Please help with installing a sump to existing tank

[rollin75]

Hello

I bought a 72 gallon bow front saltwater fish tank about 5 months ago. It is reef ready, however the person I bought it from had a cascade canister filter hooked up to the bulkheads. It is also running a fluval fx5 filter. I would like to replace both of these filters with a sump. I bought a sump but I am wondering if I can hook this up with the water in the tank. Will the water spill out through the bulkheads when I attempt this? Please let me know. I am new to reef ready tanks and do not know much about how to change things. I have 6 african cichlid tanks but no sumpp filters. This will be my first attempt.

Please let me know...

[evsalty]

Is there still an overflow wall that sections off the bulkheads? If so then you will only need to drain (the water in the main part of the tank) to just below that of the overflow wall. If there is no wall then you would have to drain the whole tank down to the level of the bulkheads which in most tanks that are sold as RR are drilled in the bottom.

[jacksonpt]

Are the bulkheads behind an overflow wall? Are they in the bottom of the tank or the the back?

Assuming they are behind overflow walls, all you have to do is connect some plumbing to the bulkheads to drain the water from the main tank down into your sump. Depending on where the bulkheads are located, you may want to build some sort of a standpipe to help keep splashing/noise to a minimum.

Give us some more info and/or a couple pics of the tank and we can be more helpful.

[jeff@zina.com]

Use a tub stopper, one of those flat rubber ones, to block the flow before you disconnect.

Jeff