How big should my sump be?

[Tankless in Dubai]

My tank demensions are:

Rectangular shape

62.5" long
17.2" deep
24" high

I was thinking of having (1) Mag 18 as my return pump and (2) Durso Stand Pipes because I wanted to be certain that enough water was flowing down to the sump to compensate for he Mag 18. I might even want to increase to a Mag 24 at some point so I thought that (2) Durso Standpipes might be a good idea.

I will also have another Mag 18 that is a direct loop for more flow.

I really believe in a lot of flow.

So how big should my sump be? How is that calculated?

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

As big as you want! Keep in mind these things:

What are you putting in the sump? Pumps/heaters/probes/skimmers ect, ect. - The sump should be big enough to keep everything you want in it.

How much room do you have under your stand that could be the sump? That's if you want to put it under your main tank.

How much total water volume do you want to end up with? - I have a skimmer that's rated for 60 gallons. I was going to upgrade to a 75 with a 30 gallon sump. But then realized the skimmer is one more thing I'd have to buy.

Are you going to also use the sump as a refugium? Then you'll want some more space.

Lots of things to consider, but Luckily, only a few things (like stand size) are hard answers. most of all, use one that fits!

B

 

[jcurry@wesketch]

I used the "Sump Volume Calculator" on reef Central and came up with this:

Using the following input parameters
Tank Length = 62.5 inches
Tank Width = 17.2 inches
Height of Water above Overflow = 2 inches
Flow through sump = 2400 gph

Sump volume is calculated as
Sump Volume need to handle tank overflow = 9.3 Gallons
Recommended Minimum Volume for sump = 33.3 Gallons

I used the "Drain Size Calculator" on reef Central and came up with this using the following input parameters:

Gallons per Hour = 2400

Drain and Overflow sizes are calculated as
Recommended minimum drain pipe diameter = 2.02 inches (2- 1 1/4" dia. pipes)
Recommended minimum linear overflow size = 36 inches

Hope me this helps.

 

[jcurry@wesketch]

I used the "Sump Volume Calculator" on reef Central and came up with this:

Using the following input parameters
Tank Length = 62.5 inches
Tank Width = 17.2 inches
Height of Water above Overflow = 2 inches
Flow through sump = 2400 gph

Sump volume is calculated as
Sump Volume need to handle tank overflow = 9.3 Gallons
Recommended Minimum Volume for sump = 33.3 Gallons

I used the "Drain Size Calculator" on reef Central and came up with this using the following input parameters:

Gallons per Hour = 2400

Drain and Overflow sizes are calculated as
Recommended minimum drain pipe diameter = 2.02 inches (2- 1 1/4" dia. pipes)
Recommended minimum linear overflow size = 36 inches

Hope me this helps.

 

[Rainman]

Height of water above overflow = 2 inches.

You guys are crazy. My flow is about 2 cm above the overflow wall. Talk about flow!

The durso stadpipes are the way to go. I've got one on my 3ft and it works perfectly. Near silent, easy to adjust at start now doesn't need touching. Perfect *touch wood*

As for the sump, make it as big as possible, without it getting in your way. When I got mine custom built to sit on the shelf in the bottom of my stand, it ended up being too high.

There's just enough room to get your arm in (between the top of the sump and the bottom of the stand), but reaching the bottom is really hard, because you have to slide your arm in past the elbow and then bend it down! Pain in the butt.

 

[danmhippo]

Yes, as big as you can. You can also divide it into compartments so one holds the equipments, and the other for refugium and one last one for settling so debris don't get flushed through your return pump.

 

[Rainman]

yeah that debris one would be a good idea. I find that if you don't have a low flow area all your detritus doesn't settle out.