Sump Size Help?

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KrabbeAquatics

Gambusia
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Jun 9, 2012
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I'm going to build a fluidized bed filter for the 225g and I was wondering how big of a sump would be needed. With the overflow I'm planning, the water level shouldn't drop too much if at all when the pump shuts off. It will just be a bulkhead in the back wall at top where I want water level to sit. If the sump size would be over 20gal then I will be building the sump myself, but if it doesn't need to be too big I may just buy a cheap used 20gal tank to use as the sump. Any help is greatly appreciated. I've always used HOB filters on my glass tanks so I wasn't 100% sure about sump size.

Thanks
 
Anyone..?
I'm going to be picking up a 20g Long tank for my sump unless it needs bigger. I have a while until I really need to worry about filtration for the 225g, but I'd like to get it ready as soon as possible that way I don't have to do much work once the tank is done and water ready.
 
On my tanks i do 40% of my tank in a sump size for instance for my my 125gal grow-out its got a 55Gal sump... so if you do 40% of a 225Gal your lookin at 90Gal Sump but that also can depend on Stock if small stock you may be able to get away with smaller sump but well stock would reccomend at least a 90+ Gal Sump to be safe JMO other will say differnt but has worked for me hope this helps
 
Take a look at the wet/dry sumps that are out there, they have recommended tank size listings usually.

For a 180-250 I am betting that at least a 40-55 gallon would be recommended.

My 180 in the garage came with an All Glass Model 4, it's running capacity is around 25 gallons I think but if the pump fails it nearly fills up and that is when it approaches 40+ gallons.


For my 125 gallon tank I just built I used a 55 gallon aquarium as the basis for my sump build. I tore apart a 20 gallon tall to use the panels from it for installing into my 55 gallon wet/dry. The thing that made that cost effective for me though was the PetCo dollar a gallon sale.

Check out craigslist and go that route maybe. I'd rather have excess capacity than not enough. If my "generation 1" wet/dry DIY doesn't work well enough I have room to expand and add chemical and bio filtration.
 
thanks everyone. In that case I will end up building a sump. I'll prolly use plywood to construct it just because I'm building a plywood tank. I'll prolly go about 60g with 1/2" plywood. If I can get away with using 1/4" ply I will.

With a plywood sump, would you recommend using plywood as the interior walls as well or should I just use some glass or acrylic sheets? Only reason I ask is becasue the less wood I have to seal the better.
 
I'd find a used 55g to 75g used tank from craigs list for cheap. There are lots of them out there in my area.
 
This may not be aesthetically what you are looking for, but, I built a 20ish + gallon fluidized bed filter (not under pressure so easy to maintain) that empties into a 50 gal barrel for a sump, works great especially for hanging filter socks. The FB uses about 10lbs of aragonite as media.
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i would go bigger.. bigger is better more volume more bio load... if u got a 225 i say 125 sump. that way u can fill it nicely and go on vacation for a week and it would be no where close to needing topping off lol.. and u just increased ur bio load by tons..

keep in mind if u ever dont make it home or need to get away.. ease of maintenance is everything
 
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