Established 40 Breeder sump install

[lion king]

The tank is a standard Aqueon 40 breeder, from what I can tell there is a lot of successful drillings in these tanks, and I’ve used some polarized sunglasses to determine that it isn’t tempered. Huge thanks for all the info, the main thing I’m worried about now is the return line and the return pump. I’m worried about going with something like a sicce and the head pressure reduce the flow way too much. Also how should I make the return line? I assume drill for another bulkhead and screw some flexible ball joint nozzles into the bulkhead but I’m not sure if the best practice.

Yes I have drilled an Aqueon 40B recently, I believe the bottom may be tempered, or so I've heard. Yes you can drill a hole for the return, install a bulkhead, and a loc-line return nozzle.

 

[Bruttall]

You need to consider how much back flow into your sump you will have also. I put 1 way check valve in my 300g, so the tank cannot back flow thru the pump when I shut it down to service it. Drill the return very high in one corner on the back, Drain in the other corner, they make screen tops you can get for the over flow inside the tank.

Personally I would not drill anything made by Aqueon. They use Tempered Glass for everything it is why their tanks are so in expensive. The glass is thinner on them than the glass on other brands. Tempered Glass has more rigidity than non temper and for a glass cage this means they can spend less on glass using thinner sheets.

I guess I'd caution to have some kind of container big enough to hold everything from your tank, just in case. good luck to ya.

 

[Orey_P]

UPDATE: I've decided to at least try out a hob overflow before I try and drill the tank. I got what I think is an Eshopps pf-800 hob overflow and an SCA-301 secondhand. I'm using the Eshopps AR-100 sump. Since the BRS sale is going on now, id like to go ahead and buy a return pump. I'm looking at the SICCE Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH), would that be too much for the overflow box while considering head pressure? or should I go with a different pump?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I was thinking having a bucket below the drill and using a hose to keep the bit cooled. As for the ground glass, I’d put painters tape behind the bit and make a tape tray underneath the hole to contain any granular shards

I took down and redrilled my 40 B to increase the return line PVC size. The thing you can't count on is glass flying off anywhere else in the tank. Plus, you need an even steady pressure to drill the hole without taking a chance on breaking the glass. My recommendation is to take down the tank and either wash your existing sand or purchase new. Buy one or more large plastic containers at Lowes or Home Depot and fill 5 gal buckets and put your water and critters in it. I use my large container for my ATO when I travel. If you wait until it is a bit warmer this should go smoothly.

 

[lion king]

UPDATE: I've decided to at least try out a hob overflow before I try and drill the tank. I got what I think is an Eshopps pf-800 hob overflow and an SCA-301 secondhand. I'm using the Eshopps AR-100 sump. Since the BRS sale is going on now, id like to go ahead and buy a return pump. I'm looking at the SICCE Syncra Silent 5.0 Pump (1321 GPH), would that be too much for the overflow box while considering head pressure? or should I go with a different pump?

I think that pump is overkill for that tank, you could easily get away with a 3.0 depending on how much flow you were shooting for, honestly more than 10x is not necessary. If you wanted to incorporate a refugium into the sump then more than that would even be detrimental. Even faster than that cuts down the productivity of your skimmer, all the filtering mechanism you are incorporating into the sump need time to work. You are not going to lose much flow on those pumps due to the head pressure, you are looking at about 4' max.

 

[Orey_P]

I think that pump is overkill for that tank, you could easily get away with a 3.0 depending on how much flow you were shooting for, honestly more than 10x is not necessary. If you wanted to incorporate a refugium into the sump then more than that would even be detrimental. Even faster than that cuts down the productivity of your skimmer, all the filtering mechanism you are incorporating into the sump need time to work. You are not going to lose much flow on those pumps due to the head pressure, you are looking at about 4' max.

The overflow box seems to be rated for 800gph. The Syncra Silent 4.0 Pump pushes 951 GPH. I could adjust the pump until everything runs smoothly. I am planning to use a refugium, The AR-100 sump has a compartment made for one with small slits to reduce flow for macros. most of my in-tank flow would be produced by powerheads so I guess there isn't really any need to push it with an overkill pump anyways. if I go with the Syncra Silent 4.0, is there any recommended way to plumb a HOB return line?

 

[lion king]

The overflow box seems to be rated for 800gph. The Syncra Silent 4.0 Pump pushes 951 GPH. I could adjust the pump until everything runs smoothly. I am planning to use a refugium, The AR-100 sump has a compartment made for one with small slits to reduce flow for macros. most of my in-tank flow would be produced by powerheads so I guess there isn't really any need to push it with an overkill pump anyways. if I go with the Syncra Silent 4.0, is there any recommended way to plumb a HOB return line?

Use a metal hose clamp on the return nozzle, not a plastic one, the plastic ones will fail over time. The risk of using a hob overflow system is flooding, your sump is large enough to handle the overflow if the pump fails. But, if the siphon breaks in the overflow, your return pump could flood the tank. Install a float switch to turn off the pump if the water level falls too low in the return chamber.

 

[Orey_P]

Use a metal hose clamp on the return nozzle, not a plastic one, the plastic ones will fail over time. The risk of using a hob overflow system is flooding, your sump is large enough to handle the overflow if the pump fails. But, if the siphon breaks in the overflow, your return pump could flood the tank. Install a float switch to turn off the pump if the water level falls too low in the return chamber.

great idea! From what I've seen, Auto Aqua makes a smart water level detector that should shut off an outlet (return pump) if the water falls too low in the display tank.

 

[lion king]

great idea! From what I've seen, Auto Aqua makes a smart water level detector that should shut off an outlet (return pump) if the water falls too low in the display tank.

You want it in the return chamber. What happens in a hob system is if the siphon breaks in the overflow, the water stops following into the sump. The return pump continues to pump water into the tank until the pump runs dry. This overflows the tank since the overflow is not draining water into the sump.

While some overflows are very good at this not happening, it does happen. This can happen if there is an interruption in power. Back in the day this was classic, it's been a long time since I've used a hob overflow but I think it could still happen.

Even though I believe your sump can handle all the back flow from the tank, another tip is to drill a small hole in the return line just below the water line. This creates a siphon break so if the pump fails the return won't siphon too much water back into the sump.

 

[Orey_P]

You want it in the return chamber. What happens in a hob system is if the siphon breaks in the overflow, the water stops following into the sump. The return pump continues to pump water into the tank until the pump runs dry. This overflows the tank since the overflow is not draining water into the sump.

While some overflows are very good at this not happening, it does happen. This can happen if there is an interruption in power. Back in the day this was classic, it's been a long time since I've used a hob overflow but I think it could still happen.

Even though I believe your sump can handle all the back flow from the tank, another tip is to drill a small hole in the return line just below the water line. This creates a siphon break so if the pump fails the return won't siphon too much water back into the sump.

Sounds good, ill be ordering the Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 (714 GPH) and the AutoAqua Smart Level Security sensor
(Rather save on the pump and not have it too overkill and spend it on the sensor)

 

[Orey_P]

UPDATE: I built a new stand for the stsyem, drained the tank to about three inches, moved the tank off its original stand, added the new one and set everything back up! Everything went off nearly without a hitch. My new (used) SCA-301 skimmer is already pulling skimmate but of course it’s producing a ton of micro bubbles going into the display. Hopefully once it breaks in they’ll dissipate. The HOB overflow box works perfectly as well and even when the pump shuts off, the siphon doesn’t break and if it does for some reason I’ve got the water level sensor for flawless redundancy.
as for now I’ll just be yelling at the skimmer until the micro bubbles go away but everything looks amazing!! I’m crazy stoked to have a proper sump btw