Building a 20G ghetto sump

[submethod]

Before i begin i want you to know that i know nothing about sumps but, i have an imagination.

I am thinking that i could get a 20 gallon fish tank and place a RIO 1700 in it. I will run a tub from the fish tank down into the 20g ( sump and then run the 1700 tube up into the 40 gallon fish tank.

I think that is the basic set up for one. Please help me fill in the blanks. OR point me in the right direction to build a small sump

[Rikko]

You're pretty much done.
A few things I'd suggest:
1) Skip on the Rio. Far, far, far too many people have had them catch on fire or melt or simply give up and die. Spend the extra two bucks and get a Maxijet.

2) Look into how you want the overflow to work. You won't just be siphoning water from the top down, or else a power/pump failure will flood the house. The HOB overflows seem to work very well, though I've yet to try them. There are some neat DIY overflows as well. If you want it to look a little cleaner, you could always drill your main tank and put the overflow in there, but it's a lot more difficult when the tank is already set up.

Just realize that the pump in your sump is what determines water entering the sump... Picture it like this.. You have 40 gallons above and 10 below. The water line in the main tank is flush with the overflow, so no water is moving. In effect, it's like your setup now. Now plug in the sump pump. Water starts pumping out of the sump and into the display. As a result, the water level in the display goes up. That results in water entering the overflow and draining back into the sump. Now unplug the sump pump. What happens? Nothing. The water level in the display goes back to the overflow line and we're stuck again. Good.

And really all I've done is repeat what you want to do and nagged about a few safety points. The last of which is make absolutely sure that the hose running from the sump pump to the main tank can't fall off the main tank any way and start pumping onto the floor. That'll get you a flooded house and after a while a destroyed pump and heater.

There are lots of variations on the theme.. Best thing you can do for yourself is sketch out your tank as it is now and draw in where you think the sump will sit and how you expect it to be connected. Once you've fully visualized it you'll see where you might have snags and what can be improved.

[submethod]

Ya its sound likes a great idea. I just to need figure out an overflow system ( hardware). Your advice is smart. i never thought of the displacement theory.

So what your saying is fill the main tank with 40Gallons and thenfill the 20gallon with 10 gallons. We haev a 10 gallon difference and the makes the top tank rise and fall accordingly to avoind flooding.

The questons is though, where do i set it the over flow to run flush with water. And what does the overlfow look like?

I was thinking that the pipe would lay deep into the tank. However, your analysis quickly killed that idea cuz oif safety issues.