Emergency DIY trashbarrel sump idea?

[BookRat]

I woke up this morning to find that my dresser couldn't handle the weight of my 29 gallon tank.
I emptied it out and evacuated the plants and inhabitants to my 55 gallon tank, but now the 55 is home to 3 peacock and zigzag eels, 3 kuhli loaches, 3 swordtails, 3 oto catfish, 2 glass catfish, 1 angelfish, 1 betta, and 1 hillstream loach.

There's literally no other place in the house for the 29 gallon so that won't be getting re-set up any time in the foreseeable future, so I've been frantically trying to figure out some way to keep everything in the 55(it has a 75 gallon Aqueon HOB, and now also a 40 gallon Walmart HOB).

Would this system work for a sump?
From what I understand the pump is normally in the sump tank, but I really don't want to try drilling my first tank under these circumstances so I wondered if I could pick up a pond pump from Home Depot, put it in the 55 with a hose leading to the bottom of a trash barrel, and install a PVC pipe near the top of the barrel to use gravity to pour back into the 55?

Am I missing anything obvious that would make this plan a bad idea? I assume there'll be some noise, but I figured putting a piece of sponge between the pump and aquarium glass would keep it manageable since my little outdoor pond isn't very loud at all...

 

[pbeemer]

i've never run a tank with a sump, but looking at it as an engineering project that ought to work.
not sure what kind of flow rate the internal pump is going to give you. i would recommend using 1/2" or so tubing (PVC pipe inside the trash can) to minimize flow resistance
to minimize the load on that pump you want to have the intake to the pump close to the outlet of the tubing you're using to send the water into the sump, so if the drawing is somwhat to scale you would want to put the pump lower in the tank and raise the trash can a little
you could run a small fluidized filter using K1-type media inside the trash can to really suppress the ammonia

 

[downloader]

not to knock your idea of the sump, but wouldn't be easier just to get another stand/dresser for the 29?

 

[kj5kb]

Sounds sound
I'd use a pretty good-sized pump or powerhead, you're lifting then going down. In theory that creates a siphon, but you have to lift the water level back to the drain opening. Or if you already have something, try it and go bigger if needed.

Wouldnt use a crate under the bin, estimated 40 gallons of water weighs 320+ lbs. 2 or 4 concrete blocks depending on how high you need it...the 8x8x16 2-holey ones. Probly cheaper than a crate, too.

You may find a fitting for the gray flexible electrical conduit that will work for the drain, used them before on flat surfaces, not sure how those would handle a curve.