40B Sump

toytek · Mar 3, 2015

So my boss has tasked me with building an aquarium for the new store. It will be a 180G. This is what I've come up with for a sump, what do y'all think? Any input is appreciated. The current plan is to just put a few mangroves in the sump as I need the overflow volume and don't have the room for a fuge in a 40B. The skimmer will most likely be an ASM G3, so it is drawn pretty much to scale.

Fieryfrog · Mar 4, 2015

That is exactly how I built my first sump. It looks good. And those bubble traps are very needed. I was also using the G3 and its footprint takes up a ton of room. My only concern is the fact that it is only a 40 gallon on a 180 gallon tank. But that is just be my opinion.

toytek · Mar 4, 2015

I am pushing it, but I think it'll work. I need 10-15 G of overflow volume, and should be right at 20 with my baffles set at 8". I think that I'll be ok with a power failure. Worst case would be a return pump failure causing the skimmer to overflow when the sump fills up. There's a big floor drain behind the tank so I plan on putting a fitting in the skimmer cup and running it to the drain.
See any problems with any of this?

aslmx · Mar 4, 2015

Where are you going to put the heater? I only left about 3/4" space in my bubble trap and you have 2". I have a G3 on my 120 and its a skimming monster. I clean a cup a week and the smell is horrible. I would not run it to a floor drain. My skimmer sits in 9" of water so you might be pushing it with 8". Have you bought a G3 yet because you might need to go bigger like a G4 on a 180 depending on your fish load.

toytek · Mar 4, 2015

Probably lay heater(s) flat in the return chamber. From what I've read, the recommended height for the G3 is 7.5-10. I could bump it up to 8.5 or maybe 9 and still be ok. I looked at the G4 but I don't remember why I didn't want to go with it, could've been footprint or height, may have been I thought it would be overkill. I'll look at it again. He wants to be, in his words, heavily stocked with fish, light on coral, no SPS. It probably won't actually be heavy on fish, more like moderately stocked. A couple of big fish and lot of small schooling fish like chromis.

toytek · Mar 4, 2015

I'm not building the sump until I get a skimmer. I want to build the return chamber as big as possible.

toytek · Mar 4, 2015

While we're on the topic of skimmers, is there anything else I should be considering besides ASM? I've been very pleased with my Reef Octopus HOB.

aslmx · Mar 6, 2015

All I've ever used is asm or bubble magus so I'm not sure on any others. If he wants heavily stocked on a 180 then a g3 probably won't be enough especially if you do tangs. They are crapping machines. I would still double check your heater length because I don't believe a 300 jÃ¤ger will fit in there. Are you doing an apex?