Filter questions, maybe a DIY in the future?

the homemade siphon that you are talking about isn't a safe bet. I have actually experimented with that myself, even ran one for a couple days. it's very very risky. even with it located six inches deep into the tank it still sucked air. so, even if the power doesn't go out, one big slurp of air could result in a big flood. check on ebay. I bought a knockoff cpr overflow from there for 50 bucks shipped. It works pretty good, although i'm not sure it flows the 600 gph that it's rated for. but, if the power goes off it holds water in the c-channel and retains the siphon. when power comes back on it resumes like nothing ever happened. and when using a piece of pipe for an overflow you will have to EXACTLY match the flow of the pump with what the pipe is draining or else it will overfill the sump, or the tank. hope I didn't cause confusion
 
Ahh i see. I didnt think about having to match the flow exactly... that would be a pain in the ass. Ill check into an overflow, what do you think would be a good rated flow for my 50 gallon to my little 10 gal sump? and what do you think ill need for a rating for my return pump?
 
Mag Drive Water Pumps Model Inlet (FPT) Outlet (MPT) Maximum Head PSI Watts Gallons per Hour Item # 1 ft. 3 ft. 6 ft. 12 ft. 5 1/2" 1/2" 10'6" 4.8 45 450 375 185 0 #25002515 7 1/2" 1/2" 12'6" 5.7 60 650 500 375 60 #25002517 9.5 3/4" 3/4" 14' 6.3 93 950 810 700 180 #25002710 12 3/4" 3/4" 6.8 6.8 110 1200 1150 1050 450 #25002712 18 3/4" 3/4" 22' 9.5 145 1800 1500 1150 825 #25002718 24 1" 1" 22' 10 265 2400 2000 1700 1000 #25002740 36 1" 1" 24' 10.8 360 3600 2900 2350 1250 #25002745
You think the 5 will be enough? Or should i got for the 7?
 
Well,
I'm running the 5 on my 75 gal.And it does great.
But it also dont hurt anything to run a bigger pump.You just dont want to pump water out of the sump faster than it can flow in.
 
so im thinking the 5 should work for me, I have class tomorrow afternoon, but I think I might make a run up to Rheinlander, about an hour and a half north of here, there is a Doctor Foster & Smith outlet there and they have really good prices on TONS of stuff. Like 70% cheaper than the LFS on most of the stuff I already bought... I'm looking though it now trying to pick out what I want. Ill post some specs of the skimmer, pump, and overflow im looking at before deciding though.
 
I think I should go with a skimmer that sits outside the tank, due to my space issue, save more room for the fuge and possibly enough for a small pump section. I think I can pull it off, have the skimmer sit in the corner, then pump the water in the first section, but only make it about 5 inches long, have the 3 baffles for killing the bubbles, then a larger fuge, and a few inches at the end for my pump inlet, once I get the pump I'll decide if I wanna submerge it or just put it outside and run a line down into the water to conserve space. So far i think im gunna pick up a mag 5 pump for 59.99$ with no shipping, which I dont think is too bad, ebay has them for around 50 and 8.99 shipping. For the overflow, I think I'm on the right track here... Its in the wet/dry filter section, but its a continious siphon overflow, they have a 600 gph with a 1" single bulkhead for 89.99, othewise the next step down would be the 300 gph with a 3/4" bulkhead for 71.99, what you guys think? If I have an overflow that supports 600 gph does that mean if the pump cant keep up will it actually siphon 600 gph? or not... I havent had physics in quite a while, but I think it would overfill the sump if the return didnt pump fast enough, Think i should go with the 300 overflow and the mag 5 rated at 500 gph? whats better to have too much overflow or too much pump if you cant balance the 2 perfectely by the rating...
 
about the skimmer, there are a bunch to choose form and I know little to nothing about skimmers, other than they make annoying bubbles in my tank right now and they collect bad stuff and then I get rid of the foam when it grows. They have all kinds to choose from, and the pictures are kinda confusing... The Turboflotor 1000 is 152.99 and i believe its a stand along side one, but its hard to tell cause I know nothing of how these seperate units work. But it says its dimmensions are: 6 5/8 x 10" 21 3/4" what are those specs? 21 3/4 tall im assuming, which would only give me like 4 inches on top, will that be enough? prolly not to remove the cup? is it really 10" wide?? cause my stand is only 10.5" wide. They also have red sea, terminator II, coralife super skimmer needle wheel, fission, and miniflotor and midiflotor. anyone have any experience working with any of these? I need to fit one next to my sump or take up as little room as possible in my sump, my space availible is about 25" upwards from the bottom and no more than 10 inches wide
 
that's the beauty of an overflow. if you have a pump that puts out 300 gph, then the overflow will flow only 300gph back to the sump. as the pump gph goes up, so the flow from the overflow box. as long as you don't excede what the overflow box's max gph rating is for.
when picking a pump, pay close attention to the head pressure loss. many pump manufactures rate the flow at 0 head pressure, that's straight out of the pump. if it flows 600 gph at o head pressure, then with 4 feet of plumbing and a couple 90 degree fittings, you are more than likely only going to flow 450 or 500 gph.
but, you should be fine with a mag 5. you could possibly go with the 7 and be even better. one trick is to plumb a tee in the pump return right after the pump and istall a ball valve to dump excess flow back into the sump. if you look closly at the pick of my sump you can see I had to do just that. I goofed on my head loss and order the mag 9.5. oh well, I may use that extra water flow to run a u.v. sterilizer or something on down the road.
 
I have heard bad things on the red sea, and definitly the sea clone. I and a few others in here use the coralife super skimmer. I have had good luck with mine. haven't heard anything out of the other brands that you have listed.
 
Will that corallife super skimmer fit under my display do you guys think? Ive got about 24" of heigh available, should I go with the 65 gallon im assuming? It says hang on or in sump setup? the 65 gall one is only $85.49.
 
Should I go with the 125 gallon one? its 24 1/2" high, and i have about 26 inches tops, should I run it behind my stand, I have like 6 inches of clearance behind my stand or if nothing else I can put it on the side of my stand...
 
Alright, half inch... sounds good to me, cause I got an inch to spare at least! Ill check into that one then, its 121.49 so its quite a bit more expensive form the 65 at 85$, but if you guys say its worth it ill take your word for it and prolly hold off on my new lighting for a little while then
 
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