Designing New Sump

[tdileo]

So I'd like to start by saying I hope you all enjoy my beautiful artwork. Lol.
My system is a few months old now and I'm in need of a sump upgrade. My first one was a flop that I threw together in 15 minutes using a 10 gallon tank, rubbermaid bins and some silicone. It fell apart in less than a week so basically all it does now is house my skimmer and add some extra flow to the main tank. Here is my plan for the new sump, a 20 gallon tall:

First photo is side view, second is top.
My overflow will drain down onto some eggcrate that holds some filter floss. That water will go down into the first chamber which will house a skimmer that sits atop a block of MarinePure. That section will overflow into the refugium that will house probably 8-10 lbs of rock rubble as well as gracillara, ulva, and maybe some caulerpa. The water will pass through a bubble trap and the final section will simply container the return pump and have some extra room in case I add anything extra in the future. How do you guys think this will work out for me?

 

[Jason mack]

That will work for you just fine !

 

[tdileo]

That will work for you just fine !

Glad to hear you think so. I did some work with my dad yesterday so I have $50 which will be just enough to get it built, but not stocked with all the macroalgaes I want.

 

[Idoc]

I would advise getting some grid paper and actually drawing it out to scale. You will be able to head off some problems before you actually start building and find that things don't fit...or there isn't enough space above the baffles to handle the DT backfire water with a power outage. Calculate all this ahead of time.

That elaborate final bubble trap will take up a lot of space when you think realistically 1.5" between baffles. You might just want to go with 2 baffles there with 2" between... easier to clean and you can put a little egg crate shelf between the baffles to hold carbon, etc... if you need it. Below is the sump I just built...note the calculations to ensure all will fit. Good luck!

 

[tdileo]

I would advise getting some grid paper and actually drawing it out to scale. You will be able to head off some problems before you actually start building and find that things don't fit...or there isn't enough space above the baffles to handle the DT backfire water with a power outage. Calculate all this ahead of time.

That elaborate final bubble trap will take up a lot of space when you think realistically 1.5" between baffles. You might just want to go with 2 baffles there with 2" between... easier to clean and you can put a little egg crate shelf between the baffles to hold carbon, etc... if you need it. Below is the sump I just built...note the calculations to ensure all will fit. Good luck!

Thank you! That's a very smart idea, whats the formula to find out the gallons for the chambers? My tank only drains about 2 gallons out of the overflow when the power goes out, maybe 3 or 4 counting the backsiphon from my return pump but I just finished my lid that holds it at exact water level so I shouldn't have a problem there.

 

[Idoc]

To calculate the gallons in a specific space:

(Length x Width x Height) ÷ 231

This gives you the gallons in that space...the measurements are in inches, btw.


So if you have a sump section that is 12" length, 10" width, and the baffle is 10" high, that sump section holds exactly 5.19 gallons of water. Do this for each section of the sump and you will have the total water volume off your sump. Then look at the "empty" space above your baffles that would normally hold "air"...do the same calculation for this space to see the "extra" holding capacity of your sump...leaving maybe 1-2 inches from the top since you realistically don't want your sump to backfill completely to the rim!

Then, calculate exactly how much water that will back siphon into your sump when shutting off the return pump with the return line 1/2" and 1" below the surface of your DT water line (or however far below the surface you have your return line exiting into the DT) ...your height in the formula will be 0.5 and 1.0, respectively...then add the overflow amount that will drain (same calculations) from the overflow plus what's in your pipes (probably only 1-2 gallons at most). If this final added up number is lower than your sump's calculated "extra" capacity number, then your are golden...If it is higher, then you're screwed and you need to do some re-designing of the sump!

Hope this is understandable and helps!

 

[tdileo]

To calculate the gallons in a specify space:

(Length x Width x Height) ÷ 231

This gives you the gallons in that space...the measurements are in inches, btw.


So if you have a sump section that is 12" length, 10" width, and the baffle is 10" high, that sump section holds exactly 5.19 gallons of water. Do this for each section of the sump and you will have the total water volume off your sump. Then look at the "empty" space above your baffles that would normally hold "air"...do the same calculation for this space to see the "extra" holding capacity of your sump...leaving maybe 1-2 inches from the top since you realistically don't want your sump to backfill completely to the rim!

Then, calculate exactly how much water that will back siphon into your sump when shutting off the return pump with the return line 1/2" and 1" below the surface of your DT water line (or however far below the surface you have your return line exiting into the DT) ...your height in the formula will be 0.5 and 1.0, respectively...then add the overflow amount that will drain (same calculations) from the overflow plus what's in your pipes (probably only 1-2 gallons at most). If this final added up number is lower than your sump's calculated "extra" capacity number, then your are golden...If it is higher, then you're screwed and you need to do some re-designing of the sump!

Hope this is understandable and helps!

Wow thanks again, pretty cool stuff. I will definitely measure that out. My tank is only 46 gallons so I don't even think I would have 1 or 2 gallons in the pipes. I am pretty into DIY because it's hard to afford the crazy premade stuff as a 15 year old so if you have any other cool DIY ideas that would be helpful for the tank just let me know! I am not too bad with the stuff and if I can't handle anything my dad will always help me out

 

[Idoc]

Stand, sump, skimmer platform, and working on a filter sock holder are the only DIY stuff I've done so far. Going to be working on somehow to hang my lights pretty soon... you can see what I've done in my build thread in my signature. Good luck... outs a lot of fun setting these up!

 

[Pivitol]

Wow thanks again, pretty cool stuff. I will definitely measure that out. My tank is only 46 gallons so I don't even think I would have 1 or 2 gallons in the pipes. I am pretty into DIY because it's hard to afford the crazy premade stuff as a 15 year old so if you have any other cool DIY ideas that would be helpful for the tank just let me know! I am not too bad with the stuff and if I can't handle anything my dad will always help me out

Not sure what part of the country your in but I have a 30g I would give you along with some glass pane for the baffles.

 

[tdileo]

Not sure what part of the country your in but I have a 30g I would give you along with some glass pane for the baffles.

Thanks for the offer! I am in New Jersey. Would gladly take the stuff but am not sure if they would fit under the stand, the door is pretty small.

 

[tdileo]

Welp, I went out and bought all the new stuff for the build. Get home and the 20 is a 1/2" too wide because the stand is a bowfront. ***.

 

[Idoc]

That stinks!

 

[tdileo]

That stinks!

Yep. Guess I will just have to try and make my 10 gallon work
I wish 15 gallon tanks were a thing! They exist but you have a better chance of winning the lottery than to find one

 

[Idoc]

Can you modify the back of the stand to allow you to fit the bigger sump?

 

[tdileo]

Can you modify the back of the stand to allow you to fit the bigger sump?

I would have to rip the whole tank down to get to it but unfortunately because of the bow shape of the stand the tank doesn't actually fit once its through the door. So even if I did slip it through the back it wouldn't fit

 

[Jason mack]

And why not make a new stand ?!

 

[tdileo]

And why not make a new stand ?!

Why would I made a stand thats bigger than the tank? Lol

 

[Idoc]

Why would I made a stand thats bigger than the tank? Lol

I did... it's great. My 40g breeder was cramped in the old stand three tank came with. I wanted more space around the sump for "stuff" so I made my stand 6" deeper than my DT. Great space in the stand and you can't see the extra space behind the tank...I designed three stand so the DT is set to the front of the stand. Plus, I added a cabinet on to the side for a little mite room (eventual ATO Reservoir and electrical stuff).

 

[tdileo]

I did... it's great. My 40g breeder was cramped in the old stand three tank came with. I wanted more space around the sump for "stuff" so I made my stand 6" deeper than my DT. Great space in the stand and you can't see the extra space behind the tank...I designed three stand so the DT is set to the front of the stand. Plus, I added a cabinet on to the side for a little mite room (eventual ATO Reservoir and electrical stuff).

Looks great but my tank is a bowfront so not sure how well it would work. I'd prefer to keep my current stand

 

[Pivitol]

What are the dimensions of the 20?