Confused about wet dry filters

Note: I'm posting this for my friend since her thread doesn't seem to show up.

Hello. I'm looking into getting a wet dry filter for my 80 gallon tank. (it has to have a flow rate of 800 gph)

Since this is my first sump set up, I have a few questions.

This is the one I want to get:

I believe it comes with everything except the return pump.

What is a return pump and where do I place it?

When it comes to water changes, do I have to drain the refugium tank as well?

I heard that you have to drill holes in the tank for the wet dry filter. Is this true? Is it necessary?

I would really appreciate some replies soon

 

Also, are wet dry filters noisy?

 

Note: I'm posting this for my friend since her thread doesn't seem to show up.

Hello. I'm looking into getting a wet dry filter for my 80 gallon tank. (it has to have a flow rate of 800 gph)

Since this is my first sump set up, I have a few questions.

This is the one I want to get:

I believe it comes with everything except the return pump.

What is a return pump and where do I place it?

When it comes to water changes, do I have to drain the refugium tank as well?

I heard that you have to drill holes in the tank for the wet dry filter. Is this true? Is it necessary?

I would really appreciate some replies soon

The sump you linked to comes with an overflow box so you wouldn't need to drill for it. Dr. Foster and Smith also sells return pumps. You will loose some flow rate do to head pressure.

 

That sump comes with an overflow box, so need to drill the tank.

When doing water changes, shut the pump off, and you can drain the water from the display tank, or the sump. The display is easier.

The return pump is what pumps the water back into the display tank from the sump. The return pump is placed in the sump.

Yes they are noisy. You can put things onto the walls inside the stand to help reduce the noise.

 

The sump you linked to comes with an overflow box so you wouldn't need to drill for it. Dr. Foster and Smith also sells return pumps. You will loose some flow rate do to head pressure.

Do you know approximately how much flow rate I will lose?

 

That sump comes with an overflow box, so need to drill the tank.

When doing water changes, shut the pump off, and you can drain the water from the display tank, or the sump. The display is easier.

The return pump is what pumps the water back into the display tank from the sump. The return pump is placed in the sump.

Yes they are noisy. You can put things onto the walls inside the stand to help reduce the noise.

Thank you That helped a lot!
I heard about adding a ball valve to prevent water from overflowing during a power outage, I think. I wanted to get one but I have no idea which size to get. This is the one I was looking at:

I also wanted to get this return pump:
But I don't see how the ball valve would fit on it. Sorry about all the questions, I'm quite confused about sump filtration

 

I got a pond pump on amazon for around $30 that works great on my homemade sump. It just sits in the sump tank. I'm not sure how the valve would help. You should only get a few gallons of water that will siphon back into your sump with an electrical outage. It depends on how deep you put your return. Maybe you are looking for a check valve which only allows flow in one direction.

 

Just to clarify on my last post, your overflow box will only skI'm around the top 1/4 inch of water in your aquarium. Depending on where your return line coming from your pump is located you could have water siphon back through your return line if power went out. My return (spray bar) is near the top level of my tank as well so I only get 2-3 gallons at most going back into my sump when the power goes off. The best thing to do is leave enough room in the sump for the extra water. Just unplug your pump and see how high the water gets in your sump. If it looks like it might overflow quickly plug it back in and take a couple gallons out of your tank/sump and try again.

I would also suggest some additional type of filtration since you will only be skimming the top layer of water and not getting any water from the bottom level of the tank which in my set up is where the nasty stuff tends to be.

FYI - I love my sump. It makes water changes a breeze since I don't have a python or similar device. I just pour the new water in the sump instead of lifting 5 gallon buckets 5 feet in the air. I also keep my spare stuff (filters, fake plants, etc) in there in case I need to set up a QT tank in a hurry. That way it should have a decent coating of beneficial bacteria.

 

Just to clarify on my last post, your overflow box will only skI'm around the top 1/4 inch of water in your aquarium. Depending on where your return line coming from your pump is located you could have water siphon back through your return line if power went out. My return (spray bar) is near the top level of my tank as well so I only get 2-3 gallons at most going back into my sump when the power goes off. The best thing to do is leave enough room in the sump for the extra water. Just unplug your pump and see how high the water gets in your sump. If it looks like it might overflow quickly plug it back in and take a couple gallons out of your tank/sump and try again.

I would also suggest some additional type of filtration since you will only be skimming the top layer of water and not getting any water from the bottom level of the tank which in my set up is where the nasty stuff tends to be.

FYI - I love my sump. It makes water changes a breeze since I don't have a python or similar device. I just pour the new water in the sump instead of lifting 5 gallon buckets 5 feet in the air. I also keep my spare stuff (filters, fake plants, etc) in there in case I need to set up a QT tank in a hurry. That way it should have a decent coating of beneficial bacteria.

Thank you for all your help! I really appreciate it

I found this pump
You can still put it in the sump, right? Is it meant to be used for wet-dry filtration? If it is, it can save me a lot of money!

 

That looks very similar to the one I use and should work great!

One more note, a ball valve similar to the one you had in your earlier post (or a gate valve) may greatly reduce the noise associated with sumps. The noise is actually the water freefalling in the line from the overflow box down to the sump. Put that valve on the line near the sump and slowly close it until you have a little bit of back pressure on the line. This backs up the water just enough to greatly reduce how far the water is "dropping" making it much quieter. I have a PVC ball valve on my line and my sump set up is barely audible.

Sorry to go on and on but I'm fairly new to a lot of this stuff and have really enjoyed the "geeky" side of this hobby.

 

Hi,
Thread of interest:
It contains lots of info on setting up a sump.

Too https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...ome-researching-equipment.119039/#post1314305

and don't forget the sumps forum in the Saltwater section

 

Hi,
Thread of interest:
It contains lots of info on setting up a sump.

Too https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...ome-researching-equipment.119039/#post1314305

and don't forget the sumps forum in the Saltwater section

Thank you!