I’m a bit embarrassed to ask but I haven’t found this online anywhere. I am going to set up a sump and a hang on back overflow. Clearly it’s my first time doing this so I will likely have many questions. I will post them to this thread. So for my first question… Does the sump completely replace my current canister filter? I will be using bio balls and live rock and chaeto in the sump with separated chambers. I will also keep the heater and protein skimmer in the sump.

yes, your canister filter is going to cause HIGH nitrate. Best just drop it if going with a reef tank. The sump will do the job much better.

can we get a picture of the sump and its chambers?

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I haven't bought it yet. I planned on buying it this weekend. Problem I have is the base of the oceanic cube is limited in space. Any recommendations?

Levi, are you doing a reef tank? Bio-Balls in a reef tank are BAD news! Live rock and cheato will do the job well assuming you have some sort of pre-filter (filter pads, micron sock etc.)

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120 Gal. Reef tank coming this june. This is going to be awesome.

ORLY? I have some bio tubes in my fluval right now... are those bad too? I thought they helped with beneficial bacteria etc... What's bad about bioballs? My aquarium is already set up. I am just doing minor upgrades as I afford them.

Bio Balls are very effective biological filters in both freshwater and saltwater Fish Only systems, but in a reef tank the live rock makes up for that and Is just as effective as Bio Balls. The problem with running both, is that over time (1-2 years) the bio balls become TOO affective, and will overpopulate your tank with algae and more importantly, will become Nitrate generators.

I have seen some beautiful reef tanks running off BioBalls, but it's not usually the case. You can use it temporarily, but after a while you should slowly remove them.

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120 Gal. Reef tank coming this june. This is going to be awesome.

ah ok that makes sense. I have almost 40 pounds of live rock and 40 pounds of live sand in there now.

40 lbs? You're good! Just keep that protein skimmer clean and efficient and you'll have a nice looking tank in no time....

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120 Gal. Reef tank coming this june. This is going to be awesome.

IMHO yes it can replace your canister filter. And protien skimmer as well.

Or you can kep them as well. I just prefer to let the algae maintain the tank and not the skimmer/filters.

For an hob overflow you can make one from $20 of pvc.

the sump/refugium can also just be plastic storage containers.

And I would recommend you do a test setup in your driveway/back yard/garage. Much better to have a flood there then in the house.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yeah that overflow will be 100 bucks alone. how do you make one for 20 dollars? :o I agree about testing outside hehe. I found a DIY sump on a 10 gallon tank, the issue is how limited my space is. I was thinking about trying to make a cylinder type sump with levels if I can't find one to fit.

check out this thread: pvc overflow If you have any questions ask there (or pm/email me).check out your installation and be creative. At first I though my 55g wouldn't hold much then I realized I could put a plastic container in fore and aft with the back sticking out of the rear of the stand.

I recommend you use a larger container for the refugium part with a smaller container for the sump. Also baffles can be done by placing a smaller container inside or a larger one. I also used a wastebasket with a window screen bottom for my wet dry. And also used crushed oyster shells for my filter media.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I made a sump refugium out of a 29 gallon aquarium. I went to homedepot and bought 1/4 in acrylic and a 140 tooth circularsaw blade and aquarium silicone. altogether it cost me 52 buck to make my own sump. check this out for your overflow. DIY OVERFLOW PIPE | REEFFLIX | THE LARGEST REEF AQUARIUM VIDEO SITE ON THE WEB!

Ah thanks for that guys, I was actually given a free sump and overflow box this weekend so i don't have to build anything yay one question though... The overflow box is connected from the aquarium to the box with a rubber hose. Is it just the return pump that creates the siphon effect in that hose or do I need 2 pumps? I'm a noob sorry lol I've never hooked one up and I don't see a spot to connect a pump to draw from the aquarium to the overflow.

the return pump go's from the sump to the tank. check this out Melevsreef.com - What is a Sump?

I've found out you dont really need to do the chambered design.. so if you want to make things easy, just do a small tank with sand, live rock, macro algae and skimmers/uv sterilizers etc.

the only pump needed is the return pump.

You do need with a HOB overflow to suck out the air in the u tube to establish the syphon.

The overflow will overflow untill the upper container's water level reaches a certain point. And then stop.

As the return pump pumps water back to the upper container, the upper container's level will increase, the over flow start overflowing until the over flow reaches whatever the pump is returning. so that is self regulating.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

thanks beaslbob.. i was wondering if that'd work myself. do you have to keep the water lost by evaporation topped off to keep up the water levels to do this?

Ok this part didn't make sense to me I read it a few times

Do need what?

Basically on my overflow the in tank part of the overflow and the hang on back part are connect by a rubber hose that goes up over the rim. The rubber hose just sits on the rim with its ends in both boxes dangling there not clipped to anything or plugged in in any way.

I guess I am not getting how gravity will allow water to just push up over passed the water level in the aquarium. Or is it that both sides are filled to the same point then as it drains out of the hang on back into the sump that somehow creates suction? Does that mean my return pump should be pretty strong?

SO is the only purpose of chambered design for bubbles?

as i was told, yes. its only used to keep the bubbles out and probably to seperate some filter materials. But that can be done by using other things.. bags and what not.

sure but that is always the case unless you mean to keep air out of the siphon tube. I use power heads with venturies for that purpose.

with any sump design you have one or more containers at higher levels then the sump. By definition the sump is the lowest container. and the return pump must pump from the sump.

So as water is added or removed (evaporation is one way) the sump level rises or falls respectively. The overflows in the other containers keep them at an essentually constant level.

So as water evaporates the sump level will drop. Which must be made up before the pump intake is uncovered.

there are three tests/adjustments.

1) power out (does the sump flood?)

2) power return (does normal operation return)

3) overflow failure (siphon break or blockage) (does the display flood?)

so you adjust the water in the system and locations of the overflow and pump intake to prevent those floods.


One problem with automatic top offs (atos) is the case where there is an overflow failure. The problem is that the sump level acts just as if there was evaporative loss so the ato kicks in. Which adds more water to the system increasing the water level of the display. And that can cause the display to flood.

It's all confusing especially for a first setup. But after a little playing around it will make sense.


I hope.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden