Sump question

[Anonymous]

What exactly makes a good sump? Is it the overall surface area? Or Volume of sump? I'm in the planning stages and looking at some rubbermade type containers that I could section off, I first found a nice 30 gallon one but the damn thing wouldn't fit under my stand. Then I found a smaller 10G one which would fit under the stand, it was alot shallower. Then I saw a rubbermade that was really long, although not very deep at all. So I'm wondering what is most benificial for filtration?

My thinking is having more surface area means more water is in contact with the sand & stuff so more filtration occurs. With a larger volume you have more water in the sump but if most of it doesn't penitrate down, what use is having the deep container? Am I wrong with my thinking?

 

[taikonaut]

Sump should minimally sized for the tank. This mean that it is large enough to hold the overflowed water, even when power is removed. Some people has a sump that is many time larger than the display tank, for example, and it certainly won't fit under the stand.

Surface area is not very important, since a sump's primary function is a sump, not a filter. The latter function is performed by W/D filter, canister filter or a fluidized filter, not by sump.

Other attributes of a good sump is durability, functionality and cost. Rubbermaid-type sump got the last attribute, but you may want to consider the other aspects.

 

[Anonymous]

So why would you need a sump at all then? Seems that its purpose is to handle overflow, but remove the sump and plumbing associated with it, and overflow is not a problem either.

 

[taikonaut]

Sump is an luxury, not a necessity. It enable you to hide all the heater and other unsignly devices (skimmer, chiller coil, etc.) out of the view, and it provide greater water volumn for more stable temperature and buffering. It also provide you with a high flow area for output of calcium reactor or additive to dump into.

No one *needs* a sump, but it is good to have one.