budget overflow/sump build

Ok first off I know youre all gonna want pictures but I dont have a camera so youll have to live with my description for now.So,Ive been wanting to build a sump but I have very little money.I recently brainstormed an idea and finished it today.Here's what I did: First I needed an overflow of some kind.I built a pvc overflow a while back but I had trouble getting much flow out of it.My sump is a rubbermaid tub,that's nothing new but heres what I did for my overflow:I took a hob power filter,drilled a 7/8 inch hole in the bottom of it then put a 1/2 inch pvc male threaded adapter through the hole with a little sylicone on it.then I threaded a female adapter onto the bottom of the filter in essence making my own bulkhead.The power filter cant work without having water in it so I glued a three inch section of pvc int the adapter on the inside of the filter,making a stand pipe.then on the bottom of the filter I just ran pvc down to my sump.I didnt have a lot of money for a pump so I bought a used maxijet 1200 at the LFS.I tested it outside and determined that it would be able to pump water high enough.I installed all of this on my 55 gallon tank today and its working like a dream.I know its not a lot of flow but for the money I have a working sump and will be adding a refugium soon.The tub Im using right now is about 3 gallons,Im going to set it inside of a bigger tub.The small tub will be the refugium and it will just run over into the bigger tub,then Ill have another small tub in the big tub with holes drilled in it part way up the sides,I'll put my pump in it.the remaining portion of the big tub which will hold about 20 gallons half full will be for my heater,skimmer etc.I'll be working on it more later and give you some updates,also hoping to get a camera after xmas.Well,thats it,let me know what you think.Im pretty pleased with what I have for an investment of about 20 dollars.

 

Awesome DIY. One caution though. By the sounds of it your modified HOB is pumping water out of the tank which flows down to your sump. If that is true, you will need to keep the HOB and return pump very well balances. If one gets a small clog the other could then overflow the area it is pumping to. Also if one fails the other could overflow the area it is pumping to.

 

good advice,I think maybe I'll cut off the tube on the HOB so that it can only suck from the top 2 or 3 inches of the tank which is around 7 or 8 gallons,the sump will hold that much easily.Then the pump in the sump cant overflow the tank because its normal level will only have around 5 gallons in it.

 

Sounds like that should be a pretty good fix for it, but if the return pump gets ahead it can still overflow the DT. Make sure when you cut the tube you cover it with some type of basket filter to keep snails from crawling in and slowing down or stopping the pump. Have you looked at Eshopps overflows? They can be had for about $40 and I'm going to guess will save you money and trouble down the road.

 

bump for more opinions/input

 

Hows the over flow working for you so far?? i like doing diy projects as well.
I made one up thats like a standard hob over flow with a specimen tank and a small hatchery box and a u tube from an old filter and installed 3/4 pvc drain on it works grate for a 300 gph pump. cost was zip that was the best part.

 

You might consider adding a valve and a split in between your return pump and your tank so that you can tune the two pumps to match flow rate. Have it to where if the valve is closed, all the flow goes back to the DT but if you open it some of the flow stays in the sump. My thought is that if you have a mismatch in flow, which is likely you can use the valve to adjust the flow and get it to match. By letting the flow go back into the sump you would reduce back pressure on the return pump.

Just some thoughts to consider. As the pumps age there performance will change and this would allow tuning potentially.

M

 

The ovefrflow's working pretty good so far.I get some gurgling noise out of it but the aquarium's in our office so its kinda a nice sound.I have a valve in the line that goes back to the Dt but hadnt thought about splitting it back to the sump.Im pretty happy with it right now though.My next project is setting up my refugium,cuz I m about to have mangroves on the way to me.

 

Cool. As long as you can adjust the flow rates, it all sonds like an efficient design.

M

 

Update,the overlow is working good.I wanted some surface skimming and also wanted to set the water level in the Dt in case something happened to the return pump so I used a dremel and cut slits around the u tube of the HOB at the water line.This way if the return pump fails the water level in the tank will drop and the HOB will start sucking air which will prevent the sump from overflowing.I dont get a huge amount of flow out of this,probably 250 gph but for almost nothing in cost,I love it.