Merits of using an overflow tank?

[TBarb]

Can anyone tell be breifly about the good that comes with a tank fitted with bulkheads for an overflow system? In what situations would this be useful?

[DARKPHREAK]

Sumps are incredibly useful devices. They increase the total system water volume, which makes your system's water chemistry more stable, without forcing you to purchase a larger display tank. They give you a place to perform water changes without disrupting your display environment, and give you a place to put things like heaters, carbon, and protein skimmers which look unsightly in a display.

[Julie]

Sumps are also used in country basements to get rid of the ground water which accumulates near the foundation.
We did a set up with our basement tank, water changes drain directly to the sump hole, and are then pumped out into the lawn.

Julie

[TBarb]

Thanks for the quick reply.

So, how do you manage to pump the exact amount of water into the tank that is coming out? What if you have an electrical or pump failure?

[DARKPHREAK]

Locating some pics of how my sump works, or will work once we move.

[Julie]

The basement floods.  The ice storm was only a minor problem because it was too cold for there to be alot of ground water.  
We have an alarm installed now to alert us of flooding.  

Julie

[dougb]

I have a drilled tank with an overflow box.  This tank overflows into a sink drain in my fish room.  I am constantly adding water to my tank (at a rate of about a ml per second).  This gives me a slow, constant water change, as the added water causes the tank to overflow down the sink.  The tank is about 650l, so 1ml/second gives me a 13.5% water change per day.  Keeps the water very clean.  I still need to vacuum the gravel occasionally, of course.

Note that I can get away with this because I am on a well, so I don't need to worry about chloramine in my water supply.  If you are on city water you could do something similar by using a barrel -- each week top up the barrel from tap water, treat the tap water, then let the barrel contents drip into your aquarium.  An extra fussiness, though.

[DARKPHREAK]

Ok Im sorry if they are not in order but here goes.

water flows over the edge into the overflow.


the overflow, I took the flex hose out and blocked the return line


water in the overflow


water into the sump




return from the sump




The water gets pumped back from the sump entering the tank which leaves the tank via the overflow back into the sump. Worded wrong but you get the idea. Hope that helps...

[TBarb]

Thanks everyone and Dark for the pics. Makes sense now. I thought the water just left the tank from the bottom...i see now that it is an over flow and so you can't lose water. I feel....dumb now....

Thanks. I see the advntages now including a clutterless show tank.