want a freshwater sump for my planted 180

[OBEYtheFISH]

So far I already have the sump & I believe its a 60 gallon
It's already drilled but not at the bottom but at the top backside of the tank

What else do I need?
What capacity of the pump should I get?
Thanks!

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Anyone have any advice?
I wanna get this project going already lol
Thanks!

 

[blert]

Are you injecting CO2?
I have read that a sump is not the best solution when injecting CO2 as there is too much out gassing. A couple of canisters might be a better option. I could probably be totally wrong though.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Well I'm using an atomizer with the canister
I want the sump for the purpose of increasing water volume, a grow out tank, & have an extra filter have the heaters & the uv in there so the display tank won't have much of the equipment in there

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I believe the supposed rule is 5 or 6x the total gallons?
I have a 150g and my pump is 700gph. I wouldn't go higher on mine just because I have a fluval 405 in the right overflow and a fluval u3 in the sump. It puts out a nice strong stream.
My co2 goes into the DIY reactor on the outline which goes into the tank.

The plumbing will be the more difficult part..or it was for me at least. Once you figure out what pump you want then you can figure out pipe/tubing sizes and an overflow box if you want if you don't have overflows.

 

[Terrance]

Water goes out of your tank and into the sump. First thing is to get a filter pad or sock to catch the debris. You can do whatever you want in the middle of the sump. Make the last chamber big because that is where you will see the evaporation.

How about you tell us your idea on how you plan to set it up, then we give you some pointers along the way. This doesn't excuse poor research. I considered using a sump/refugium on my FW tank after I started building my SW tank.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

I have no idea how to have the plumbing on the sump

 

[Terrance]

Research plumbing for SW sumps/refugiums.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Would it work the same?

 

[Mr.Pleco]

It's certainly easier in my opinion with a drilled tank with overflows, that's why I decided not to go with a nondrilled tank.

this is a very basic picture...can't find the one I used for mine.

But you will first need to figure out your pump. Either submersible or non. Then from there you can figure out piping sizes and overflow box if you want one. With your setup it looks like you'd want to go with a submersible..you'll still have room for heaters and what not.

You can buy a large filter pad from the lfs, (it's usually blue) and put that in. It will catch all the debris.

So basically you have a tube/pipe going from the tank to the sump and then the pump will take the water back up to the tank.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

The big one is 2" & the little one is 3/4"

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I'm no plumbing expert..I spent hours and hours in Home Depot buying all the parts.
But from the overflows to the sump is just what I call "pool tubing" which is I think 1 1/2 or 2'' tubing.

The overflow box concept and design along with siphoning was my big thing. I wanted nothing to do with that because it seemed difficult and disaster prone.

This is what I have in my stand..kinda shows you what a drilled setup will look like. Yours would look similiar