Sump Designs

[masterchief117]

hey all,
i am working on designing a sump for my 55 gallon tank. It's going to be 10 gallons, have a space to but my bakpak skimmer, have enough room for 40lbs of aragonite sand, and a space for my heater. Can anybody show me a good diagram that they have found that might include some of these things that i have said. I can change the plan a little but i wnat something to go bye. Any help would be appricated.

 

[fishfreek]

Why 40lbs of sand?

I worry that your gonna have to much flow thru your sump and the sand is gonna end up all over the place.

One of the principles of a sump is that you can remove equipment like heaters and powerheads out of the main tank. Well to remove powerheads you have to provide a good source of water movement. To do that you need to get a sump pump that will give you this.

A flow rate of 1 the water capacity of your main tank is recommended to a 55 gal tank would shoot for 550 gal per hour of flow rate. When sizing pumps also have the head height measured. Find a pump that gives you atleast 1 flow rate at the head hight between yoru sump and the top of your tank.

If your wanting a refugium then maybe a 20 Long tank would do better for your sump. You could section off the sump to have a small area with lower flow for the refugium and then part of the sump for your heates, skimmer and the higher flow of yur sump returns and pump.

 

[fishfreek]

Here is a post I put up a while back when I was getting options on a sump I was setting up.

I will post photos tommorow of the now finished sump.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=169