55 gallon sump questions

[bkweibley]

I have a 55 gallon tank sitting in my storage shed that I am considering turning into a sump. I have a 90 gallon Bowfront display tank, and am planning on adding a 40 gallon breeder for a grow out tank and also another for a refugium. I was thinking the 55 would make for a good sump for the system. What do you guys think? I guess I would be looking at about 170 gallons + Sump when it is all said and done, I assume a 55 would be large enough for a sump for 170 gallons?

My biggest concern with using the 55 is it being to narrow for a protein skimmer, but checking out a few skimmers footprints online it looks like it should be fine.

The Sump will be in the basement, along with the frag tank and refug. The 90 gallon DT will be directly above in the first floor. I will be using a mag drive 18 to push the water upstairs. Still deciding what size mag I need to run to the frag tank and refug.

The one concern that I do have about the 55, is that it is in pretty much new condition, but has been sitting for maybe 5 years, should I worry about the seals? Also when it was used (for about 3 months) a reptile was housed in it, what should i use to clean the tank to make sure its safe for the system?

 

[redfishbluefish]

A 55 is just fine for a sump.....many skimmers will fit within the 12 inch dimension of the tank. Where I have a problem is your suggestion for a return pump. MAGs are not pressure pumps and it will not be able to give you decent return flow coming up from the basement.

 

[Reefing Madness]

A 55 is just fine for a sump.....many skimmers will fit within the 12 inch dimension of the tank. Where I have a problem is your suggestion for a return pump. MAGs are not pressure pumps and it will not be able to give you decent return flow coming up from the basement.

Agreed.
Mag 18 has a max head of 20'. I don't know what you distance is. I guess its all in what kind of flow you want from it.

 

[Engloid]

Sounds like you're setting yours up a lot like I have mine. I have a 220g upstairs. Half the overflow goes direct to the basement and the other half passes through a 55g refugium under it in the stand, then to the basement, via 1.5" pvc. It hits a 3ft sock filter first. I use two 55g drums down there (staggered height). From them, I plumbed in two 2og frag tanks, calcium reactor, skimmer, and all that stuff. For circulation on the frag tanks, I use a maxijet pump. It's actually on a timer, because I don't need it flowing nonstop, just enough to act like a "waterchange" to keep water parameters consistent with the rest of the system. These 20g tanks are on stands, so gravity feeds back to the sumps. For a return to the upper level, I use a mag 24 pump and it has no problem at all filling the 1.5" pvc and returning water to the display. In fact, I have to throttle it back with a ball valve because my overflow can't handle all the flow.

A 55 is just fine for a sump.....many skimmers will fit within the 12 inch dimension of the tank. Where I have a problem is your suggestion for a return pump. MAGs are not pressure pumps and it will not be able to give you decent return flow coming up from the basement.

My Mag24 has been holding up fine for a couple years now, and (as I mentioned above) it's pumping through 1.5" pvc, from my basement.

 

[bkweibley]

Agreed.
Mag 18 has a max head of 20'. I don't know what you distance is. I guess its all in what kind of flow you want from it.

I'm guestimating itlll be about 13 ft, I believe that left me around 800gph

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[Reefing Madness]

That should be fine with your Dt size.

 

[bkweibley]

Well now my next decision is to figure out how I need to lay out the dividers in the tank. Ive never made a sump before...

 

[Engloid]

Just put your equipment in there and see how it fits.

 

[Reefing Madness]

This should help with that.
Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums

 

[bkweibley]

Basicly, Ill want an area with a filter sock where the water comes in, then a bubble trap (with a thin filter to seal it) so that no snails or anything that may make their way into the sump can get farther, then the next area would be for the protein skimmer, then another divider to help hold water at that exact level for the protein skimmer, then the next area for the return pump? Seems like Im missing some things? Ill be adding a separate 40 gallon refugium to the system, so I dont need to try to fit that into the skimmer also

 

[Planedoc]

I'm guestimating itlll be about 13 ft, I believe that left me around 800gph

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Head is not height but a total resistance to flow based on pipe diameter number of fittings and valves. Normally a under tank sump with a height rise of 4 feet had at least 8 feet of head due to elbows valves and pipe size. Use a head calculator to figure it out.
http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

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[Planedoc]

I did a 75 gallon sump on my 240 gallon with some water entering on right into refugium with no filter sock, more water entering on left through 3 filter socks with return pump in the middle. It works great. I don't know what kind of space you have but having a separate sump and fuge can be tricky, I run it like that on my 75 gallon tank. I like the all in one with return in the middle much better because the refugium is feed by gravity vs having to pay electricity cost of pumping water into separate fuge. If plumbed right a separate fuge could be gravity feed, just a lot of work and plumbing. In my opinion a 75 could work better than a 55 and separate 40 fuge

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[bkweibley]

What is the reason behind using more than 1 filter sock?

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[totion]

In your sump I would suggest the bubble trap after the skimmer, before the return. Your skimmer is what will be putting out bubbles mostly.

 

[Reefing Madness]

What is the reason behind using more than 1 filter sock?

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More than one overflow.

 

[Planedoc]

On my 75 gallon my filter sock will overflow at 10 days so I change it every week. On my 240 I had 4socks so they won't overflow . I forgot that I built a new sump that has two 7 inch socks vs the first one that had 3 4 inch socks. The 4 inch were very hard to clean. I redid the sump for many reasons. Original had one overflow bypass socks (left) and other go thru socks. New design lets one overflow drain into refuguin controlled with ball valve. What does not go into refugium combines with other overflow and hoes thru 2 7 inch socks. I clean them every week but they could go 2 weeks easily

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