass and are relatively easy to drill (assuming they aren’t tempered). And in the long run, it’s more reliable then a over the top overflow.
 
Salted

Salted

NJRC Member
Last edited:
Mark_C

Mark_C

Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
The CPR Marcus linked is actually cheaper by $30 on Amazon.

I'm partial to the Eshopps. As Salt mentioned they work incredibly well, when set properly you cant overflow the sump or tank, and you can easily turn power on and off and they resume suction 99 out of 100 times.

The CPRs rely on an airlifter pump to maintain flow, which can get noisy (and you have to balance a pump on top. THe Eshopps are run by vaccuum and are virtually silent.

Here's the one I've used on smaller tanks, and am ordering again for a 50g cube...
 
DYIguy

DYIguy

NJRC Member
r2reyzer said:
I’ve used overflows as well without issues. But curious, what’s the hesitation to drilling your tank? Bigger tanks like 75’s have thicker glass and are relatively easy to drill (assuming they aren’t tempered). And in the long run, it’s more reliable then a over the top overflow.
Click to expand...
 
DYIguy

DYIguy

NJRC Member
I looked into the overflow boxes and have been thinking- why not an internal overflow with a submersible pump- the first question is to make sure to stop the 'siphon effect'- which the cutouts will at the right level- water remains in the overflow unit so the pump is primed when power comes back on- the other question is the same for any sump- adjusting the return pump to match the intake. An important questions is either a check valve on the return or positioning the return in the tank to be at/ close to surface level- am I missing something here
 
DangerDave

DangerDave

NJRC Member
IMO, external overflows are a terrible idea. I built and ran one on a large freshwater tank for over a decade (tank wasn’t in a finished part of the house). You need to constantly run an aqua lifter to guarantee to won’t lose syphon in the event. I replaced them three times over the years as they burned out (they’re cheap, keep a spare handy).

But hey, as long at the pump restarts when the power goes back on, you should be ok.
 
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