Need Advice

[Salt4Us]

We just bought a 40 gallon long and from what I've seen on the net a lot of people go a sump and overflow. Ok, this is where we get lost, our 29 gallon only uses live rock and sand and a protein skimmer and HOB fuge and pumps, that's it.

The tank is 36" long by 16" wide and is all glass. What is the best way to go about this? We plan on using live fuji rock and black tahitian sand knowning that the rock will soon seed the sand. This tank will be going into our room, that has brand new carpeting so I'm kind of hesitant about a sump, we are in the process of redoing our entire room and went for the 40 instead of a 20 high we had already purchased.

My questions, is it better to have a sump? Or can we do the same thing as we did with the 29 high with just a CPR BakPak 2R? I'd really like it to look nice an neat, but what is the maintenance like on a sump? When you clean it how messy is it? As you can tell I have read nothing on how sumps work so any advice anyone can give on what to do is much appreciated thanks!

 

[fishfreek]

is it better to have a sump? Or can we do the same thing as we did with the 29 high with just a CPR BakPak 2R? I'd really like it to look nice an neat, but what is the maintenance like on a sump? When you clean it how messy is it?

Is it better to have a sump? Yes and no. Yes in that you can move all your equipment from the tank to the sump. So no heater, skimmer or any other device in your main tank other than maybe an accessory powerhead or two.

A sump adds water capacity to the system. So lets say you had a 20 gal high sump (i know i know you just returned one). The 20 gal would sit under the 20 in an enclosed stand. Your heater and your skimmer would sit or hang on the 20. You would fill it 3/4th the way full and in effect add 15 gal to your system. The additional water makes the water quality more stable.

I answer NO to the above question because sumps do increase the complexity slightly. Instead of just adding equipment that hangs on the back you add an overflow and plumb this down to your sump. Then you have a large circulation pump that in your case can push 400-500GPH at 3' head. This way you can get most of your current in the main tank from just 1 pump that is hidden in the sump. Then you plumb your circiulation pump from the sump back ot the main tank.

If a sump is installed correclty its very neat. The only thing you see in your main tank is the overflow and the return lines. All your equpiment and electical cords are under the tank.

When you do water changes its as simple as taking water out of the sump and pouring water back in.

Lets say you have a 20 gal sump with 15 gal of water in it. Now lets say you want to perform a 10-15% water change. That would require you take out approx 7-8gal of water.

TO do this with OUT a sump you have to put a syphon hose in the tank and drain it into a buicket. Probably have to shut off your pumps and your skimmer since the water level is going to drop. THen you carry the buckets to a drain and pour them out. THen you have to pour or scoop the fresh water into the tank. Since most tanks are not on the ground this means you have to pick up the water 4' or more and pour it into the tank. THen power up all the equipment again.

Now. TO do this WITH a sump. you would scoop out the water with a pitcher or something. Since the sump is lower to the ground you probably cant syphon it into a bucket beside it but you could use a small PH and pump it from sump to bucket or sump to drain with the aid of a hose. Then you pour the old water down the drain. Then you get your new water. But insetead of having to add it to your main tank you can just pour it into your sump. You may or may not have to shut down your skimmer but your main cicrulation pump should be able to continue to run during this whole process.


The only real maintance you have on a sump is making sure its not overfull or underfull of water. And also makeing sure the overflow is free from debris that could impeed the water flow down to the sump.

 

[Salt4Us]

Well hey, I like the way the sump sounds then! Right now when John puts water into the tank by hand with a plastic dixie cup to cut down on messing or distrubing anything, we do weekly changes which have worked out really great for us. The 20 gallon high wasn't that expensive, it was only 20 bucks, we got a pretty good deal on the 40 long, it was 67 bucks which I guess isn't too bad, they had a nice oceanic that was cubed shape that was cherry looking and they wanted 139 for that, didn't want to go that high. I think we will go the sump thing, it sounds like it would look nicer for the tank, I'll have John figure the piping, I know there was another post on how to do that so I'll look that one up. This one is going to be slower than the other one, we've got the sand ordered and we just have to get the rock and then get the others.

One other question, besides the piping and pumps and skimmer and heater what else goes into the sump? Also can you recommend a quiet pump.

Thanks again!

Always so fast!

Kaurene

 

[fishfreek]

Well you have two options on pumps. Submersible and external. To be as simple as possible i suggest a submersible pump. This pump you just drop in your sump and plumb it up and your ready ot go. An external pump can not be underwater as its not sealed and will short out.

Only disadvantage to a submersible pump is it could/will transfer some heat into the water.

The trick is to have your overflow be able to handle the water your pump can output. Most standard overflows are 600-700GPH so you should be fine if you stay under that.

Look under the DIY forum for more info. Also check out our articles (link on home page) there is one in there about Sumps.

 

[Salt4Us]

Thank you very much will check those out, just like when we started on this site you are fast and helpful, thank you!