Sump Design

[Icecold Dan]

Hey all!

This is the sump Design I've come up with for my 150XH build. Sorry for the janky drawing. This will be my first attempt at sump design/building. It's starting out with a 40 breeder. Any advice/critique is welcome.

 

[Icecold Dan]

Forget to add the flow arrows but it starts by going under the first baffle, over the second, and so on

 

[Oughtsix]

Double socks are hard. The finer sock always plugs first and the coarser sock doesn't really prolong the second socks cleaning life much. Side by side fine socks seem to do a better job prolonging cleaning.

I really like bio balls to oxygenate the water. My second choice would be K2 suspended media. Just personal preference though. If you don't use bio balls or K2 I would recommend putting bubble wands under the bio media to oxygenate the water.

It does look like a simple and efficient design. I think simple is my better than complex.

 

[Icecold Dan]

Oughtsix Thanks for the reply. The picture is a little deceiving in that it's not a double sock setups. There are two socks but they are actually side by side in order to work with a bean animal drain.

I was planning to use Marine Pure spheres in the bio chamber. I hadn't considered adding bubble wands. I will consider doing so.

Thanks again for your comments.

 

[narayanang76]

Good luck with your sump and BA setup. Your design is clean and shouldn't run into any issues. Assume you have 3 drain from tank to sump. And how's your overflow design?

Bio media can be anything that you chose. I keep mix of ceramic rings, bioballs, lava rocks in my sump. I run a BA in my 220G with sump.

 

[duanes]

Sumps will work any creative way you can think of, so your design looks good. Although sumps have always evolved over time for me, so having a rigid design became restrictive.
I usually have 3 or more tanks on each sump, so for me, filter socks may be placed in any corner or side, and for this and other reasons, I find baffles to be superfluous, and of no particular benefit. I put bio media in mesh bags so it is easy to take out and rinse, and water flow gets to them no matter where they are, or I place biotowers in different spots, heaters and other gear in random spots, and pots of extra media to make available to jump start cycles of new tanks.
I also don't feel the need to place them directly below (under) the tank. Ease of maintenance, and access are more important to me.

 

[Icecold Dan]

Good luck with your sump and BA setup. Your design is clean and shouldn't run into any issues. Assume you have 3 drain from tank to sump. And how's your overflow design?/QUOTE]

Thank you. I'm using a Modular Marine 1600gph overflow. I plan to direct the emergency overflow into the bio media chamber.

I'm going with the Marine Pure media because a friend of mine who owns an aquarium maintenance business has 4 gallons of it that he got from a client who bought it and never used it. So he's giving it to me.

@duanes Thanks for the pictures and insight. Great tip about putting the media in mesh bags to simplify maintenance. I will use that idea.

 

[Icecold Dan]

I'm still not exactly sure about the baffle height. I figure that in case of a power outage, approximately 10 - 12 gallons will drain to the sump from the overflow. I plan to use a check valve on the return line in conjunction with a syphon break in the 3/4 snap lock line to prevent any more water draining back down.

Another thing I was considering was using a 3" Poret foam block that is 30 ppi where the water flows from the filter sock chamber to the bio media chamber. Can anyone think of a reason why that wouldn't be a good idea?

In the chemical/foam chamber, I plan to use a 4" Poret foam block that is 45 ppi.

 

[mrrobxc]

I'm still not exactly sure about the baffle height. I figure that in case of a power outage, approximately 10 - 12 gallons will drain to the sump from the overflow. I plan to use a check valve on the return line in conjunction with a syphon break in the 3/4 snap lock line to prevent any more water draining back down.

Another thing I was considering was using a 3" Poret foam block that is 30 ppi where the water flows from the filter sock chamber to the bio media chamber. Can anyone think of a reason why that wouldn't be a good idea?

In the chemical/foam chamber, I plan to use a 4" Poret foam block that is 45 ppi.

Curious about the same.

 

[NCHornet]

How many feel the chemical filtration is worth a section of it's own in a sump? I just purchased a 180 gal with 75 gal sump, pickup this weekend. The sump is totally open now. I plan on adding baffles in order to guide the water flow through the media. Is it worth setting aside a small section for chemical filtration like Chemi Pure? I have been out of the hobby for over a decade and a lot has changed, lol!!! When I got out of it wet dry was the new fad and the old magnum canister filters were the work horse in filtration. I had 2of the brand new Fluval 404's and most thought I was crazy to pay that much, lol!!!!!
NCH