making sure I have it right...

I am curious about the potential overflowing of a tank. In my mind so far drilling my tank, draining to a sump, returning water leaves little room for overflow, correct? I had also heard that if you keep your tank at the correct precalculated levels then your system, whatever the failure, should be able to handle that failure, be it drain or return. My understanding also is that your sump should be able to hold the amount of water that your tanks drain can evacuate before it stops in order to prevent an overflow on the other end. Is my understanding correct? I think wonton's new sump setup is exactly what I have been looking for. It seems that there is a very good security in the tank to very large tote for return idea!

thats correct. in my setup if i should lose power my sump can handle the water from my tank without overflow.

You also set your skimmer at a level that if the overflow gets clogged it doesn't spill over in the main. That means the line coming down to the sump gets clogged then your pump will pump out all the water in the pump area, and run dry, filling your main with that extra water. just test both failures and you'll be ok. Stop the supply water until the pump sucks air, and fills the main. Then run the sump again and shut the pump off, the water will drain into the sump, just leave room with your baffles in the sump. Set your return water at a level just below the surface when running, this way when the pump fails it will drain back into the sump only until it sucks air and breaks the siphon.

You are correct -- if set up properly, neither the main tank nor the sump will overflow if the power goes out (or comes back on).

Speaking of the power going out....I've been worried....with it being winter and storming....if my power goes out, what is my main concern? Temperature? The water not getting filtered? I'm thinking of having my electrician set me up for a generator. I'd rather not have to spend the money if I don't need to. Thoughts? Thanks.

The main concerns would be a lack of water movement and temperature. Your tank will be fine without filtration and lights, but if it loses its powerheads and heater, that's bad news.

Tanks will usually be fine for a couple hours, but any longer than that and you may see your animals start to suffer. You can stir up the water by hand (using a big spoon or something) but that will get really old really fast! There are also battery-powered powerheads for sale that you can buy and have on hand in an emergency. As for temperature, you can wrap a blanket around the tank to keep it insulated, and you can drop bags of ice in to cool it off. But you're kinda screwed if you want to heat it up!

Great tips. Thanks. I think I'll invest in some battery operated powerheads to have on hand. I wonder if they make battery powered heaters? Now that would be smart!!! Hmmmmmmmm.....

You can get battery powered air pumps which will help with getting some oxygen and also water movement in your tank.

What a lot of people do is buy the computer back-up generators. They won't last nearly as long as a regular generator, but they are a fraction of the cost and will run a heater and a few powerheads with no problem.