Angus,
I don't have a sump right now but I'm upgradeing to a larger tank pretty soon, it has a VERY simple sump and from the pics I've seen it is almost a bullet proof system - -no dividers, no chambers, nothing to go wrong. it has 2 holes drilled into the display tank with a skimmer box inside - -water runs into the box -then out through the bulk head and down 2 pipes - the ends of the pipes have a large filter sock on them with all kinds of media in it for the water to "filter" though - then into the sump {20 gallons} from there you could put a skimmer {anysize that will sit in a 20 gallon tank, not restricted to a chamber area} UV steralizer, Heater, etc etc. etc -I like it for it's simplicity and the abilty to put my equipment where ever it will fit as opposed to what will fit in what area has been designated for it -make sense? from there a large mag drive pump returns the water to the display tank - - - oh yeah the reason I know it works.....check out Pimps profile, lol thats the tank - - -I am a firm believer in the KISS theory {keep it simple stupid} good luck, let us know what you do - i'm always interested in hearing what works for others, The Snowboss
PS - - BE VERY CAREFUL if you do not have or go with a drilled bulkhead vs. a hang over the back overflow box - - if you lose syphon or power with the HOT overflow you could very quickly end up pumping your tank out on the floor - - - - -fish and momma won't see any humor in that, I guarentee
yeah... i've built a couple of sumps for friends out of rubbermaid containers... same theory and design... just make sure you have a skimmer box, or something that takes water from a inch or two from the water surface...
the return lines should also be up pretty high... so again, it doesn't syphon your entire tank out... so if you lose an inch of water, the system wont work...
i know it's alot of effort to keep the evaporative water level alway on check... but you're making your own system and stuff... you could get a water top off resourvour setup or buy one...
again i repeat i don't have a sump right now - i understand the concept of keeping the skimmer box set in the first inch of the top of the tank to keep only that amount of water from draining in the event of a sphon break
my concern is that when the syphon breaks do to a power outage and the power comes back on the syphon will not restart automatically with the hang over the tank style skimmer box {correct?} but the pump will return all the water from the sump - -thus createing the flood
sponge(ensure easy accessibility for rinsing),skimmer intake,liverocks and last for the return pumps.
btw. when u say bio,are u refering to bioballs and biorings? if you are,they do serve their purpose well for a FOWLR set up but,i dun particular like them in a reef set up. poor maintence of them eventually result in elevated level in NO3.
