GRRR! I am so-oooo mad!

[Hara]

The guy called today, said he is bringing the tank tomorrow, but he has a small problem, NO, WE have a small problem.

Apparently, the sump will not fit under the tank! He called Oceanic and they told him the reef ready 2 is meant for the 175, and the reef ready3 is made for the 200 gallon tanks. So gee, now I guess I get to mickey mouse this thing until it looks halfway decent. Not to mention it is now going to take up over 10 feet of wall space.

It is always something.

 

[reefrunner69]

Can't he return the sump and replace it with te proper sump?

 

[Hara]

Well, seeing as this is a "package deal", I imagine he cannot sell the 55 gallon sump, he said the next size down would cost 175. Frankly, I don't think I should have to pay for something smaller, especially when he should have known what he was selling. I am just feeling rather taken advantage of...

Now I am envisioning a sump on the floor next to the tank with a tablecloth tossed over it...instant furniture

 

[fishfreek]

Ya and get you some $$$ off. After all the other sump is smaller.

 

[Hara]

Could you guys tell me what problems I may be looking at if we have to
creatively plumb this?

 

[reefrunner69]

What are the measurements of the sump and what are the measurements of the stand?

 

[fishfreek]

when you say creativly plumb what are you thinking about.

Obiovusly the easistes thing if there is no way to get the sump in the stand would be to put it beside the tank. If you do that then just make sure the drain lines do not have any sharp bends. The more bends you have the harder the water will flow.

For ideas on how to remotly plumb a sump you can look at my sump setup here

http://www.vafishfreek.com/gallery/Sump_Photos

My sump is on the other side of the wall so the pipes have to go thru a wall before they can get to the sump or back to the tank.

 

[Hara]

sump measures 36.5 x 18.5x 19.5
http://www.oceanicsystems.com/products_aq_rrsumps.html

stand is: 73x25x32

The numbers look like they should work, but the guy says that there is
a support bar in the stand that will not allow it to go in.

 

[fishfreek]

hm,

If the support bar is glued into place then your hurting. Unless you bust the support bar out and then replace it with another bit of wood that is screwed into position.

Course that would obviously void the warrantee on the stand if it comes with one.

 

[Hara]

when I say creative, I am assuming (remember that I know zilch about plumbing)
that the sump must always stay much lower than the tank bottom. Meaning I cannot put sump on a stand ..... no piping can bend upwards ...gravity flow issues I am thinking...geez, it all looked so easy in the pictures.

 

[reefrunner69]

It might be able to be placed into the stand from the top, or the support bar can probably be removed and put back fairly easily. Is your husband the least bit handy?

 

[reefrunner69]

BTW, if it can fit in the inside demensons of the stand, it can be gotten in, there is a way...it's just figuring out the best way.

 

[Hara]

It will violate the warranty, but I am wondering how big a deal that is at this point.

We will see how easy the bar is to remove tomorrow when it gets here.

 

[reefrunner69]

I imagine he cannot sell the 55 gallon sump

Sorry just noticeed this,,,he should be able to return it to his distributor for a full refund and get the proper sump. And then as Aaron said, get you some cash back.

 

[Casie]

Heya!

I was thinking you could remove that brace and then replace it when the sump was installed... but now that I think about it, your stand is not wood is it? Is it that beautiful black glossy acylic?

Oceanic should really make the size trade with you. And the little bit of a price difference should pay for the shipping. Have you heard anything from them? Also plumbing the bigger sump to the side, or though a wall will work fine.

Its really just what you want to do! If you didn't want to mess with the Oceanic sump, replacing it with another sump doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Really any ol' tank will do. In fact some people are using food safe tubs from Rubbermaid! I can come up with some pics if you like.

Our ugly 45 gallon sump is WAY overkill on our 90 reef. I never worry that it will overflow when power fails. So really, you have tons of options!

This months edition on Reefkeeping Magazine has a nifty article on sumps. Its crAzy what some people come up with! But it just goes to show, your sump can be just a place to put a skimmer, some heaters and carbon.... or it can be a mini refugium with baffles and a mangrove farm!

Keep us posted! Gabe and I would love to lend a hand! We have tons of plumbing bits and glue! =P

 

[fishfreek]

I would have the sump as low as possible beside the tank if it wont fit.


The reason is that I discovered myself that when I bult my sump stand for the room behind the tank. I managed to build it just a bit to tall and the bottom of the overflows ended up being about level with the top of my sump. The result was that I was not getting a good drain action from my overflow to the net GPH that my overflow was doing was less than my pump was pushing.

I lowered my sump by 2 feet and that allowed the drain on the overflow to pickup and it could then keep pace with the pump pushing water back up to the tank.

If you use large diamater plumbing having 90 degree elbows in your return plumbing will affect the pumps performance less. Try to make your drain lines as stright as possible. obviously if the sump is to the side they will have to have a slight bend to them but try to make it as subtle as possible.

Caint wait to hear and see pics of this new stuff.

 

[reefrunner69]

Keep us posted! Gabe and I would love to lend a hand! We have tons of plumbing bits and glue! =P

That is a pretty generous offer!! From the quoted portion it sounds like you know each other, in any case I applaud your generosity and give you 50 kudos, if you do know each other and Hara sent you over let me know...I need to send some kudos her way as well!!! Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

 

[maiceman]

If possible post some pics of the stand interior. It might help us all with suggestions. I know I would not want to put a sump next to a beautiful tank like that. Using large diameter pipe is good to get the efficiency out of your pump and if long sweep bends can be used that will be better then standard elbows. They produce more of a laminar flow vs turbulent flow which means less loss due to friction.

 

[SleeplessLwd]

Have You thought about threatening and taking him to small claims court? With just the threat, maybe he'll just give you the right sump for the tank instead of having to put one together or buy another one. I would bet the courts would rule against him since he told you the sump went with that tank and it didn't. You're right he should know his product before selling them. What he did was false advertising. He said it was a complete package and it isn't.

 

[Hara]

Yes! HI CASIE!
erm...welcome stranger

Casie is a friend, with an absolutely gorgeous reef that I got to see for the first time this past weekend...Totally awesome. (fork over the kudos guys)

Anyway, the tank was just delivered...gee, guess what, it has a little chink out of the front left corner of the glass.....the sump did not come with it, he could not fit it in the truck. Upon further box openings, the top right corner glass is broken and the hinges to the doors, nor the sump plumping managed to make it to the store yet. He told me it will be there within two weeks...oceanic said they will not do trade ins on the sump. I think that we will be able to make it fit if we remove the front support that the doors will close against.

I think the gods are trying to tell me something...but hey, I am hard of hearing to nasty little deities like Loki.