sump help...

[jwalsh]

So I've got a functioning 29 gal display tank and am looking to turn it into a sump for the 125 gal that I just got. I've never done this before so any pointers or diagrams of a good sump design and the plumbing would be great! Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Chooch4044]

Here's a couple of pics of my 150gl I just set up

 

[jwalsh]

Thanks that helps get the concept down. Is that something you just knew how to do or did you follow a plan?

 

[Chooch4044]

This is my second tank set up so I learned a few tricks from my mistakes. One piece of advice I can give is to make sure you have valves on the drains as well as the returns, this way if you ever have to service any part you can simply switch the water off to that location. Also watch a few you tube videos. Good luck

 

[wapparia]

If you have a look at my thread called "new tank set up" you will see my sump idea. I wanted a simple sump with limited pipes and pumps. It is currently working excellent and didnt cost the world to build.

 

[paulweck]

Here's a picture of my new sump. I didn't like the first design I made so I made another one and ill switching them out tonight here's a pic of my 1st one and the new one

 

[David S]

I really can not understand why people insist on putting all their power points right next to their sumps,this is so dangerous,I know you like to hide them but at least have them enclosed in a water proof enclosure!!!!!!

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[jwalsh]

The thing I'm confuses on is just where all the plumbing comes from/goes to.

 

[jwalsh]

And do I want a drilled main tank or do I want to run an overflow?

 

[carey]

Simply put, you will have a line(s) going from the tank to the sump. You can either use an overflow or a drilled tank hole. Then the water does its thing in the sump and goes back to the tank via a return pump with hosing attached.

Heres another picture. Hose on the left is coming from the tank ( I have a drilled tank), it goes into the sump and the water flows right until it gets to the return pump which is the hose setup on the right.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[jwalsh]

Yeah it helps a lot acually now when you have a drilled tank where are to feed hole and return hole drilled in the tank? And how does it feed? Just by gravity?

 

[carey]

Yep, gravity feed.

The return hole and input hole are right next to each other on the bottom of the tank in my setup and covered by a overflow box in the tank. If you dont want to drill you can use an overflow box like this to get the water to the sump. This one works by siphon and hangs on the top back of your tank. It works the same way basically, it brings the water down to the sump and is attached to the input. On the below example I have a dual input overflow and a dual input on the sump. In the second shot it shows the return section and the single line I have running back to my tank.

 

[jwalsh]

How do I figure out what size return pump I need?

 

[carey]

It should be more than your overflow. my overflow does 1200gph on my 125g and the return pump is at 1500gph. i also have a ball valve inline so that i can adjust the outflow to match up with the overflow. On my 90g the drilled overflow is good for 600 or 800gph I believe and i have a mag 9.5 running that one. Theres "head loss" which is the distance the plumbing runs so you loose some gph due to that.

 

[jwalsh]

One more thing I'm building my own sump and am wondering how far to space the baffles out from one another to create the bubble trap. Any idea?

 

[carey]

That one I have no idea about, sorry. I bought all my sumps pre built. lol

 

[paulweck]

I make all mine at 3/4 of a inch unless i have other plans for the spot like a piece of filter foam

 

[jwalsh]

Awesome thanks for the help. A few more questions for ya. First if you were going to have a 16" tall sump how tall would you make the baffles? Obviously they overlap but I don't know how much? Thanks in advance

 

[jwalsh]

So when I get this sump all done do I still need to run my h.o.b. filter?