Home Made Sump Filter for Large Tanks!!!

[rdracer66]

I have a wet dry on my existing 55g and also a wet dry on my 125g that i have almost up and running hopefully today or tomoorow, any who Dattack asked me to post pics of my setup, which  i will do currently i'm at work so wont be till later but preety much everything u need to see has been posted already, thing u have to remember is this there are 2 ways of doing this the 2nd is better i think ? which is what im doing with my 125g because it has 2 over flows hanging on the back, my 55 only has one. Basically what i do is fill up the tank to just above the return tube on my 55g it's a T tube so i fill the tank to just above that th en i fill the over flow box on the R side and get the U or J tube whatever u guys are calling it these days running so everythign is going and the waterflow has started i wait a few min make sure its all running thru ok then i turn the power off and watch the water get returned down to the bottom once it's stopped runnign water back from the tank to the sump i see how close it is to overflowing the sump and making a mess, then i just add water to that line and put a piece of tape or u can mark it, never to go above that or if u lose power or whenever feeding your sump will get over flowed( you will have to shut the system off when feeding or the food will get sucked down it's that simple so make sure u have no bubbles in the U or J tume easy way to get them out is this take a 1/4in air line hose and push it thru the J tube to right before it starts to curve
then start to suck once u have the water filled in the J tube switch the power on to the motor thats going to run the sump and let it syphon thru u will most likely see a air bubble in the J tube what i have found that works best is to gently jiggle the j tube up and down and side to side a little, but make sure u don't raise it above the water line or u will lose the syphon, hope this helps !!

 

[rdracer66]

I thought i would add this since this will be how my 125g is setup using the wet dry same system basically but it has 2 over flows, but the main differeinc eon this system is that i put a check valve on the return tube so water cannot go back down, and the overflow tubes one on each corner go down to the sump i have cut off valves there, so when i want to feed the fish now all i have to do is turn power off and shut off those 2 valves, however you still have to find that line of no return on your sump like i did on my 55, its a nice bonus that i can just power down and shut valves off to feed, but....... if i lose power i still have to make sure that when the over flows keep going till they get to that point that no more water comes down into the sump that its not going to over flow. With that said i've also bulit a really kewl water adder, I havnt seen it before so ill have to post a pic of it, but basically what it is, once i find that line of no return on the sump i installed a ummm how do i say this a piece of plastic with a arm on it kinda like a toilet has to stop runnign the water when it's full so what happens is that when the water starts to evaporate which it will trust me, in my 55g i put in probably 1 gallon a day of water maybe a tad less, anyhoo when the water drains and that float level goes down water comes in till the float comes up to the point that it started at, and i will fill that extra tub with water and put in a heater and stress coat so that when it does go in the water will be de clorinated and the same as the tank temp wise
hope this helps, I will try to get those pics up later but im in the midst of gettign this 125g tank going

Kurt

 

[Matt Nace]

Also remember, placement of the return can't be too low, cause if you lose power, it is going to siphon through the return to the sump as well.(like rdracer already mentioned)

Usually you test this, and only fill the sump to a MAX, and have a MIN line on it for when you need to fill it.

A siphon only is a big pain. I tried this. You have no control.
It will not wait for your pump, like an overflow box. It just keeps going. You try it. It will siphon right down to the inch you have it, cause it is faster than the pump. Then you lose siphon, and the pump keeps going. Suddenly the pump is pumping the water in..but you lost your siphon..now your tank is over flowing.

 8)

 

[rdracer66]

You can't lose the siphon in the over flow unless u lift the J tube up it's impossible to ose it unless something isnt set up right, look at the picture of the overflow above and u will see there are 3 seperate compartments 2 in the back and one in the front (the skimmer)
the skimmer will hold a certain level of water in it and the part the J tube goes in will hold water its the 3rd part that actually goes to the sump that will not hold any water, unless u lift the tube above the water line YOU WILL NOT LOSE SIPHON, what i would suggest is a setup like my 125g has but thats only because it's easier to feed them that way, you still have to mark the sump when the power is off to make sure that it wont overflow incase the power goes while your not at home, what i would do is this put a cut off on the hose from the overflow to your sump, and then on the return tube put a cut off valve that way when its' time for feeding u just turn off the power and then close the valve and in a matter of seconds u can start feeding them, if u have it set up like my 55g u have to wait a min or 2 for the water to drain into the sump till it stops then feed them and then power back on
hope this info helps !

 

[mrliltank]

It's ALL coming together now...cept a bought overlfow is a t least 60 and a whisper for a 60 gallon can be had for 30

 

[dattack]

[quote author=mrliltank link=board=diy&num=1024446027&start=15#24 date=06/19/02 at 18:23:05]
It's ALL coming together now...cept a bought overlfow is a t least 60 and a whisper for a 60 gallon can be had for 30
[/quote]

Overflow is $30 from the site I gave you.  You will love that you can stuff everything in your sump, including heaters/thermometer and such.

 

[jinx]

Stupid question .. sorry guys i'm new with this whole overflow thing... i looked at a couple of DIY sites and saw that some people have an airhose connected to a barb in the middle/top of the U siphon tube. What is it for? to start the siphon? Dosen't it let air into the system and disturb the siphon? i'm in the process of either buying 2 emperor 400s or building the whole filter from a 20 Gallon tank, couple scraps of plexi, kitchen light diffusers/grating, shotgun wadding and panty hose filled with carbon. I already have the Rio 2100 pump what to do? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

 

[dattack]

The air valve is to start the siphon.  You have suck out the air so water can move into the siphon to start it.  

I advise to buy an overflow box for only $30-$40.  I use to have a n overflow box with 1" U tube and piping and had a RIO 2100 as a return.  I just placed my heater, filtermedia, thermometer in that one area and it keeps the tank free of any unsightly equipment.