# Sump for my 55 gallon



## willny1 (Nov 17, 2008)

My 55g is sitting on the floor of my second floor. The walls upstairs are not flat but are raised straight from the floor then angle upwards towards ceiling.

I was thinking of putting a couple of cinder blocks under the tank but I am a little concerned of the weight on the floor. Reason being, a standard size stand will be too high and I would like to keep the stand upstairs.

My main question is :

Can I make a sump for it being that the main tank and the sump would be at the same bottom height?

My tank is a standard 55g. For siphon, would I only have to be concerned that my top water level is higher in my main tank than my sump would be at? Do I understand that correctly?

I am aware of the overflow box.

Also, the sump would probably be a 10g with a 2g bucket. ex.( tannable DIY)


----------



## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

not sure i follow. the tanks will be sitting at the same height? that would obviously make the 55 gallon water depth higher, and with a siphon to the sump, it'll empty the whole 55 gallon in the event of a power failure. and if you put a siphon break, then when the pump turns back on, it'll empty the whole sump into the 55 gall, and obviously all over the floor either way.

Adding an overflow and siphoning straight from there will obviously not empty the 55 gal into the sump in the event of a powre failure, but it will lose siphon in the power failure and when power comes back on, pump will empty the sump into the 55 gal

you would need to get rid of the siphon from the OF to the sump, and instead use water gravity ie: a pipe sticking out the bottom of the OF...

edit: but that pipe sticking out of the bottom, will have to stick up higher than the bottom of the siphon (the siphon from the tank to the OF) so that it never loses siphon. so the top of the pipe will be at the level you want the water to stay at IN YOUR Overflow. Usually just an inch or so below the MT water lvl...


----------



## willny1 (Nov 17, 2008)

Sorry, should have read my post first before posting it. Was kind of jumbled.

My main thing I am trying to figure out is if there is a way to have a sump running if my 55 gallon is sitting on the floor and IS NOT above the sump. They will be sitting next to eachother on the floor.

Every sump I have seen has had the main tank sitting on a stand above their sump.

Sorry for the confusion.


----------



## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

willny1 said:


> Sorry, should have read my post first before posting it. Was kind of jumbled.
> 
> My main thing I am trying to figure out is if there is a way to have a sump running if my 55 gallon is sitting on the floor and IS NOT above the sump. They will be sitting next to eachother on the floor.
> 
> ...


well, in theory, it IS above the sump because it's taller than the 10gal right?

what i would do is attempt to build an overflow that sits between the 55 and the 10. it would be a 10 chambered OF, ...lemme try to sketchup something real quick...brb


----------



## willny1 (Nov 17, 2008)

Yes, in theory i would suppose so. I didn't know if the height difference affected the rate of flow.


----------



## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

k, check this out. i meant a "2 chambered OF" not a 10 chambered...heh

also i dont think height does effect rate of flow. if the height of the water lvl is higher in one end of the siphon, it'll attempt to even out through the other end...anyway, here's what i got. it's not to scale. it's ugly and hard to read, but it should work.










siphon A is in the 55. The ends are low enough in both the OF and 55 to never lose a siphon. The water level will be equal in both the 55 and chamber 1 of the OF.

In the OF there's a pass through between chamber 1 and chamber 2 set slightly below the water lvl of the 55 (and also chamber 1) Siphon A is constantly siphoning water from the 55 because water in Chamber 1 is always flowing into Chamber 2 and the water lvl in Chamber 1 is always dropping, hence the siphon is always working until the lvl equals out. Water just spills into Chamber 2 from Chamber 1.

Siphon B takes the water from Chamber 2 to the sump. Siphon B is always working because the pump is always taking water out of the sump causing the water lvl to drop and the siphon to take from chamber 2.

Now if the pump kicks off, Siphon B will eventually equalize because the water will match chamber 2 and the sump. Also no more water will be entering into the 55 (since the pump is off) so Siphon A will equalize just below the passthrough. Everything will be at a standstill. The second the pump comes back on, all will flow again.

Of course, if you just put the 10 gal on something so it's water lvl is the same as the 55, you could just use one siphon between the 2 and alleviate all this nonsense....but it should work.


----------



## willny1 (Nov 17, 2008)

Thanks for taking the time to draw up that diagram. It opened up some ideas for me.

I shouldn't have a problem raising the 10g up to the 55g water level. That seems most practical and easiest for me.

I came across this link:
http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/di ... low/70.asp

If I made this overflow box, and attached a hose on the bottom of the 3/4 fitting, and then angled the hose at a slight down angle all the way towards the 10gallon sump(2 feet away), I shouldn't have a problem?

The part I am having a trouble figuring on is when the water leaves the overflow box down the L shaped pvc fitting. Will that water flow fast enough if there is only a slight angle in it going to the sump? I think thats what my dilemma may be.


----------



## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

you know it probably would be ok. worst case you could just use bigger pipe that's able to keep up with the pump. i dont think the angle will have much effect on it

however, i think we're complicating things. lets look at it like this. typically sumps are below the main tank and therefore OF boxes and such had to be developed to allow for water to flow down into it, without catastrophically failing.

you're at an advantage. your sump is right next to your tank. Actually, lets look at it another way: your sump is actually your overflow and it's big enough for a pump. Just do what i mentioned earlier. put the 10gal up so it's level with the top of the 55 gal and put a big siphon from the 55 to the 10. you dont have to have all the OF and all that other nonsense, because yours will never catastrophically fail during a power outage. it's actually the best, and most practical fail proof way to go...


----------



## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The Cleveland Aquarium that used to be here used a sump system all on the same level. Behind almost every 500 gallon tank or 5000 gallon tank there were two more endways but at the same level. All were connected below the water line with piping. This way one sump would filter and the other serve as a reservoir that could be emptied, aged, to remove chlorine, and then slowly introduce the new water. When the filter needed cleaning, a duplicate would be set up in the reservoir, run in tandem for a day or two then the old filter sump would become the new reservoir until the next time. It worked very well and the CA set longevity records for their fish. The drawback is it takes up costly real estate, but you have a spot where it should work.


----------



## willny1 (Nov 17, 2008)

loogielv said:


> i think we're complicating things.


Guilty as charged 8)

That is my mode of operation. Over complicating it. K.I.S.S. right?

Well, I will get to it, and take some pictures to maybe help out others like I was helped out.

Thanks for the info guys. :thumb:


----------



## loogielv (Nov 10, 2008)

Hey Mc, i'm having trouble picturing the setup. do you have any links or pics? i guess i should learn to google. http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=The ... arium+sump :lol:

This thread already shows up as #2 on google for the search term "the cleveland aquarium sump". now that's what i call gewglin!


----------

