New to forum...need help on sump...never had one before.

[MakoFury]

Hi everybody . I have a 65 gallon aquarium that is being setup. I used to use a little wet/dry filter and a Rio 2500 as a return pump. I hear that having a sump is a great thing to do. I have my old 20 gallon TruVu aquarium that I would like to use as a sump. My question is what exactly I must do in order to make this an efficient sump? Do I have to drill into the 20 gallon? I intend on having about 50 lbs of live rock and 100 lbs of live sand. I want it to be a fish only with live rock. I mainly want a sump to keep my heater and my future protein skimmer in. Any replies is much appreciated. Thanks!

MakoFury

 

[Anonymous]

A 20G tank can be made into a fine sump. Check the design of a good sum like a lifereef. Make similar baffles using acrylic that you can get cut to order by you local plastic company. The tank doesn't need to be drilled. Just put you rskimmer into the first section where your drain line comes in, then a couple of baffles, then put yor return pump in the last section.

Why don't you just take the bioballs out of your wet-dry and use that as a sump? That's what I use on my 37G FOWLR. Works great (it's big enough to house the skimmer)!

HTH

Louey

 

[reefsRcool]

depending on what type of return pump you have you may not need to do anything to it. if the pump can be submerged just toss it in there. in all honesty i have seen a ton of sumps that had no baffeling what so ever mine included that worke fine. i would HIGHLY recomend partitioning off a bit of it to put some sand and macros in. a little can go a long ways. good luck

 

[reefland]

If you think you might need baffles, add them now. It's a lot simpler to add now then later when your sump is full of water. Macro algae in the sump also work great at reducing air bubbles in the sump (one they get thick enough).

 

[danmhippo]

Is the truvu drillable? It has been a while since I shop for tanks. If it's drillable, I would highly recommend a hole drilled about 4" from the bottom to be used as the return pump intake. One less equipment out of the sump, more space for your skimmer/heater.....etc.

If you are not comfortable drill it your own, then don't try.