Sump tank ratio

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I am thinking of DIY a sump for my 55G. I will put everthing other than for display into the sump, heater, filter, protein skimmer and ......


What capacity ratio I should be looking at?

Thanks

 

[Rborgia]

Couple things to consider.. I am about to do this a second time since the first one doesn't do everything I wanted it to do.

What will the tank be? Reef, Fish only, etc...

- Determine how much evapuration you have per day and try to make sureyour sump can hold a few days of spare water. (one reason I am changing sumps)
- Determine how much water will drain / siphon down out of the display into the sump in the event of a power failure.
- Arcylic or Glass... determine which and stick with that material. Dont mix the two.
- Turn over rate on the sump is approximately 5-10 times per hour (according to popular concensus.. some say more some say less).
- You need to consider heat, having everything in your sumpwill increase the tanks temperatures. (another reason I an redoing my sump)
- Refug or no Refug... and the placement/order of each compartment... (Skimmer/refuge/return or Skimmer/return/refuge).


These are just a few things to consider...

good luck and post some picture as you go!

Rich

 

[NYPDFrogman]

when I build a sump I make it as large as the stand will hold. than I figure the return compartment, if a drain should fail or clog that comartment should not overflow the tank. example if the free space in the tank( water level to top of the tank) is 1.5" tank is 48" long and 18 front to back
it's 18"X48"X1.5" / 231 will give you 5.6 gallons of water
your return compartment should not be more than that.

if the pump fails and the tank drains down figure the same way
48"X 18"X2" /231 = 7.5gals will have to be added to the total capacity of the sump ie. if the sump has 20 gals of water in it when running it should be able to hold that plus 7.5 gals of water.

I used 2" as an example you determine that buy shuting you pump let the tank drain measure the loss.

I do this even if the tank is plumbed with check valves

 

[aaron]

I would say the biggest size you can fit under your stand.
I always seem to run out of room for equipment in my sump especially if you have a big skimmer or ever plan on getting a bigger skimmer. Also a larger water volume = more stable system. there really is no down side i can think of to having a big sump, but thats just my 2 cents

 

[cali_reef]

- Determine how much evaporation you have per day and try to make sureyour sump can hold a few days of spare water. (one reason I am changing sumps)

Bad idea.. You need a "auto" topoff system and not use the sump as your evaporation buffer.

Two reasons:

1. "average" tank evaporates about 1% of the total volume per day, few days worth of evaporation can cause your salinity to be few percent off between each fresh water refill, most inverts don't like that.

2. In sump skimmer will not operate at the adjusted peak performance if the water level it is sitting in changes considerably.

Build a sump you can fit everything you want, or just go for as big as you can.

 

[Rborgia]

Bad idea.. You need a "auto" topoff system and not use the sump as your evaporation buffer.

Two reasons:

1. "average" tank evaporates about 1% of the total volume per day, few days worth of evaporation can cause your salinity to be few percent off between each fresh water refill, most inverts don't like that.

2. In sump skimmer will not operate at the adjusted peak performance if the water level it is sitting in changes considerably.

Build a sump you can fit everything you want, or just go for as big as you can.

Quote from Melev:

"The return section needs to be big if possible. This section varies due to evaporation, so the more water volume it holds, the longer you can be away from your tank and still have enough water to avoid burning up the return pump. It should be large enough to run for two or three days unattended. If space is at a premium, an automatic top-off system with a float switch will protect against evaporation issues."



This is why I chose to hold more volume, in case I need to be away for a few a couple days. I wont need to worry about evap, or pumps. I agree you need a fresh water top off... but I like the idea of more volume in the sump. But my bad for explaining it the way I did.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

I disagree! problem easily avoided with a top off system. most members here live in apartments flooding can be a big issue.

in a 55 gal set up a 5 gal auto top off is a better choice. also can be used to dispence kalk, Bionic, magnesium etc
and definitly adds to stability of the system.


I've kept tanks of all sizes through the years, by far the 180 I have now has been the eesiest, I've had much better sucess keeping the difficult specis both fish and coral

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Wow-So much informations-Did not expect to have to consider so much.

Thanks for all the inputs.

Did not expect to have to consider so much nor did I expect so many possible answers.

 

[jackson6745]

IMO sump size means nothing. All long as it can hold all your $hit it doesn't matter. IMO an autotop off is a must, especially if you're going to be away for a few days. There are many diffirent options for a top off depending on the amount of cash spent.