Sump Without Drilling?

I have a tank that I already have setup and can’t drill. I was thinking of making a diy sump and I was wondering how I can get water down to the sump without drilling. Could I use a power head to pump water out of the tank instead of having an overflow? Would that work? Otherwise, and more preferably, could the water just siphon down into the sump?

 

Try making a siphon with something like the overflow that is shown in the link below.

 

Try making a siphon with something like the overflow that is shown in the link below.

Thanks but would it work to just have a hose siphoning water out into the sump? I would use a small house that fish couldn’t get into

 

Thanks but would it work to just have a hose siphoning water out into the sump? I would use a small house that fish couldn’t get into

A hose can work, but a small one will really only do 50-150 gph (depending on your definition of "small") before being able to suck fish in or hold them against the hose.

 

The other problem I found out about is that what’s to keep the siphon from over flowing
the sump. Hate saying it, but a DIY sump in a lot tricker then it sounds. I almost made one, but ended up buying another canister filter.

 

The other problem I found out about is that what’s to keep the siphon from over flowing
the sump. Hate saying it, but a DIY sump in a lot tricker then it sounds. I almost made one, but ended up buying another canister filter.

Once the water drops past a certain point it breaks the syphon. You just have to make sure the sump is large enough to handle that amount. This is why the top is Slotted and the bottoms is sealed. I asked the same question until I watched a video on it and someone explained it. After I found this out I have decided to do it on my next tank. I am saving up to do a complete build from scratch. Tank,stand, sump etc

 

This may give you an idea of how over flows work. But I gotta say I do not think I would bother with a sump with a Freshwater aquarium.
diy aquarium overflows

External

 

Bite the bullet and drill, these things are no good, we want well built and stuff to last, been kicking ideas around a couple months now and I’m going to drill, when I'm ready, il house all my coral and stuff in another tank for the day, what happens when the syphon stops and your return pump just floods out your display ? Honestly thought about all methods and drilling is the most fail-safe.

As daunting as it sounds just seriously put some good research and thought in, I bet you come to the same conclusion. Just my thoughts on it.

 

The other problem I found out about is that what’s to keep the siphon from over flowing
the sump. Hate saying it, but a DIY sump in a lot tricker then it sounds. I almost made one, but ended up buying another canister filter.

Yeah I’ll probably just end up getting a canister just to make it more simple. Thanks for the advice

 

Yeah I’ll probably just end up getting a canister just to make it more simple. Thanks for the advice

It honesty is easier. I went over this sump idea for probably a month trying to figure out how everything would work all the way down to how much BB I could get out of it. Long story short, a canister at half price was so worth it.

 

Diy cansiter filters work great. DIY King on YouTube has a great video for this. I built on for a 220 gallon tank and spent $135 by the time I was done. It took about 4 hours to build it from start to end. If you are into the diy and want to save money I recommend giving it a try