Overflow box for a 20g?

[SigEpLucas]

So I want to add some kind of a sump/fuge to my 20g and was planning on using an overflow box to do this.

The smallest/cheapest I could find was a 300g/p/h for up to a 75g aquarium. Would this be too big for my tank?

Also if I use this box should the pump be rated at, under, or over 300gph?

 

[yote]

That box would work fine.And you dont have to run a pump big enough to push what the overflows rated.So a lower flow pump would work fine.

 

[reeffreak]

So I want to add some kind of a sump/fuge to my 20g and was planning on using an overflow box to do this.

The smallest/cheapest I could find was a 300g/p/h for up to a 75g aquarium. Would this be too big for my tank?That will work fine

Also if I use this box should the pump be rated at, under, or over 300gph?

You can get one rated the same,a little higher or even a little lower.Even a powerhead like a Maxi-jet 1200 will work as the return pump.

 

[Bifferwine]

The overflow box can only remove water as quickly as the pump brings it back up. So it's the pump that decides the rate of water movement, not the box. You will set the overflow box up just at the surface of the water, and the water will fall down a lip of the box to the sump. As the pump moves water back up to the tank, it will cause the water to rise back up to the lip of the box again. So if your pump is moving less than your overflow box, the water will just not fall into the box until the pump moves it back up to the correct level again.

 

[SigEpLucas]

I just didn't know if it would be more efficient one way or the other

 

[SigEpLucas]

what kind of tubing would I need to use the maxi jet as a pump from the sump back to the tank?

 

[reeffreak]

Vinyl tubing and some plastic clamps.I recommend a ball valve to control the flow for the pump/powerhead.

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't think the MaxiJet will be strong enough.

 

[reeffreak]

I use a MJ1200 to fill the tank after a waterchanges.Not the fastest for a 210g. but pushes water pretty good.We are talking about a small 20gal. system here.

 

[Bifferwine]

I know, I use one to feed my remote DSB/fuge, but I don't know about it being able to push water upwards several feet. Maybe, I could very well be wrong.