ghetto sump...

[mickey85]

Well, I was thinking of a ghetto way to sump my 5G tank using an old HOB filter I have...

See the attached photo, I'm using another "tank" (really a jar) that's as tall as the tank. The intake for the HOB is run through 1/4" PCV that's a total of about 2.5 feet long, and is shown in red in the picture. The siphon going to the sump is a 1/4" hose that keeps both tanks level. The idea is that the HOB will suck water from the sump to the main tank, which will be siphoned back to the sump. The only problem is that the HOB's don't have the nuts to suck water that far, or through a design like that, and I can't exactly cut the tank because it's full of water, fish and a couple corals at the moment. My thoughts were to get a small pump (20gph or so...like what you see in desktop fountains) and put that in the sump at the end of the return line to act as a pusher to the HOB. I really don't want to give up my HOB, because the way it discharges hits all of my tank... Anyway, any ideas?

 

[Master Er]

It may be possible....i'm not sure but if you really want to use your HOB, why dont you just supersize it.....because if youre planning to use another pump to shoot water back into the tank, its going to be a bit difficult to find the right balance between the intake and output.....if the GPH of either the HOB or pump are off, it would be an over flow on the tank or sump......check out the DIY I did to my AC20 here on the DIY Index, if your crafty, it'll only take you about 4 hours to do and alot cheaper than buying a extra pump......otherwise, just get a bigger HOB. What kind of HOB do you have?

If you want to cut your tank, is it glass or acrylic? If its acrylic it would be alot easier to cut.....just syphon out some water until its about 2 inches below the desired area you want to cut.....lay glad wrap on the surface of the water with at least 2 inches allowance on all sides, this will attach automatically to the sides then start cutting......if youre carefull, all the cutting will fall on the glad wrap (or some may not)....the rest is history.

If I had your stuff in my possession....I'm sure I can find a way but without the physical entities in my hands, I really cant make a visual. But I am or I was about to do the same thing for a friend...instead I'm doing an auto top-off for him