reverse sump?
 

does anyone have any experience with having sump higher than the DT in a reverse setup?

It appears to be the most viable option for me, and I'm wondering if there are any pitfalls to such a setup...

I don't see why, other than you will have to have the return pump in your display and will miss the added circulation that the return lines give to your display when set up the standard way...

Your return pump will have to be located in your overflow box and pump to the sump above. You'll need two drain lines from your sump to setup a herbie style "return line" or overflow or whatever you want to call it so you don't get bubbles in the display. If the sump can just go a little higher than the DT so the water levels of each are at the same height you can avoid the need for the herbie style return.

If you do it right it'll work the same but in one way or other it'll kinda suck.

if you can draw up what you are thinking and ppll can see if it will work i have a couple thoughts as to how i would do it if i had to. sort of speak

1) i would build n external overflow of sorts onto the back of the tank that was more of a return section for the return pump(so you dont see it in the tank then on the overhead sump have a pump identical to return pump returning water to the display or another overflow draining to the display most likely would have a baffle free sump tho but if a pump fails it could cause probs.

2) i would build an internal dummy wall to hide the pump to send to the sump and the rest same as above.

my biggest concern would be tank overflows from sump to display.as well as where you would see the evaporation in dt or in sump. but if you use two pumps it may work best make sure you have a ball valve to adjust flow tho to match

or i could be way off base its just what my thoughts where lastnight thinking about it

You can't match the flow of two pumps no matter what. Either the water input or output flow rate from you DT must be dependent on the other. Trying to match two independent flow rates will not only be a headache but will also ultimately fail.

I've done one before. It works fine as long as you have a relatively low output pump & maybe have a second emergency drain drilled into the sump in case of clogging.

I used a 20g sump, refugium over a 65g DT. Maxijet to get water up & gravity feed back down into the DT. Works great for releasing LIVE mysis & pods from the refugium section back into the DT.

Ran it this way for over a year, no problems.

Anthony

DON'T use 2 pumps. Use gravity feed down from above tank sump instead. No fuss, no mess. 2 pumps = disaster!!!

technically seems in error to call the higher vessel a "sump" but see no reason why wouldn't work

I remember when I was more of a newb I tried to balance out 2 mj12 1200's from tank 2 tank and it was IMPOSSIBLE.

it was only a thought i didnt say it was a correct thought :P

that's exactly what I was thinking of doing...

I have an undrilled 54 corner tank with very little space for a sump below.

I've got a lot of space on the furnace right beside the tank, and I figured it'd be easier to do a reverse setup than mess with hang on overflow boxes and what not.

so it'd be a bad idea with a high output pump?

Your pump would sit inside your DT so a HO pump would look unsightly and could suck up unwary fish or inverts. A Maxijet1200 on the other hand is small & easily hidden from view. If you use the included strainer, fish & inverts will be unlikely to get trapped by it.

The more powerful the pump, the bigger it is and the more likely you'll trap one of your inhabitants.

For undrilled tanks, an above tank sump/refugium is a very viable alternative if you have something next to the tank that would hold a tank slightly higher than the display tank. For the 20g sump, I had the hole drilled at the 8-9" level, so the skimmer water level was correct. I would drill an emergency drain so that its opening (either from bulkhead or from a standpipe) is a couple inches from the top of the sump.

I had the sump divided with a baffle & the MJ pumped water into the far side where the skimmer sat, with the skimmed water overflowing into a fuge section with chaeto & macroalgae. Lots of pods & live mysis thrived in the fuge section and a few would take a ride into the DT WITHOUT getting chewed up by a return pump.

Hope this all makes sense.

Anthony

only concern is... would the flow from maxijet be enough?

MJ1200 is 295 gph. With head loss, maybe 200 gph. You're looking at about 4x turnover and if you add a surface skimming attachment onto the MJ, you'll be able to skim off the oily crap at the top of your DT.

My 210g is served by a Sedra9000, which after head loss is at 6-700gph. That's only 3 times turnover per hour & it works for me.

You could use another brand of pump that gives you more flow but keeping it hidden should be considered when choosing what to use. If you can hide it in the back of the tank, so much the better.

Perhaps something like a Rio 1400 (3.9" x 2.5" x 3.25") would work. It's 367gph at 1' head loss & 333gph at 2'.

Anthony

oh~ cool. thanks for all the great info!!