New to sumps, giving it a try

[dirtbikerider]

Ok so I have caught the DIY bug, problem is I live in a one bedroom apt that has pretty much all space where a tank could go is already taken up by a tank.. so I got to thinking what else could I make that would be useful. I decided I could use some extra filtration on my 60 gallon tank. I am openly a noob when it comes to sumps... I know what they do a little about how they work but have never used or designed one to be extremely familiar with them. I was thinking of using a 20 gallon long aquarium for the sump (30 dollars at my local petsmart) scrubbies for the bio filter and my lfs has sheets of filter material i would use as mechanical. I however DO NOT want to take on the challenge of drilling into the tank so i am unsure of how to pump the water in and out of the sump... so basically my questions are

1) Will I need a pump to pump the water from the tank into the sump and a 2nd pump to pump the now filtered water back into the tank?

2) I have the eggcrate material to use in the sump for the scrubbies but still dont understand how to control the water flow through different chambers.. silocone more glass panels inside the sump to make the channels?

3) How do I keep from having a "vacuum" effect if my electricity goes off, I have read that is aproblem with some sump designs.

and ANY OTHER advice is welcome but please don't flame me as I am openly a noob when it comes to sumps

Thanks

 

[forgottenx]

http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219465

 

[dirtbikerider]

Ok that definitly answers my overflow questions... thank you! The only other problems I see are designing the chambers in the sump itself any advice?
and what size pump would be a good range to search for in this application? The pump would be pumping water a good 4' back to the top of the tank so i was considering a 400gph pump. I was thinking that after the head loss it would still give a decent turnover rate??

 

[forgottenx]

well if you are asking for help, how big is the tank, stock in the tank, how big is you sump?

 

[dirtbikerider]

Tank is 60 gallons, 20 gallon long sump, and stock is wayy overstocked lol

 

[forgottenx]

are you running any other kind of filter or will it be your only filter?

 

[dirtbikerider]

Oh yes sorry I have a HOB filter (tetra whisper ex70 I think... works fine as long as i do extra water changes and swap out filer cartridges regularly (actually more than what should be necessary but like I said I admit it being well overstocked

so the sump will be working with the HOB

 

[forgottenx]

for a large bio load I would push about 10x turn over rate which would put you at 600gph at the return, so try to find a pump with 600gph at a 4ft head.
... something like this would work... its simple but efficient ... others might be able to give u a better design for the sump

 

[forgottenx]

with the hob i'de just stuff it with filter floss or scrubbies all depending as to what is needed more .... if your water is dirty, fill it with floss, if your test kit shows you need more bio filtering stuff with scrubies

 

[Bee0912]

for a large bio load I would push about 10x turn over rate which would put you at 600gph at the return, so try to find a pump with 600gph at a 4ft head.
... something like this would work... its simple but efficient ... others might be able to give u a better design for the sump

The only thing I would change is the water should go UNDER the baffle before the pump. This will reduce bubbles being pumped into the main tank.

This is an easy design that I put together in a few minutes for very little money. It is a 10 gallon tank on a 33 gallon display so it is proportional to what you are doing. (Yes the water is going over the baffle before the pump and yes I DO have bubbles in the display tank.)

As for a return pump i would look at a Mag-7. I just picked up a Mag-18 for my 180 gallon tank and it is one heck of a nice piece of equipment. I am definitely looking for a Mag-7 to replace the pump on my 33 gallon when it goes out.