29g BC HQI w/ sump [Re Made Overflow and Plumbing]

Smitty, i believe you can cut a portion out of the hood in the back and put in an eshopps nano overflow

 

That may be a good way to go. I just try to keep all my tanks completely closed on top so the kiddos can't do to much harm lol. ;D

 

My tank has all stock covers on it and are only removed in pictures to show how things work. I had to do a extremely small amount of trimming around the stock cut out.

 

Cool, that sounds like a good plan. I will have to look into it for my BC14.

 

I recommend it highly. I did have to notch the back of my stand out though.

 

Right now it is just sitting a glass end table lol. I know, not the best thing for a stand, but it works. I would probably just build a custom stand though. Thanks for the info though. It has been helpful.

 

I'm going to look into it too.

 

Mobilized great looking set up! I would like to know for the overflow if gravity is feeding it to your sump? How do you not let this bottom tank flood if a motor goes out? And would my Hydror 320 aquarium pump be enough to push water far enough or would I need to invest in a different type of pump?

Really love the fact you added a sump to your Bcube. Seems like it would be very easy to do the way you have it put together and I know the extra water volume and room to work as far as cleaning maintenance goes would be so much smoother than what I go through!

Btw I like Mobilized's set up more than the eshoppe overflow. Doesn't have near of big a foot print in the tank and seems like it would get better flow and easier to fix if any problems occurred.

 

As for flow it is essentially a semi siphon if you will. It is a siphon for all intents and purposes but when the pumps or something shut off and the water level drops below the inlet because it is a W water sits in the bottom of each 180 degree bend. Therefor meaning that when the water begins flowing back down the inlet again the siphon restarts. Same principle as any auto restarting overflow box. I would have to look at the head pressures on the pump you use but I am sure it would be fine as I use the stock biocube pump but will eventually upgrade to something with more "balls" as I would really like a little bit more flow. As for not overflowing, it skims the surface so as soon as the water level drops below the intake the flow to the sump stops (just make sure you have enough room in the sump to hold that volume)

 

So you don't really have to do anything besides make the PVC plumbing down to your sump then hook up your pump back up? This sounds like the simplest sump build for a Biocube ever! I really can't wait to get my hands on some PVC. Can you maybe post some more pictures of your plumbing work?