Sump design

[Conner]

Here's my design for my 30g sump. I'm taking some of the design from my existing 55g sump, but I'm modifying it slightly to make it easier. Tell me what you think.

 

[tylerperkins]

no offense and dont get mad but that looks like all the sumps on here

 

[rallysman]

no offense and dont get mad but that looks like all the sumps on here

Not quite.......... most are more complicated.

The sump that is sketched will work great. The only problem I see is a mess if the sponges clog. The easy way to get around that is to make the first baffle shorter. That way, if the sponges clog, the water has somewhere to go other than you floor.

I have a few sumps set up very similar to what is sketched and they all work tremendously well.

 

[dennisdeng2002]

The thing in the second chamber is a heater right? If it is then you're going to have to keep the water pretty high so make sure that the sump can cope with a power outage or move the heater down more and make the second baffle shorter. IMO I would filter socks instead of sponges for mechanical filtration they work great.

 

[rallysman]

The thing in the second chamber is a heater right? If it is then you're going to have to keep the water pretty high so make sure that the sump can cope with a power outage or move the heater down more and make the second baffle shorter. IMO I would filter socks instead of sponges for mechanical filtration they work great.

Good call on the water level for the heater. The heater would work better if it was placed horizontally somewhere in the filter. Filter socks are awesome mechanical filters, but I could never keep up with the maintenance they require. Every filter sock I've seen clogs really quickly. It's a great thing if you can keep up with them, but IME sponges do just as well but last longer between service intervals.

 

[Jgray152]

If it is then you're going to have to keep the water pretty high so make sure that the sump can cope with a power outage

The water level will only be high in the first two chambers. This will still limit the extra capacity though but on a 55 gal aquarium, you don't have to worry about it much. There is only about 10 gallons roughly with a 4" drop during a pump shutdown or 5 gallons with a 2" drop. Also with his dimensions, there will only be about 5 gallons held in the first two chambers. He has room to spare.

Personally, I don't see the need a second chamber just for a heater. Put the heater under the egg crate holding th sponges, move the second wall about 1/2" away from the first wall so the second chamber is only used to direct water. You will get more bio capacity this way. In the end, you will have roughly 58 liters (18.5x12x16) available in the bio compartment, thats more than enough for a 400 Gallon aquarium.

Also, you can use egg crate verticle to the underside of the last wall and have the bio media extend all the way to the bottom. No need to have it held up.

 

[Dr Joe]

no offense and dont get mad but that looks like all the sumps on here

Nah, some are in color

Not quite.......... most are more complicated.

The sump that is sketched will work great. The only problem I see is a mess if the sponges clog. The easy way to get around that is to make the first baffle shorter. That way, if the sponges clog, the water has somewhere to go other than you floor.

I have a few sumps set up very similar to what is sketched and they all work tremendously well.

make that change, lay your heater sideways near the bottom and everything else is good to go.

What are you going to be filtering with it?

Dr Joe

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[Conner]

Well, I kind of intended it to look like all the sumps on here, because I know for a fact that design will work for filtering a monster tank!

I had actually thought exactly that about the first baffle after I posted the pic, so thanks for confirming that for me. I will make the first baffle shorter.

The reason I like the heaters in the second compartment is that I can access them to fine-tune the temp control without removing the sponges. But it does make sense to put them under the sponges to maximize biomedia volume. Also, the water will stay at the height of the second baffle no matter what happens with the power, because it can't flow over the wall unless water is running, so the heaters will stay submerged no matter what, but I will probably be altering it as suggested.

I use a filter sock on my current sump, and it works great, except the way I set it up I actually have to turn the system off to be able to take it off and clean it (big design flaw, but it was my first sump and I was basically doing it all on my own). That's why I think the sponges will work better. They'll be much easier to remove and clean without having to shut the whole system down.

Jgray152- are you sure 1/2" will be enough space for the water flow in the second baffle? I'm planning on running around 1500-2500gph on this sump, because of its future inhabitants. I want to make sure it won't back up and overflow the first chamber.

This sump will be filtering a 125g tank that will be housing some rays (temporarily) in the near future. I'm going to be getting a few baby rays in the next month or so (hopefully), and this will be their grow-out tank. Once they begin to outgrow it, I will be buying/building a 300g+ tank for them to live in, since they'll need much more space. I'm planning on getting motoro's and maybe some retic's.

Thanks everyone!

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

The only thing i would do differently would be to add a baffle from the floor up a few inches before the pump. This would give the pump a pool of water to work out of and you could add some media between the upper and lower baffle there for a bubble trap. i have found that pumps that suck up bubbles are alot louder than one that gets no bubbles. As it sets now you would have to control the amount of water in the sump. But if you added the extra baffle that would control the water line in the sump while running. If you left it alone it would work perfectly no doubt but as the water evaporates more and more of your bio media would be left to moisten from dripping only, not submerged.

 

[Dr Joe]

If your going to house rays in a month, you better get moving as it's going to take a month to cycle this thing enough to support that kind of bio-load.

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The only thing i would do differently would be to add a baffle from the floor up a few inches before the pump. This would give the pump a pool of water to work out of and you could add some media between the upper and lower baffle there for a bubble trap. i have found that pumps that suck up bubbles are alot louder than one that gets no bubbles. As it sets now you would have to control the amount of water in the sump. But if you added the extra baffle that would control the water line in the sump while running. If you left it alone it would work perfectly no doubt but as the water evaporates more and more of your bio media would be left to moisten from dripping only, not submerged.

Isn't that the idea of a W/D? (I just had to say that)

With a cover and weekly WC's I don't see that as a problem.

Dr Joe

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