Setting up a sump

[Alec Meacham]

Hi guys, Currently im running a 55Gal mixed reef and have an emporer 400 HOB filter and have been looking into purchasing a sump and all the stuff to go with it but i have no idea where to start and the LFS burned down recently so i have nobody to ask :X Before however she did suggest a 25-30 gallon sump would fit under my stand, can anyone point me in the right direction? Would prefer to not spend a ton of money if possible.. but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Geebs19]

Hi Alec, you could do a simple DIY, there is a ton of great videos on getting a 20-30 gallon tank and getting glass cut to fit the inside. Or you could buy one, really depends what all you want in it. Skimmer, cheato chamber, sponge, filter socks, etc. The possibilites are really endless.

 

[Alec Meacham]

Yeah i have no idea what i would want in it thats the thing, idk what a filter sock is, a cheato chamber, i know what a skimmer is, I just mean like what are the main pieces i need for it to work.

 

[Geebs19]

Here is a pretty simple setup. This design shows the water coming down the drain into the far right chamber, the middle chamber can be really small or larger depending on what you want to put there. Mine is small and only allows for a sponge. The last chamber is going to be for your return pump. You can place a skimmer, heaters and anything you want to hide in the sump.

 

[Alec Meacham]

With a non-drilled tank i would need an overflow box, right?

Do you have any suggestions for equipment? Skimmer?

 

[Geebs19]

BRS has a good a couple of videos on sumps that I would recommend watching to get an idea. When I was setting up mine, I did a ton of searching before I knew what I was doing with mine.

 

[Geebs19]

With a non-drilled tank i would need an overflow box, right?

Do you have any suggestions for equipment? Skimmer?

Yup, you would need to do an overflow if you werent going to drill. The first thing I would put in mine would be a Skimmer, my heater is too large and am going to be placing them in there once I buy 2 smaller ones. Another good Idea is a refgium, I wish my sump was big enough for that, but unfortunately my cabinet is small and doesnt fit a large sump.

 

[Pntbll687]

Measure the inside dimensions of your stand, and that's how big your sump CAN BE.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive. It's just a another "box" to hold water and equipment. You can find a used tank online for cheap, or a rubbermaid bin from home depot can work too.
What really can influence the sump size is equipment selection. If you plan on running a skimmer, make sure it is going to fit in the sump.
How do you plan on overflowing the water to the sump? Drilling the tank? Hang on back overflow?

Just make sure you think out the purchase, not just buy something and figure it out second.

As an example, I have a rubbermaid bin that holds about 15g of water, the return pump, and heater. This is set up on my 20 long tank. I also have a 40 long with baffles and sock holder as a sump on my 190. They both serve the same exact purpose and get the job done.

 

[Alec Meacham]

I would do a hang on back overflow as my tank is already mature wouldnt want to drill it at this stage. I already have a heater im fairly sure would fit in the sump, so basically i just need a 2nd tank with the seperators, put my heater into it, fill it with my tank water, have a return pump from the sump into the tank and an inital from the overflow to the sump, right?

 

[Geebs19]

Like Pntball said above. I would measure and see the Max dimensions you can get, the bigger you can go the better. Check out google for some DIY on how to do the baffels so that the water flows through properly.

 

[Alec Meacham]

Thanks for the advice you guys ill be looking into this

 

[Dennis Begley]

If you use a hang on overflow, maintain it properly to avoid potential issues. In the sump, don't do what I did. I had plexiglass cut to use as partitions. When they say the silicon won't stick to plexiglass, that is true. Shortly after I had my sump and tank set up I was working on the sump and bumped one of the partitions. It moved. I checked all my partitions and they all came loose. I ended up taking the sump apart and installing NEW cut glass partitions. That was a hassle to say the least. Use glass for your partitions in a glass tank. The reason you want a sump is to increase the amount of water and to move all your equipment out of the main tank. Filter the water coming out of the main tank with filter socks. You won't believe how effective these socks are for catching dirt and debris. Build this step so its easy to swap out the socks or you won't do it often enough. Get enough socks to swap them out about every 4th day.
Have a back up pump and a couple of heaters with a heater control. Do NOT rely on the thermostats in heaters. Potentially tank killer when those quit working. I had a heater almost boil my prior tank.

I elected to put my skimmer in partition where the water enters. I wanted to cut down on potential water issues outside the system. I had an external skimmer dump water on my floor in my prior build. Make sure it fits in the sump though when you lay it out. Bigger sump is better. You want the largest you can fit in your space. I have a 90 gal with 40 sump. About 120 gal total. The 40 gal breeder was my prior salt tank. I redid the caulking and installed partitions.

Plan on getting an automatic water top off. BIG time saver plus more efficient way to maintain salt levels. Don't cut costs on this. Much easier to fill the fresh water reservoir than deal with salt levels getting too high in the tank. I could not keep up without an ATO.

Refugium? I have one on the end of my 40 breeder. Not confident that it does what I expected although I have lots of things growing in it. Let's say the jury is out on the value of a refugium in a sump. Great place for detritus to collect and have to be cleaned out. I wish I would have set up the refugium to hold more water. I made that divider too short. I am ok with it and will maintain it but if I had to do it over not sure I'd do a refugium.