How high can I put my sump in relation to the main tank?

[aussieman57]

Have another sump question. Purchased a 55 gallon tank to build my sump. Due to space considerations I am going to place this 55 gallon sump next to my 125 tank on the adjoining wall at a right angle. So 125 on back wall & 55 sump on right side room wall next to it; hope that makes sense. Plan on building a stand for the sump with some storage space below. How high can I go with the sump in relation to the main tank???

 

[Rocksor]

In Asia, they use over the tank sumps. like this one

 

[dogofwar]

I do the same (although I'm in Maryland and not Asia) and call it a "dump" filter.

 

[duanes]

Here are a couple examples.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/overflows/.highres/plumbing0082.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

The sump above is only about 10" below the main tank.
Below, the planted sump on the right, is only about a foot below.

Gravity is a beautiful thing.
Below is another version where I got a taller tank, on a taller stand, so the taller tank on the left, is now 2 feet higher than the sump on the right.

 

[altums85]

Like above posters, U can do an overhead sump. I just did a cheap one using a bin.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I probably wouldn't suggest putting the sump more than one story(10 feet or so?) above the main tank, more than that the power needed to pump the water to the sump is likely to start getting impractical.

 

[aussieman57]

Not intending to put the sump above the main tank. Maybe my post was a little confusing. Just wanting to elevate it off the floor enough to make it:
- easier to work on for maintenance
- have a little storage area beneath the sump (55 gallon tank) stand
The plan is to have some plant roots in it for nitrate reduction. Did not want the tank just sitting on the floor. My first sump build and I did not want to create any plumbing problems. So based on what duanes is showing that as long as my main tanks drains are above my sump tanks top rim portion gravity flow will not be an issue. The more I look at this I guess I asked a pretty stupid question

 

[aussieman57]

The reason I want to elevate the sump a little is to protect it from these 2 clowns crashing into it...

 

[Ryan_M]

You can put it anywhere, just might change some plumbing requirements. If you're gravity feeding it from overflows you might have to upsize the pipe since there won't be as much pressure differential. On the bright side, you won't need as much pump for the return.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Not intending to put the sump above the main tank. Maybe my post was a little confusing. Just wanting to elevate it off the floor enough to make it:
- easier to work on for maintenance
- have a little storage area beneath the sump (55 gallon tank) stand
The plan is to have some plant roots in it for nitrate reduction. Did not want the tank just sitting on the floor. My first sump build and I did not want to create any plumbing problems. So based on what duanes is showing that as long as my main tanks drains are above my sump tanks top rim portion gravity flow will not be an issue. The more I look at this I guess I asked a pretty stupid question

I incorporated a "side sump" into my most recent build. It works quite well.

The bases of the tanks are roughly 28" apart in height. I like it for all the reasons you listed like ease of maintenance. A couple things to keep in mind:

-your pump will work more efficiently with the lessened head height when you elevate your sump.
-this same principle works against your drains. There is less head pulling the water , therefore less pressure/suction in the drains. So maybe it's a good idea to "oversize" the drains in combination with a good ball or gate valve.

For instance the tank above has 2x 1.5" main drains. With the valves about half open like in the picture, the dcp-20000 is running at 40%.