DIY Sump Costs

oh the other questions.most people i know,including me have made the swith from calerpa to chaetto.i got tired of caulerpa turning up in my tank and getting out of hand.chaetto does'nt have to spin in the sump like most say.mine just floats,but if it gets too thick,the light can't get to all of it so keep a thin layer if you choose chaetto.i just have some tuffa rock and lr in my sump under the chaetto but you can also choose to build a plenum in it.mine is in my main tank.plenums boost you filtration in a big way.my daughters sump has one.its a thin layer of sand,then egg crate wrapped with fiberglass window screen,covered with course sand,a layer of screen then 2 inches of regular arragonite sand.then just throw some chaetto in there and i put a plastic screen devider to keep the pump from sucking in the chaetto.her tank is ten gallon with a 10 gallon sump so a skimmer was'nt necessary.

 

OK I've been researching and figured out (thanks to 3reef, of course) that I need a float switch. Which of these will work? Or more importantly which would you recommend?

Submersible Pump Float Switch - (eBay item 120179501091 end time Nov-10-07 10:18:47 PST)

Submersible Pump Float Switch - (eBay item 120179476262 end time Nov-10-07 09:14:17 PST)

LIQUID LEVEL, FLOAT SWITCH, WATER SENSOR, CONTROLS 001 - (eBay item 170166212286 end time Nov-15-07 04:22:37 PST)

M8000 Float Switch

i-float Float Switch

Or do you have something else you can recommend?

 

just get a cpr overflow and put a aqua lift pump on it.if the power goes off then turns back on,the aqua lifter will restart the siphen.the aqua lifter is ment to pump air untill the water restarts its flow and costs 9.99

 

Thanks ziggy for the recommendation. However it's a little too late for that, because I had already bought an overflow box. In fact my sump is already up and running. It's doing well, actually! I'm proud of myself for building it and plumbing it and all that jazz. I'm not much of a DIY guy.

So can anyone else recommend one of the switches that I linked to earlier? Or something else? Otherwise I'm just gonna take a chance on my gut feeling because I can't seem to find a definitive answer.

 

you can still add the aqua lifter pump to other kinds of overflows if your worried about it.

 

Oh really? Could you possibly go into a little more detail please? I googled Aqua Lifter and found this

http://www.fish.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=710478&srccode=FSHNXTAG

That's what you're talking about right? I'm still kinda confused as to how it works though....sorry!

 

Anyone?

 

Aqua lift

It works great!!! Ok I do not know your particular overflow here is the just of the pump. Using a simple J-tube overflow, you must have the tube completely full of water for the siphon to work. If you get air in the top of the tube you decrease the throughput. Well the pump is setup so tubes 1/4 inch are run to the top of your J-tube. The pump is always running pumping out small bits of water. If air builds up in the J-tube, the pump, pumps out the air so you get the full potential of you overflow j-tube. The same goes for other overflows’. Just get rid of the air in the overflow.

Buy one....it is worth it!!!!
Zak
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55 Gallon Glass Aquarium; 20L Sump; 1-UV Sterilizer-(sump); Coralife Super Skimmer 65(sump); 260 W Compact Fluorescent Lighting; 2-Power heads; 20 lbs live rock; 2-Ocellaris Anemonefish; 2-Fire Goby; 1-Royal Dottyback; 1-Blue Tang; 2-Banggai Cardinalfish; 1-Green Mandarin; 20 Blue Hermit Crabs; 8-Turbo Snails ; 2-Bubble Anemones; 1-Seabay Anemones; 1-Yellow Hand Coral; 1- Polyp; 5-Green Strip Mushroom; 2-Sandsifting Starfish;

 

switches

You have a good idea for a last resort backup for the possibility of overflowing your main tank. Besides a last resort, I would not use the switch idea for anything else. You will run into problems.

Your pump will kick on until you fill up your tank.
then it kicks off because you do not have equal overflow vs. pump setting,
next the overflow drains your tank
finally your pump kicks back on.

When you shut off your pump, water will siphon back into your sump.

The other problem is ATO. How can you keep track of evaporated water if the levels in your main tank and sump are always changing.

I know I am going to extremes but just a heads-up.

Zak
----
55 Gallon Glass Aquarium; 20L Sump; 1-UV Sterilizer-(sump); Coralife Super Skimmer 65(sump); 260 W Compact Fluorescent Lighting; 2-Power heads; 20 lbs live rock; 2-Ocellaris Anemonefish; 2-Fire Goby; 1-Royal Dottyback; 1-Blue Tang; 2-Banggai Cardinalfish; 1-Green Mandarin; 20 Blue Hermit Crabs; 8-Turbo Snails ; 2-Bubble Anemones; 1-Seabay Anemones; 1-Yellow Hand Coral; 1- Polyp; 5-Green Strip Mushroom; 2-Sandsifting Starfish;

 

What type of tank is this ? brand name if you are just starting this up first off a well designed and made HOB overflow will screw up! Drill the tank and install the proper overflow box and piping.. As for Chreado ?? Not a fan and I have never had any plants from my refugium to get into my tank./ If you do have that to happen then somethings wrong with the set up.. As for a float switch ? you want to use this for ? auto refills ? or to control the main pump should power go off or you loose siphon ?