Sump Size?

[Nevek]

I hope this is in the right sections

anyway, the general idea is that a sump is much better then a filter to be more specific a canister filter

I have a few questions I'm sure people can answer

1. If I have a 65g aquarium how big does the sump need to be? 20g?

2. the tank is not sump ready it is not drilled and does not have an overflow, does that mean I would a) need to drill b) use the same power pump for the intake to the sump as the out take from it?

3. instead of using an aquarium can you use one of those plastic totes? there cheap hold water and you can get them in many sizes (use to use them all the time for crickets when I had reptiles)

4. when you use a protien skimmer in your sump do you then use that as your return pump to your aquarium?

Sorry guys eventually I'll get a handle on this, bare with me lol

Thank you

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

Go as large as you can. Large bins would work I believe. The pump for you skimmer WILL NOT be used as a return pump. You need to but a separate pump for the return line. If you wanna drill your tank then drill it, otherwise, go with an HOB overflow. Good luck sir. :D

I'm sure you'll get more help/responses.

 

[dcantucson]

Evan answered all your questions. Bifferwine used a tote as a sump on her 90 gal downgrade so check it out. (Beginning on page 6)

https://www.livingreefs.com/biffs-90-gallon-downgrade-t20893p6.html

 

[Nevek]

How do you drill glass? will it not shatter or crack? this tank is at least 1/2inch, I would rather go the less expensive way (keeps the better half off my back)

 

[dcantucson]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMctXz7GraU[/ame]

 

[Nevek]

I think I'd be sweating the entire time,

anyone know how much those bits cost?

(nevermind found it, cheaper then I thought)

 

[Nevek]

I think I am over thinking this, but is it not possible for your return pump to pump water out of the sump faster then it drains into the sump? effectively causing the aquarium to overflow.

is there some sort of equation to determine this?

 

[dcantucson]

Check on ebay. I think under $30

 

[Bifferwine]

I think I am over thinking this, but is it not possible for your return pump to pump water out of the sump faster then it drains into the sump? effectively causing the aquarium to overflow.

is there some sort of equation to determine this?

It is. You need to put a ball valve on your return line so you can dial down the flow. You want the return pump to work slightly slower or equal to how quickly your tank drains. Your tank can only drain as fast as the return pump can push the water back up, so your return pump will be what controls everything. A simple ball valve makes this very easy to handle. No equations needed, since it's either "too fast" or "just right". :)

 

[Nevek]

Thank you very much guys, I have been doing some reading as well as your answers and I think I got a handle on it for now anyway,

any ideas on a pump size?

I'm guessing that matters on the size of aquarium and size of sump?

I've seen tanks with 2 overflows on them, but they were also fairly big set ups, right now I just plan on keeping fish and live rock, and slowly grow into some corals. (I'm sure everyone says that)

just a stupid Idea off the top of my head, if I took out the innards of my canister and shoved a bunch of LR in there, would that essentially make a small sump? I was thinking of doing this for the added filtration/water flow or would I be wasting my time?

 

[Nevek]

Alright so I was up will 5am last night (this morning) reading all sorts of material on sumps, skimmers, refuge and the like.

I have this plan in my head and decided the only way to remember it was to get on illustrator and make a blue print,

crits and advise more then welcome, I plan on biulding it myself, the only problem I just noticed is to get proper flow in my tank I don't think I can have the sump run through the refuge, I think the water flow in the refuge would be to great?

 

[Nevek]

I did a birds eye view also, I think it shows the set up alot better

 

[Nevek]

No one has any comments?

 

[Bifferwine]

I think that should work fine, but you will want to put the skimmer before your live rock/live sand. The way you have it, any pods in the live rock and sand risk getting sucked up into the skimmer.

I think it will be okay to have it all the same flow rate. You don't need super strong flow through the sump. As long as you have powerheads moving the water in your display tank, you can slow the sump down.

 

[Nevek]

I thought the water in the tank had to be filtered or run through the sump X amount of times per hour for proper filtration?

thats why I was wondering about flow rate,

minor set back the 20g I was going to use for the refuge was cracked in storage :(

any idea what would be a proper size return pump for the size tank? I'm a little stumped on that part

 

[Chris_150G]

You can use an overflow to link them together if it will fit between them properly. That would require the tote to be nearly full of water and the refugium would have to have a lower level to protect against overfilling if (and when) the power shuts of.

 

[Nevek]

thats a good Idea but I'd be afraid I would have a flood, in general I think I'd be affraid of a flood, I guess the best way to see if you waill have one is fill it up and then turn the power off huh

 

[Chris_150G]

Yeah mine will not overflower when the power goes off. You just have to leave enough room in the final compartment, that holds the return pump, to allow for a power outtage. And for the overflow to work the first tank needs to have a higher water level than the second so I have my skimmer tank on two concrete blocks.

The siphon can be a pain to get started, unless you like fishy salt water in your mouth. Last night I was upgrading a part and had to restart both siphons. It took about three tries for each and I think I swallowed some of the water (freakin nasty).

I will try to post a picture of my linked together sump/fuge tonight. I had to do mine that way because I can't fit anything wider that 10.5" thru my stand doors. And I am not cutting the stand nor can I afford a bad ass state of the art premade fuge. I just hope mine works, its undersized.

 

[sen5241b]

My return line is 2 or 3 times the diameter of my uptake tube. This makes an overflow a lot less likely. I also pushed a bulbous piece of screen in start of each line to prevent clogging.

 

[ltkenbo]

Or if your worried about flow through the refugium you could do this design:

Melevsreef.com - Install a Sump in an Existing Setup

I'm going to do what he did for my next sump, have the return in the middle, the skimmer section on the left and refugium on the right. This way you can have a valve that can adjust the balance of the flow through either.