DIY sump

[blackthunda77]

i have a 55 gal reef set up running on a penguin 330 biowheel filter. i want to get rid of that cuz i have too many suspended particles in the water and the water gets cloudy about once a week so im thining the filter is inadequate. i have a sump from a nighbor when i bought the tank from him and it came with the overflow and the return pump. i want to know if haveing just a sump will be enough to filter a 55 gal, the sump looks to be about 10-15 gallons and its made by sea clear. its about 20 in high 30 in long and 6 in wide. i wanted a wet dry but i need something that will be able to hold eonough water so i could put my skimmer and heater inside and be submerged since its air driven. i was wondering if theres a way to make some sort of tower to add to the sump to hold bioballs for filtartion or is that just for culturing bacteria so it wouldnt be nessesary? or if someone could head me in the right direction with links or hint. i dont want to spend much more $ since i pretty much have everything i need. thanks in advance.

 

[tangir1]

You can add a "W/D tower" to it, but depends on what you want to use the 55 gal ree tank for, a W/D or a biowheel filter may not be a good choice, unless you are into fish-only setup. What are the water parameter, and what are you keeping/planning to keep?

With that say, the sump that you have, 10-15 gal, sounds fine to use for your 55 gal tank. Depends on what what done to the box, you may be able to get away with just minor plumbing work and get it to work.

Search on the general forum and the DIY forum for keyword sump should give you tons of links about it. Don't go to "The Sump" Forum... it is the off-topics forum.

 

[blackthunda77]

well what im goping to have is fish and zoo's, soft corals and LPS. i have about 300 watts power compact. all params are finehad an ammonia spike last week that went up to lik 0.90 but thats all. would just adding the sump and a skimmer be enough with my live rock andlive sand?

 

[tangir1]

Some LPS can be a bit sensitive to nitrate and ammonia, but I feel that you should be fine without the W/D if you have good skimmer/LR/LS.

I would just use the sump for the heater/skimmer, etc.