Building a 55g Sump...What's Wrong With It *15 Pix*

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pwmin

pwmin

Giant Snakehead
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Nov 26, 2007
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I've been having problems with my 210. FYI, the thread is here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195261
Anyway, I decided to build a sump out of a 55g I had. There are plenty of write-ups, so I'm not planning on doing one. I just wanted y'all to look at my pictures and see what problems you think I might have. I know I need more bio-media and I obviously should have made the bio section much larger. I am waiting on final approval and my filter socks to arrive.

The outlet is 1" ID and the overflows are 1/2" ID (x2). I forgot all my fluid dynamics, so I wanted to make sure the overflows would be sufficient, lol. I'm pretty sure it's a no and I'm going to need to decrease the outlet to 3/4".
The pump is a Rio 20HF that flows 1290 G.P.H. @ 1' Head and 870 G.P.H. @ 6' Head.


Thanks!

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looks nice.. lots of wasted space that could have been media... before you fill it might be worth it to expand the media area...
the wall that makes up the left side of the media area goes all the way to the top... the are 999,999,999,999 to 1 that it will never be an issue.. but if your media clogs the water would overflow the sump before it spills into the pump area...

just my 2bits
 
chesterthehero;2539235; said:
looks nice.. lots of wasted space that could have been media... before you fill it might be worth it to expand the media area...
the wall that makes up the left side of the media area goes all the way to the top... the are 999,999,999,999 to 1 that it will never be an issue.. but if your media clogs the water would overflow the sump before it spills into the pump area...

just my 2bits
Click to expand...
true, I didn't think of that. I will cut down the wall a bit with a dremel. IDK what I'm going to do to add more bio, but I'll think of something. there's no way I'm going to go through all of that again to tear it out and make it larger. I may just add another wall or something to throw some in somewhere. I could add more scrubbies on the bottom of the bio chamber, too...not ideal, but it should help. It's still 5x more bio area than my 3 XP3's combined.
 
To be harshly honest that design looks to be about as effeceint as a 10g sump or smaller. I would redo it know or you will regret it for ever. If the sump is only going to house 2 mechanical socks and bio. Then remake the bio area. I would have it no more then 1'' off the floor and the length of the remaining area except a small spill over area for the pump.
 
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Even if that means redoing it. Right now there is more wrong than right.

A bigger problem than what Chester pointed out is when the filter socks fill up. Unless you will always be there to check on the socks (meaning that you will never go on vacation and will never have a pet sitter), you will need to take steps to prevent overflow from the top of the socks. Or just keep a mop handy.

Go to the sticky section and review the overflow threads. And toss those two in the trash. That design isn't going to cut it with the flow you are going to be working with (870gph). The size is way off too. Each one needs to be able to flow what the pump will output in the event one gets plugged (such as a dead fish). For the overflow design in the sticky, you are going to need 1 1/4 inch pipe.
 
The Hyperflow 20 uses a 3/4 output. Enlarging the output to 1" won't help you out much.

Remember that the pump is pressurizing the 3/4 line to produce 870 GPH at 6' head or 1290 at 1' head. I don't believe you will get 870 or 1290 GPH or more through two 1/2" lines with gravity its self. You may want to use two 1" lines for a return to be safe.
 
Jgray152;2540446; said:
The Hyperflow 20 uses a 3/4 output. Enlarging the output to 1" won't help you out much.
Click to expand...
At 870 gph? A low head pump is going to lose performance very quicky under pressure. Only a high head pump is suitable for operating under pressure.
Jgray152;2540446; said:
Remember that the pump is pressurizing the 3/4 line to produce 870 GPH at 6' head or 1290 at 1' head. I don't believe you will get 870 or 1290 GPH or more through two 1/2" lines with gravity its self. You may want to use two 1" lines for a return to be safe.
Click to expand...
Talking about 1290 gph is irrelevant and only going to add confusion. You can't pump the water out of the sump at 1290 gph. The tank is going to be close to 6 ft, so we should stick to that.

And your intuition is correct that 1/2 inch pipes will never flow enough water to keep up with the pump. One inch pipes won't either. On a good day they will only flow 600 gph under gravity.

In case anyone is wondering, 1/2" pipes will only flow 1/4 of a 1" pipe. It will take six 1/2 inch properly designed overflows to keep up with the pump (that's not taking into consideration for obstructions). As I mentioned before, the design that the OP has will not flow anywhere near the max flow rate of the pipes.
 
Pump Outlet: The reason I used 1" on the pump outlet is because that's what the fitting that was provided with the pump had. It even had a larger one.

Media Chamber: I don't have the time to redo the whole media chamber and the 55 is only going to be temporary until I get a larger tank and them I'm going to build a larger sump. I'll see what I can do to expand it, but I'm not so worried. IDK what I was thinking when I made it.

Filter Sock Holder: It is just sitting on the rim of the tank, so I can easily mount that lower, so that's not a problem. If I keep everything as-is, at what height in relationship to something else on the sump should I keep it at?

Overflow: If I keep the pump oulet the same, what size pipe would I need for the overflows? I really have no money left (get paid monthly), so IDK what I'm going to do, but I can't use them as-is if they're not going to work...obviously. We may have something at work I can use that we have no use for (some 1" pipe w/ stuff). I was under the impression reading the overflow stickies and what-not that I would need 2 x 1/2" overflows. I thought I read that 1/2" would be good for more than half the flow my pump would be outputting.
 
chesterthehero;2539235; said:
looks nice.. lots of wasted space that could have been media... before you fill it might be worth it to expand the media area...
the wall that makes up the left side of the media area goes all the way to the top... the are 999,999,999,999 to 1 that it will never be an issue.. but if your media clogs the water would overflow the sump before it spills into the pump area...

just my 2bits
Click to expand...

I think the chance is more like 999,999,999,998 to one. Check your math.
 
dominicolas;2543411; said:
I think the chance is more like 999,999,999,998 to one. Check your math.
Click to expand...
that will be taken care of. I need to know what size overflow(s) to make especially
 
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