Sumps for small tanks?

[White Hair]

Boy i’m glad i found you guys, although the feeling may not be mutual. I have a 30 gal tank and i’ve been thinking that a sump might make thing a little easier, ie vacuuming, putting the discharge hose in the sump and vacuum till your done instead of filling a 5 gal bucket. First is it feasible and cost efficient, if it is what size would be proper for my 30. Would it be more of a problem than its worth, what all would i need.And anything else you might suggest that would be relevant, once more, thanks for your help.

 

[JoshH]

Boy i’m glad i found you guys, although the feeling may not be mutual. I have a 30 gal tank and i’ve been thinking that a sump might make thing a little easier, ie vacuuming, putting the discharge hose in the sump and vacuum till your done instead of filling a 5 gal bucket. First is it feasible and cost efficient, if it is what size would be proper for my 30. Would it be more of a problem than its worth, what all would i need.And anything else you might suggest that would be relevant, once more, thanks for your help.

I had a sump on my 30 Gallon and it was fantastic! It was custom built to fit inside the stand with an ATO container to go along with it. Once I added it I knew instantly that every major build from here on out had to have one.

Cost wise is really hard to pin down as you can go from a cheap 20G from Petco for $20 to a custom acrylic or glass sump for a few hundred. I'll say I don't think you will be disappointed doing it no matter what you decide to do sump wise.

You would need the sump itself, an overflow and a return pump to get the flow you want with the few extra feet of head height you will be adding. Is it possible to drill your tank?

 

[Mical]

How much room do you have below your tank? CPR aquatics have some pretty compact sumps. Their Aqua-fuge line is compact and cost effective.

 

[Justin Cook]

I wouldn't have a tank without a sump for a few reasons. First among then is that you can keep so many bits and pieces in them. ATO, heaters, media (reactors or bags) and all kinds of other stuff. I recently started a frag system and have a 20 long as a sump while I build out a 55g tank with different compartments. Right now it's just a tank, no compartments, and it's still better for me than being sump free.

 

[JoshH]

I wouldn't have a tank without a sump for a few reasons. First among then is that you can keep so many bits and pieces in them. ATO, heaters, media (reactors or bags) and all kinds of other stuff. I recently started a frag system and have a 20 long as a sump while I build out a 55g tank with different compartments. Right now it's just a tank, no compartments, and it's still better for me than being sump free.

Certainly one of the often forgotten aspects of sumps is they don't have to have all kinds of doodads and thingy majigs to function properly or have a HUGE benefit. Just a simple glass box is more than enough to provide a ton of benefits for a system, especially with a 30G display.