very crowded 5.5g sump

[warr40]

hey i decided to add a sump to my 5.5g reef
the sump will contain
-CSS 65 skimmer
-600 GPH overflow box
-200 GPH return
-small fuge

the sump is going to sit rite behind the display so i hung the overflow box over both the display and sump so no need for piping.....just on the return

i'm not sure if the 200 GPH pump will work with the 600 GPH overflow so i'm going to have to test it

here are some pic i took before siliconing










^^^u can see in this pic on the left of the bubble trap is the return and on the right of it is the small 4" fuge



As u can see in some pic the return of the skimmer sits inside the overflow box I hope that will work

**the tank and sump will be back to back**

as u can see the overflow box is "inside" the sump

the box will remain the way it is with no bulkhead or nothing

my question is will the box work properly if the water level in the sump is higher than the hole b/c the water level will be where the first baffle is

[CarmieJo]

I'm confused.

Are both the tank and sump 5.5 gallons?

will the box work properly if the water level in the sump is higher than the hole b/c the water level will be where the first baffle is

What hole?

I've never used an overflow box but if the tanks are both the same level I am not sure that it will work.

[saxman]

if you're running the tanx back-to-back, you could probably dispense with the O/F box altogether and simply use a U-tube to connect the tank to the sump. the tanx themselves will act as their own O/F box, and since they're on the same level, there's no worry about overflow in case of a power outage.

[Rob]

actually you need to use pumps of some sort. if the tanks are at the same level they will balance out and no water will move between them, the only reason it works with an overflow is because the overflow box is constantly drained.. in this case the tanks will equalize water levels and then stop moving water